Man’s egoism hates the wisdom of Kabbalah since it talks about love of others. Yet, in order to nevertheless bring man closer to the state opposite to his ego, religions were invented. This provided an opportunity to use the “wisdom of Kabbalah” (as it were) in various false forms, which allowed people to develop egoistically.

Religion elevates a person above his animalistic existence by espousing that there is a Creator, punishment and reward in this world and the next one, and eternity of his soul. It gives a person a glimpse into something higher, no matter how false it may be. However, people begin to build around it various theories, philosophies, and methodologies, and thereby develop art and culture, striving to become greater. Thus, through religions, humanity develops in its ego, in order to finally realize, during our time, that it is in exile from true spirituality.

When 2000 years ago we lost our spiritual ways, having fallen from love of others to unfounded hatred to all, we didn’t feel the fall because people were used to the presence of the Creator in their existence. But humanity needs to feel the bottomless depth of our downfall and the total disconnection from spirituality! To achieve this, it needs the Light to shine on it and reveal its state as darkness.

Since we do not have a desire for love of others, instead of being given the Torah (the Light that Reforms), we are given the Torah in the form of religion of this world, which is when we use the Torah with egoistic intentions and not in order to attain love for the others.

Studying the Torah with egoistic intentions, a person only more deeply immerses into the darkness of his egoism, until he reaches a state in which he becomes aware of the darkness and the fact that instead of loving the others, he is conceited and hateful towards them. We have to undergo this process in order to realize the evil nature of our egoism. The Creator says: “I created the evil inclination,” and we have to find it within ourselves.

Then I will be in need of the Torah, as a remedy for the correction of my ego, and I will lament. This won’t be a mere religion but the Light that Reforms and brings us to bestowal and love.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/10, Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Religion Is A Reverse Connection With Spirituality
Laitman.com Post: All The Different Religions Are A Reflection Of Our Disunity
Laitman.com Post: Where To Flip Your Main Switch

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Religion - No Comments →

Religion was given to the nation of Israel during the exile so that the nation would realize the evil nature of egoism and develop the need for the Light that Reforms. All other nations had to evolve by means of their own religions and beliefs. Back in ancient Babylon, Abraham “gave presents (belief systems) to the children of his concubines and sent them to the East.” The nations nearby received these “presents” in the form of the world religions Christianity and Islam. They are considered presents because they stem from the Creator and their mission is to bring people closer to Him. Their followers, too, are called to help man realize the evil nature of his egoism.

All religions are a “reverse” connection with spirituality. This link ultimately shows us that we are opposite to spirituality. Gradually, we reveal that our egoism has developed to the point of no return; it is like a cancerous tumor that consumes us. This is revealed with the Light’s help. All of our historical development occurred by the influence of the Upper Light. The Light does everything by acting toward us directly or in its reverse form.

The Light develops our egoism and gradually elucidates its own nature to us. It lets us see that we exist in the evil, egoistic nature and that we distinguish only darkness which is only what is beneficial to us. We slowly realize egoism to be evil, as the reason for all evil in the world. By seeing all of it, we then strive for goodness.

These are all necessary stages of our development.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/10, “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: All The Different Religions Are A Reflection Of Our Disunity
Laitman.com Post: Transition Toward A New World
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Religion - No Comments →

The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 368: When Rabbi Elazar was sitting while fasting, he was praying and said, “It is revealed and known to You, the Lord my God and the God of my fathers, that I have sacrificed my fat and my blood to You, and I boiled them with the warmth of the weakness of my body.”

There is a tremendous difference in whether I read these words from a prayer book, or something happens inside of me that causes an explosion from within, an outburst toward the Creator.

The feelings form inside of me, and they build into the words and phrases. I may not even know this language. I don’t know how it happens, but it is the consequence of my effort to equalize my desires with the Light and unite with It. The reaction of the Light and the desires occurs in the soul. These words are realized in my brain, the brain transmits the orders to the organs of speech, and I utter the words without knowing where they came from.

This is what true prayer should be like, when everything comes from within. From the union of the Lights and the Kelim inside the depth of creation, gradually with the fulfillment of the desire by the Light, the whole TANTA (a full Kli – Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiot) is built, until it reaches an expression through the organs of speech.

It is clear that Rabbi Elazar did not read this prayer from a prayer book, but he uttered it while existing in this state about which he spoke to the Creator. Before the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel was connected with the Creator, in the qualities of bestowal and love, thus the feeling in Rabbi Elazar’s heart, in his desire, constituted a prayer. It is written: “What is a prayer? It is work in the heart.”

However, the sages of the Great Assembly (Anshei Kneset Agdola) were aware of the imminent descent into egoism and concealment of the Creator. Thus they gathered a collection of prayers – states that a person needs to reach. They called it “Siddur,” the order of spiritual states that we need to go through inside, in our hearts, in our desires.

But since we are incapable of doing this during the exile, without a connection to the Light or the Creator, while the Upper Force is concealed, we read the words from a prayer book mechanically. Some people try to imagine what it could mean spiritually. Yet only while studying Kabbalah will the Light provoke the feelings, thoughts, sensations, words, and phrases of our prayer inside us, as work in the heart, rather than work in the organs of speech.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Order Of Spiritual Ascent
Laitman.com Post: The Spiritual Induction
Laitman.com Post: To Pray Means To Reveal The Quality Of Love And Bestowal Inside You

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Religion, Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: Why is work forbidden on the Sabbath?

My Answer: If a person prepares himself by working the six weekdays, he reaches the understanding that the Sabbath is a state of perfection, and there is no need to interfere with it. If he hasn’t prepared himself properly during the week, he doesn’t see perfection in the Sabbath, and thereby corrupts it. He doesn’t realize he is spoiling the Sabbath, thinking mistakenly that he is adding to perfection by correcting his life and state.

On the contrary, after proper preparation and correction during the weekdays, a person suddenly sees that everything was perfect from the beginning. He only corrected himself in order to see this perfection. He did nothing but correct his own vision or perception, and in so doing, revealed the perfection of an additional part of creation or Infinity.

Then it is obvious that there is no need to do any further work now; there is nothing to interfere with. Therefore, a person works on every level, corrects himself, reveals a part of Infinity, and sees it as perfect. Then he works again, reveals another part of Infinity, and again he sees it as perfect. This is why on the Sabbaath he is called righteous.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Year In A Few Minutes
Shamati #125: “Who Delights the Shabbat” – Lesson
The Book of Zohar: “The Fourteenth Commandment”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Religion - No Comments →

In the News (From Vesti.ru): “Starting April 1st 2010, schools in nineteen Russian school districts will begin to teach a new subject: The Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics. The curriculum covers the four main religious movements, world religions and secular ethics. …Study content includes topics like love, friendship, guilt and forgiveness. The subject breaks down into six blocks: Orthodox culture, Islamic culture, foundations of Buddhism and Judaism, the study of world religions, and secular ethics. …Parents will choose what classes they want their children to take, and the students will be placed accordingly.”

My Comment: Religion has always led to hatred and wars, terror and separation. The Creator gave only one decree: the commandment to "Love thy neighbor as thyself." All other laws are only implementations of this one, general law of nature.

All religions and beliefs are inventions of the human ego. That is why they cause opposition, evoke hatred and speculation of excess, buying off hell and accepting cash for an entry to paradise. We mustn’t dress a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Religion is the greatest manifestation of the human ego; it will only cause hatred and a disconnection between the students. See Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose.” "Our religion" does not mean Judaism: It is the religion of love and bestowal to all.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Realizing The True Essence of Religion
Laitman.com Post: Cultural Inventions Of Humanity
Article: "Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings"

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

Rambam (1135-1202), Mishneh Torah, “The Laws of Idolatry,” Chapter 1 (abridged):

1. The sages in the days of Enoch and Enoch himself decided that since God created the stars and heavenly spheres in order to govern the world, they are His faithful servants. Thus the stars are worthy of praise, and it corresponds to God’s will.

2. With this idea in mind, they started to build temples for the stars, make sacrifices to them, and laud them. All of it was done with the aim of fulfilling the Creator’s will. This marked the beginning of idolatry.

3. Thus idol worshipers do not claim that a concrete star is a god. Everybody knows that only You are God. Yet people err in that they consider the unwarranted actions to be fulfillment of Your will.

4. Many days have passed and false prophets have surfaced. They started telling that God ordered them to convey to the people: “Serve some star, make sacrifices to it, build temples to it, and create its image so that people could worship it.” They showed the people a certain form that they themselves invented and said, “This is an image imparted on me in prophesy.”

5. This is how they started creating images in temples and gathering there for worship. They suggested to the people that the image can bring evil or good, and one should fear or serve it. The cult servants convinced them: “Propagate the service and it will bring you luck; do this or that, or don’t do this or that.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: You Shall Not Make For Yourself An Idol
The Kabbalah Experience: “Beliefs, Mysticism and The Supernatural”
The Path of Kabbalah: “The Great Illusion”

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

A question I received: My friends sent me a video clip, “The Western Wall,” that was presented on a Christian video club site. There are sequences including footage of you that was shot at Baal HaSulam’s tomb. Could you please comment on this?

My Answer: Our archives contain movies that were shot during our trips to great Kabbalistic sites in 1999 including Safed and the Idra Raba cave. The titles of the movies are, The Nights of Kabbalah and We, Bnei Baruch. I have no idea where the creators of the video clip in question got the footage.

We’re well-known; many people study our concepts and materials. I’ve already mentioned in this blog that people write dissertations about us in universities all over the world (for example, at Cairo University). Also, in the United States, I’ve lectured at many universities, and there are quite a few people who study our activities. We have a large educational organization in the Midwest, in  St. Louis, that accommodates many Protestant and Catholic students. We’re open to everyone.

By all means, one can continue observing his own religion and stick to his or her traditions, but, in order to correct our egoism and advance spiritually, we have to study Kabbalah. Imagine that two things are excluded from each religion: 1) teachings about “afterlife” and 2) rules of controlling our destiny (which, by the way, have nothing to do with any religion). Without these two major elements, any religion simply turns into a set of routine traditions and becomes a sort of a “weekend get-together club.” There is nothing else to it.

“Afterlife” is revealed to a person through our current reality by attracting the Light while studying Kabbalah. It’s possible to control our destiny only by attracting Ohr Makif (the Surrounding Light) and by using The Book of Zohar, each and every one of us, for our personal benefit.

Kabbalists aren’t against any religion, but intend to treat them rather as cultural inventions of humankind and not more than that. If we stick to this approach, spiritual exploitation and religious dictatorship will cease to exist and humankind will attain enlightenment.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Roots Of The Traditions Of This World
Article: The Difference between the Science of Kabbalah and Religion
Video: The Difference Between Kabbalah and Religion (3:26)

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

A question I received: I always thought that BB was a non-religious organization and that it never forced secular people to follow religious traditions, but recently I heard that you are following Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) during Passover. Please explain. Also, please give us your opinion on whether you suggest that everybody should follow the tradition.

My Answer: We are an educational organization and have nothing to do with religion of any kind. We are based strictly and exclusively on the principles of Kabbalah as they are stated in three authentic Kabbalistic sources:  The Zohar, the works of the Ari, and those of Baal HaSulam (Rabash). We follow their advice in everything. If you have any concerns, please ask us and insist that we show you our source of information.

Even though Bnei Baruch is not a religious organization and doesn’t follow any religious traditions (“commandments” – Mitzvot), we still are practicing the actions that in our world constitute the branches that stem from spiritual roots. On the surface it looks like we observe Judaic tradition, but in fact they originate from totally different intentions and aim at internal and external connection with their spiritual roots.

I strongly advise you to re-read the “Passover Story” and Ari’s commentary to it, The Gates of Intention (Shaar HaKavanot).  You will understand why by observing specific actions we become elevated over our egoism (see also Baal HaSulam’s article “This Is for Judah.”)

Abraham’s group started to follow “irrational” earthly rituals after they managed to produce spiritual actions within their corrected desires and clarified their bodily analogies. They perceived spiritual and earthly actions as one whole (the root and the branch or the cause and the consequence).

When we fell from the level of spiritual understanding of the commandments (destruction of the Second Temple), we continued to follow only our bodily traditions rather than spiritual and physical actions interlaced together. That’s when the religions of this world were initiated.

Today we have to attain the spiritual world and reveal the spiritual actions. This will transform our customary traditions into spiritual actions. Instead of performing forceful or mechanical actions we will act consciously and will clearly see the impact of our actions onto the Upper World. That is, the attainment comes first; it is followed by the actions that stem from it.

I wish you all to “exit Egypt” and to get correct intentions while you are at the festive dinner table!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Learning About The Upper World From The Lower World
Laitman.com Post: An Elixir Of Life Or A Deadly Poison
Shamati #122: “Understanding What Is Written in Shulchan Aruch”

Filed under: Holidays, Religion - No Comments →

Two questions I received concerning Jewish mixed marriages and Jewish ancestry:

Question: If there are any problems in mixed (Jew and non-Jew) families then religious representatives of Judaism say that these marriages were prohibited by the Creator. Why then did the Almighty create so many mixed families?

My Answer: I don’t see problems in mixed families. Today, most families in America and Russia are mixed. If one spouse doesn’t become religious then there are no conflicts. Kabbalah is above religions and talks about unification of all in one Creator.  Religions were invented by people and thus separate them.

Question: Recently I found out that I am Jewish from my father’s side whose ancestors lived in Portugal in the Middle Ages and were forced by the Inquisition to either convert to Christianity or leave the country. They were called “marans.” How should I relate to it?

My Answer: Don’t change anything; continue to live your life as before. There are millions of people like you in the world. All will reach adhesion and equivalence of form with the Creator and with each other.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Most Important Thing Is to Correct Your Soul
Laitman.com Post: Religion Is A Cultural Tradition, Kabbalah Is The Method Of Correction
Laitman.com Post: Together We’ll Rise To New Spiritual Degrees
Kabbalah Today Article: New Jersey’s “Courier Post” Interviews Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
Video: The Law of Equivalence of Form (4:10)

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

In the News (translated from ISRUS): “Pilgrimage to Ukraine: The Jews Fell to Paganism?” – Annual “migration” of Chasidic pilgrims to Ukraine proves that their inner world is empty. Leaving wives and children at home and running away with the guys for a holiday no matter where – that is really an adventure! This illusory bridge conceals the emptiness wrapped up in a packaging called “faith.”
My Comment: Kabbalah talks about the immaterial and abstract Creator who will take the place of all the icons and pictures, replacing exaggerated customs with inner contemplation of the Creator in the corrected self.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: In The Modern Era, The Psychological Support Of Religion Is No Longer Enough
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is The Revelation Of The Creator To The Entire World
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Merging with the Creator”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →