January 15, 2025
July 8, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books
Why It Is Impossible to Know Something’s True Essence
Kabbalah teaches us that reality could be divided into four layers: essence, abstract form, form clothed in matter and matter.
Our tools of perception can never perceive the Essence, regardless of our degree. Although what we perceive is indeed the Essence, we can only perceive it through Matter, and we cannot even imagine what the Essence itself is like. Moreover, we cannot even want to perceive the Essence.
For example, none of us feels that an additional sixth finger would be welcome. However, if we could imagine that we once had a sixth finger, and that we could do something with it that we cannot do today, then we could talk about a need for a sixth finger. But if we never had an additional finger, we could not even imagine how it would benefit us. This is why we will never want a sixth finger.
Similarly, since we never felt an Essence, we cannot want to perceive the Essence. Attainment of Matter, the manifestation of the actions of the Essence that is present within the Matter, is quite satisfactory.
The above discussion raises an important question: If we cannot perceive the Essence, how did Kabbalists know that it exists? For the time being, we will leave this question unanswered, but we promise to return to it later.
How Practical Experimentation Is Used In Kabbalah
The will to receive is the Matter. It is divided into five degrees. When the will to receive is integrated with the intention to bestow, it adopts different Forms, from the most opposite from the Creator to the Form of the Creator Himself. While spiritually evolving, we gradually study all the qualities that Matter might assume. This is called “Formative Learning.”
We have a genuine desire to acquire the Forms of bestowal that are dressed in Matter. A genuine desire means that it is a desire that stems from having had this Form before and not having it now.
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July 4, 2008 at 3:44 am · Filed under Daily Lessons, Free Will, Society, Video
From the Daily Lessons – In following video, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD talks about freedom: what it is, what it isn’t, and where freedom can be found. He deals with the question “What does it mean to be free?” asking “What is free in you?” and explains how to attain a different kind of nature, and acquire the ability to exercise freedom against everything constraining us.
Video: Where Can True Freedom be Found Today?
Download this Lesson: wmv video | mp3 audio [54:02]
Additional Sources:
Videos
*Where Is Our Freedom?
*Upbringing – an article by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
*Society’s Approval is the Greatest Reward – An Interview between Michael Laitman and TV anchor Lev Novozhenov
*Influence of the Environment – a post on Laitman.com – Michael Laitman’s Personal Blog.
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June 19, 2008 at 1:26 am · Filed under Daily Lessons, Free Will, Resources, Video
Our modern idea of freedom is embedded in remoteness, individualism and isolation. The true idea of what freedom means has been inverted and long forgotten. Here are three sources of information on what true freedom is and how it can be attained in our world today.
1. Video: The Freedom Prison
In this excerpt from a morning lesson Rav Michael Laitman, PhD provides a definition of freedom that is completely opposite to society’s idea of freedom, but is more natural than anything else.
Download this Lesson: wmv video | mp3 audio [66:42]
Shamati Article #190 “Every Act Leaves an Imprint” (the article on which the above video’s lesson is based)
2. Freedom of Will (An article by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD)
3. The Freedom (An article by Baal haSulam)
Related Material:
Newspaper Articles:
* Kabbalah Today Article: The Freedom Blues
* Kabbalah Today Article: A Kabbalist, a Geneticist and the Meaning of Life
Short Clips:
* Do We Have Free Will or Is Everything Predetermined
* “Kabbalah Revealed” Episode 10: Free Will, Part 1
* “Kabbalah Revealed” Episode 11: Free Will, Part 2 The Four Factors
Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!
January 30, 2008 at 4:45 am · Filed under Articles, Evolution, Free Will, Happiness, Kabbalah Today
* Cracking the Happiness Code – To crack the happiness code, we must start by realizing who we really are, what our nature is. more…
* Better than the Virtual World!? – Our attraction to the virtual world indicates great progress in human evolution. It plays an important role in humanity’s preparation for spirituality. more…
* The Freedom Blues – When you realize that there is no freedom in this world, you’ll begin asking about the meaning of it all, and then you’re on your way to real freedom. more…
* The Desire Grows – Humanity Evolves – Whether it is the tiniest movement of our body, or humanity’s entire evolution, all we do is motivated by one thing only – the desire for pleasure. more…
View/Download Kabbalah Today Issue 11:
* E-version
* PDF version
* Word version
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