November 30, 2024
Archive for November, 2014
November 20, 2014 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books
Meet the Greatest Gift You Can Reach in the Spiritual Realm and the Big Question It Raises for You
Kabbalah explains that the correct, consistent observance of spiritual laws leads to adhesion with the Creator. Yet, what does the word “adhesion” mean? Indeed, because of the limits of time, a three-dimensional space, and bodily desires, our thoughts cannot grasp the Creator, i.e. the quality of love and bestowal. Therefore, as long our thoughts are bound by these limits, we cannot be objective.
How to Open the Door to the Spiritual Dimension through Transcending the Ego
As we transcend our egos, the will to receive and the definitions of time, space, and motion change. They acquire a spiritual dimension. In that state, we control our will to receive and are not governed by it. Therefore, our thoughts do not depend on the will to receive, and hence are objective.
Use the Premier Trick of Play Acting to Merge with the Creator
Kabbalah offers the attainment of equivalence of properties and actions with the Creator as a means of nearing Him. It says: merge with His actions; be as kind, caring, and as humble as He. Yet, how can one be sure that the Creator’s actions and the Creator Himself are the same? Moreover, why should I merge with Him by imitating His actions?
In the material world, we imagine merging, or adhesion, as shortening the distance between bodies, and understand separation as moving away from one another. However, the spiritual realm lacks such concepts as time, space, and motion. This is why the equivalence of properties between two spiritual objects draws them closer to one another, and the difference in properties moves them apart. There can be no adhesion or separation (in contrast to the adhesion or separation in space) because the spiritual object itself takes no place.
Why You Must Avoid the Proverbial Axe that Cuts Off Spirituality and How to Do It
Just as an axe divides a physical object, the appearance of a new property in a spiritual object divides it into two parts. That is, if the difference in properties is insignificant, then the spiritual objects are close to one another.
The bigger the distinction between their properties, the more remote they are from one another. If they love each other, they are spiritually “close,” and the distance between their corporeal shells is unimportant. The relationship between them is determined by their spiritual affinity. If one likes something that is disliked by another, the distance between them depends on the difference in their views and sensations. They are considered completely opposite if one of them likes everything the other hates.
You Can Use Your Affinity for Spirituality to Take You There
Thus, we see that in the spiritual world (the world of desires), similarity or difference in aspirations, desires, ideas, and properties plays the role of an axe, dividing the spiritual into parts. The distance between spiritual objects is determined by the extent of incongruence between their sensations and properties.
To the extent that our attributes are similar to the Creator’s, we feel Him, become part of Him, and merge with Him.
Dr. Michael Laitman, in “The Purpose of Life Is the Revelation of the Creator.”
“Discover How to Travel to the Spiritual World and What Awaits You There” is based on the book, Basic Concepts in Kabbalah: Expanding Your Inner Vision by Dr. Michael Laitman.
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Image: "Thick arrow made from jigsaw puzzle pieces" by Horia Varlan.
November 19, 2014 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books
“Only in the process of studying authentic Kabbalistic texts do you connect with the Upper World and evoke upon yourself the influence of the Upper Light, which can transport you from the perception of this world to the perception of the Upper World. There is no other method that can allow you to achieve such a transformation! Therefore, when the world and you are ready for it, Kabbalah becomes revealed and is offered to you as the method of correction.”
~ Dr. Michael Laitman, in “Why Is Studying Kabbalah Good for You.”
3 Questions about Kabbalah the Wise Seeker Wants Answered
- What is the essence of Kabbalah?
- Is the purpose of Kabbalah aimed at life in this world or in the future one?
- Who benefits from Kabbalah: the Creator or His creatures?
Read on to find the answers to these crucial questions…
The 2 Paths of Personal Development and Your Choice in Between Them
Two paths of development in the right direction are prepared for us:
- A path of suffering that compels us to escape it. We do not see the goal and are forced to run away from the pain. This path is called “unconscious evolution,” or “a path of pain.”
- The path of conscious, painless, and quick spiritual development by following the Kabbalistic method, which facilitates a quick attainment of the desirable result.
How Kabbalah Brings You to Self-Perfection, in a Nutshell
The purpose of all the laws of development using the method of Kabbalah is to recognize the good and evil within us, and develop recognition of evil (i.e. the recognition of the egoistic will to receive within us as the source of all pain). By observing the spiritual laws, we can rid ourselves of all evil. This is because the difference in one’s development creates either a deeper, or a more superficial, recognition of evil, and a more powerful or less powerful desire to be rid of it. The game of self-perfection is centered on intensifying the recognition of evil and also the desire to be free from it.
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November 18, 2014 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books, Zohar
The History of Kabbalah’s Concealment
The wisdom of Kabbalah as a partial method was established by Abraham the patriarch in ancient Babylon. Since Abraham’s time some 3,800 years ago, until approximately 2,000 years ago, the wisdom of Kabbalah was known only to the people of Israel. Since the ruin of the Temple approximately 2,000 years ago, through our generation, Kabbalah has been hidden from the public and has been secretly passed on from generation to generation among Kabbalists.
During the period when Kabbalah was concealed, various stigmas were attributed to it. It was considered mysticism, witchcraft, magic, etc., but no one knew what it was really about, hence the false notions. Also, the thriving present-day industry that uses the name “Kabbalah” to market services and products has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual essence of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
Today Anyone, Anywhere, Can Study Kabbalah
But the time of concealment has ended. Today, the original wisdom of Kabbalah is resurfacing for all people, regardless of age, sex, religion or race. Kabbalah is a higher science. It does not belong to any religion or faith, nor does it pose any boundaries or limitations to one who wishes to study it. Any person who wishes to understand the world he or she lives in, to know the soul, to know one’s fate and to learn how to govern it is welcome to study Kabbalah.
“If my people heeded me … they would delve in the study of The Book of Zohar … with nine-year-old infants,”5 said Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda of Komarno as early as the 19th century. Following him, other Kabbalists recommended teaching this knowledge to children from a young age, giving them an explanation of the world that surrounds them, the connections among its parts, and the forces that affect it. Through such education grows a confident human being connected to the source of abundance, feeling in control of one’s life. Such a person knows how to best use these forces, and understands that life is unlimited.
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November 17, 2014 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books, Zohar
Abraham Develops “Kabbalah”
In ancient Babylon, it was Abraham the Patriarch, a resident of Ur of the chaldeans, who discovered that humankind’s program of development was prodding it toward discovering a new reality. Abraham realized that in the end, the material evolution of man on earth would exhaust itself, and humanity would discover that something beyond satisfying corporeal desires was required, and that without it, life on earth would be futile and meaningless.
Abraham discovered that at the end of the material evolution begins the spiritual evolution. once he himself exhausted the desires we all possess, a new desire appeared in him—to understand the purpose of his life.
In Kabbalah, all of one’s earthly desires are regarded as “the heart,” while the desire to discover the meaning of life is described as “the point in the heart.” The point in the heart is a desire that awakens in our hearts and pulls us “upward.” That new desire led Abraham to discover the complete reality, the spiritual reality.
Abraham’s wisdom is called “the wisdom of Kabbalah,” and it describes the network of Nature’s forces and how we can study the program by which they affect us. The wisdom of Kabbalah describes rules, forces, and work formulae of the upper worlds.
Kabbalah Lets a Person Experience a Higher World
Kabbalah explains how reality began to expand from the world of Ein Sof [infinity], through the worlds of Adam Kadmon [ancient man], Atzilut [Emanation], Beria [creation], Yetzira [Formation], and Assiya [Action], down to our world. It speaks of how souls come down and “dress” in bodies in this world, and how we can cause our souls to rise from here back to the world of Ein Sof.
Abraham was the first Kabbalist to teach people how to discover the soul and gradually experience a higher world through it. There are five higher worlds, each with five degrees, each of which are then divided into five additional degrees. If we multiply 5x5x5, we will arrive at the 125 degrees by which we ascend in our feeling, understanding, and attainment until we discover the whole of reality.
That process takes place while we are here in our material bodies. When we achieve these higher worlds, reality becomes much broader and we feel the forces that operate on the world we are in. It is like a picture of embroidery. In the front is a picture, while the back displays all the connections among the threads that create the picture on the front.
Developing a Deeper Perception of Reality
When we observe our world and what is happening in it, we are merely observing the superficial picture. The wisdom of Kabbalah helps us see the depth of the picture. This is how we begin to understand the connections between things—why things happen and how we can affect one element through another element.
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November 16, 2014 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Torah Portion
Genesis, 25:19-28:9
This Week’s Torah Portion | November 16 – November 22, 2014 – Cheshvan 23 – Cheshvan 29, 5775
In A Nutshell
The portion, Toldot (These Are the Generations), begins with the wedding of Isaac and Rebecca. After twenty years of infertility, Rebecca conceives and the Creator tells her she will have two sons. The first was Esau, and the second, which was holding unto his brother’s heel, was Jacob. Esau became a hunter, and Jacob studied Torah.
The first confrontation between the twins was over the selling of the birthright. Esau returned empty handed from a hunt, and Jacob offered him lentil stew in return for the birthright. Esau agreed. After some time Esau discovered that Jacob deceived him.
Later in the portion, Isaac digs two wells, both of which are taken by the Philistines. A third well remains in Jacob’s hands, and he calls it Rehovot. Finally, Avimelech and Isaac make a covenant between them.
The second confrontation between the twins happens when their father wished to bless them. Isaac wanted to bless Esau, his firstborn, and Rebecca asked Jacob to dress as Esau in order to receive the blessing of the firstborn. When Esau discovered that Jacob received his blessing, he wanted to kill him, so Rebecca sent Jacob to Haran, to her brother, Lavan.
Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman
The drama before us is in fact the process of man’s spiritual development. The story deals with man’s most fundamental forces, although it can be, and has been, turned into a novel.
The Creator created the will to receive. That desire is the entirety of the substance of creation. It is possible to use the will to receive for one’s own favor, or in favor of others. In fact, the whole of creation is prone to using the desire in favor of others, as it is written, “love your neighbor as yourself; it is a great rule in the Torah.” [1] This is the law of the whole of reality, the whole of Nature.
On the one hand we must use the will to receive and satisfy it however we can. On the other hand, the act of satisfying, in which we draw everything to ourselves, must be for the benefit of others. This seems contradictory. Using the ego, the will to receive, must be solely in a direction that is good for everyone. We cannot understand that contradiction, which is why we cannot understand the Torah, making its meaning hidden from us.
The portion seemingly explains it by saying that although Abraham loved Ishmael, he sent him away. Isaac, who loved Esau—the will to receive, all the substance of creation—acted similarly, though Esau is our entire nature, which we need and use in everything we do in life.
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