What Is Hidden in the Kabbalah?

Kabbalah is called “the science of the hidden” because it reveals to the one who learns it that which was previously hidden. The true picture of existence is revealed only to the one who apprehends it, as is written in the poem by Rabbi Ashlag:

The miracle truth will radiate,

And the mouth will only utter that truth,

And all that will be revealed in confidence

You will see, but no other!

Kabbalah is the teaching of that which is secret, since it is hidden from the average reader and becomes revealed only under very special conditions. Those who study it will find these secrets gradually become clearer from the teachings themselves, along with special guidance to direct the reader’s desires and thoughts.

Only the one for whom Kabbalah ceases to be a hidden teaching and becomes revealed can see and understand the construction of the world, and the so-called “soul” and “body” can only be seen and understood by those for whom Kabbalah ceases to be a hidden teaching, and becomes revealed. Yet, even they are unable to transmit their perceived views of creation to anyone else, having no right to pass on this information, with one exception: During one’s gradual spiritual ascent, one learns the truth of creation: There is nothing except the Creator!

The Problem with Having Limited Perception

The sensory organs we were created with are able to perceive only a small part of the entire creation, known as “our world.” All the mechanisms we have invented widen the range of our sensory organs. We are unable to imagine which sensory organs we lack because we do not feel any deprivation from their absence.

This can be compared with not feeling the need for a sixth finger on one’s hand. Since we don’t have the senses required to perceive other worlds, we cannot sense them. Therefore, despite our being surrounded by such a rich environment, we are able to see only a small fragment of it. In addition, even the fragment we perceive is quite distorted, since we can only grasp a small portion of it.

However, using what we perceive as a foundation, we create our views of the whole of existence. Like those who see only in x-ray mode, where all is perceived as a skeletal picture obstructing the x-rays, we, too, have a distorted view of the universe. Just as we cannot receive a true picture of this universe according to x-ray vision, neither can we fathom the true picture of creation through our limited senses.

No amount of imagination can compensate for our lack of ability to perceive, since even our fantasies are built on past experiences. Despite all this, let us try to create a simple concept of the so-called “other world,” which exists on the other side of our conception, the one beyond the range of our sensory organs.

First, imagine that you are in a vacuum. Before you stretches a road. Along the road at certain intervals are markings from zero, where you stand now, to the end.

A Path that Secures Spiritual Attainment

We do not move along the road by the alternate advancement of our feet, but by alternate changes in desires.

In the spiritual world, place, space or motion do not exist as we understand them. The spiritual world is the world of emotions that exist outside the realm of physical bodies.

Objects are emotions. Motion is the change of qualities. Place is a certain quality. Place in the spiritual world is defined by its characteristics. Therefore, “motion” is defined as “the change of one’s emotions, similar to the concept of spiritual motion in our world, the movement of emotions, but not physical movement.

Thus, the path we are trying to understand is the gradual alteration of our inner qualities, our desires.

The distance between spiritual objects is defined and measured by the difference in their qualities. The more similar the qualities are, the closer the objects are considered to be. The closeness or distance of objects is defined by the relative change in their properties. If two objects are identical, then they will merge into one. However, if a new quality appears in one of the spiritual objects, that particular quality separates from the first one, and in this manner a new spiritual object is born.

At the end of the path before us is the Creator Himself. His attribute—the complete Will to bestow—determines His distance from us. Since we are born into this world with only egoistic characteristics, we are as distanced from the Creator as east is from west. And the goal the Creator places before us is to attain His qualities while living in this world, that is, to spiritually merge with Him.

“Kabbalah: The Secret Science of Spirituality” is based on the book, Attaining the Worlds Beyond by Dr. Michael Laitman.