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A question I received: Islam also offers a method of attaining adhesion with the Creator - Sufism. And it’s also based on the same principle as Kabbalah – love thy neighbor. So if the main thing is to correct one’s egoism, to build a screen, then isn’t it possible for a person who’s following Islam to become corrected just like someone following Kabbalah?

My Answer: It’s your right to check and verify which method suits you best. However, you should know that everything comes from Kabbalah - for more on this, see the part of the Torah that talks about how Abraham taught “partial Kabbalah” to the children of his mistresses - meaning Kabbalah without the attainment of the Upper World, and then he sent them to the east. If you checked it for yourself, without believing anyone else and regardless of your ethnic background, and you found that Sufism suits you best, then stay in it - there is no coercion in spirituality.

All faiths and religions came from Kabbalah, from the search for the Creator, in order for man to go through a preliminary development, to prepare him to attain the Creator through studying Kabbalah. It’s written, “The peel (Klipa) protects the fruit” – it protects it from being destroyed until it ripens, and then the peel is removed and the fruit eaten. And this is what’s happening in our time!

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 The Difference Between Kabbalah, Science and Religion [05:24m]: Play Now | Download

 

 The Difference Between Faith and Kabbalah [03:27m]: Play Now | Download

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Three questions I received on shame and overcoming:

Question: In one of the lessons you teach, you said: “You have to do something that you will be ashamed of. Otherwise you won’t have any impressions (Havchanot).” What is this shame you’re talking about?

My Answer: It’s something you’ll understand in more advanced states. It’s practically impossible to explain, since it is attained from within. But you shouldn’t do anything shameful on purpose. The Creator will “set you up” as to reveal all of your worthless nature to you. Thanks to such a horrible revelation of your nature within you, you will desire to rid yourself of it with all your strength. And this desire - your request for correction - will be realized by the Creator. All the stages of correction will become revealed gradually, one by one, to the extent of your efforts. All you can do is accelerate this development through diligence and patience.

Question: Is shame the sensation of the revelation of evil within me? And in that case is the prayer for help during the lesson, a prayer to rise above yourself, with the purpose of attaining adhesion?

My Answer: That’s right. Shame is a sensation given from above, and as soon as you receive it, a desire appears - not simply a desire to avoid it, since such a desire is egoistic, but a desire to rise above it. Thanks to this, you attain a connection with, and adhesion to, the Creator. Moreover, you feel gratitude to the Creator for everything, including the sensation of shame He evoked within you, and you justify Him for doing this to you.

Question: Abraham endured a physical test. He overcame it, and this gave him the understanding that he fears the Creator. Do we, today, also receive all our tests only physically? That is to say, in order to attain the level of fear, will I also have to go through such a great test, which will show me that I fear the Creator?

My Answer: Just like Abraham, you will also go through these tests, but they will never be physical - only spiritual.

Related Material:
Chapter 23 from the Book Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Spiritual Work
Chapter 1.10 from the Book The Path of Kabbalah: Faith Above Reason
Baal HaSulam Articles on the Inner Work with Corresponding Lessons
eBook: Attaining the Worlds Beyond

 

 Lesson on the Article "There Is None Else Beside Him" [55:21m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson on the Article "There Is None Else Beside Him" [55:21m]: Play Now | Download

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On April 22, 2008 a rather negative review of the book Meeting Kabbalah, published in Hebrew by the Bnei Baruch organization, appeared in Israel’s most elite newspaper, Ha’aretz. Meeting Kabbalah is a collection of my talks with Israeli writers, actors, musicians, singers and social activists.

When we asked the newspaper’s editorial staff about the negative review, its reviewer, Tomer Persiko, responded with five questions, in which he disagreed with our statements. Here they are:
1. You assert that all methods besides Kabbalah are based on lowering a person. Have you tried all these methods? If not, then what are you basing your statements on?
2. You insist that Kabbalah has existed since the times of Abraham, but modern researchers say that it was founded in the thirteenth century and their works confirm this. Do you have proof of your opinion?
3. You insist that The Book of Zohar was written by Rashbi in the second century CE, while modern researchers say that it was written by a group of Kabbalists under the guidance of Rabbi Moshe de Leon in the thirteenth century, and they produce proof of their assertions. Do you have proof of your assertions?
4. You assert that Kabbalah is a science, but in what sense is it a science if it is based on metaphysical assumptions (for example, the existence of the Sefirot), whose existence cannot be proven?
5. You insist that “the only way a person can reach a connection with the Creator is through a group,” meaning - a Kabbalistic group under your leadership. But you are not willing to accept homosexuals into your group, and advise them to reach a connection with the Creator on their own. How can you respond to this contradiction?

How would you respond to these five questions?

Filed under: Israel - 5 Comments →

A question I received: When disseminating Kabbalah in Arabic, should we hide the fact that Kabbalah is the Jews’ “property,” so to speak, so that we don’t arouse antipathy and repel them from it? What will Arabs in Israel and the world think about people who disseminate Kabbalah? How do you think we should disseminate to them?

My Answer: We have to disseminate Kabbalah in the whole world, to all nations. We are all children of the Creator, and we received this wisdom at a time when we were all one human race in Ancient Babylon. At that time, there was a sudden outburst of egoism, and one man, a Babylonian priest named Abraham, researched this phenomenon and discovered what was causing it.

Egoism, as Abraham found, was the cause of disharmony among people, and it had to keep evolving in humanity, constantly and gradually, through four phases (HaVaYaH), until reaching its maximum level, from the year 1995 and on. Humanity would then start finding out that egoism is an evil distinct from us, and would desire to eradicate it.

At that time, people would need the method of correcting egoism, and this is what Abraham had discovered all those years ago. This method is called “Kabbalah.” During his life, Abraham organized only a small group of students who adopted and practiced this method, and this group developed throughout history until the time when the method would be needed by everyone – the 21st century.

Throughout its history, this group went through many ascents and descents and collided with the nations of the world, in order to adapt the method to their evolving egoism. And this all took place in order to realize Kabbalah in our era. Now is the time for Kabbalah to be disseminated to the whole world, and applied by by those same ancient Babylonians who have settled all over the Earth since the time of Abraham.

The Zohar explains the collision between Jews and Arabs today, and these events prove the book’s authenticity. Bnei Baruch maintains a large website in Arabic. Its students include Israeli Arabs as well as Arabs from all the Arabic countries, and we receive many letters and questions from them.

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A question I received on my post Hyperactive Children – the Result of Evolving Egoism: I don’t understand your use of the term “egoistic.” And it becomes more confusing to me when used in opposition to the word “altruistic.”

Can you perhaps explain more as to what we did wrong back in Babylon when we decided to go the route that placed us here today - and more importantly how we can fix this problem going forward.

My Answer: Abraham discovered that his fellow citizens in Ancient Babylon (the city of Ur, to be more precise, where he used to live) had an increasing tendency to use each other for egoistic reasons.

Through analyzing this problem, he discovered why it was happening: egoism constantly grows so that people can rise above it, and use their ascent for altruistic growth (like elevating over a constantly growing mountain that’s under our feet). Such a principle of existence is referred to as “faith above reason” - giving over receiving. Regardless of Abraham’s attempts to convince the Babylonian residents to realize the law of nature that was disclosed to them, they chose otherwise. They chose the path of compliance with egoism, and submitted to it: I do what I want, as much as it is possible for me to do so.

Today, this path has brought us to a dead end. We now need to accept upon ourselves this method of correction, either involuntary or on our own accord.

Related Material:
* ARTICLE: Havoc in Modern-Day Babylon - the idea of unity among all human beings is no more to us than an imaginary children’s story. Back in babylon, someone had a way for humanity to unite. Today, our world needs such a method more than ever.

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

The threat of a geo-political catastrophe, brought about by the clash of the Christian and Muslim civilizations, forces each of them to guard itself by preventing the other’s expansion. The rational West and the irrational East consider each other wrong, and are unwilling to understand one another. The East does not accept the ideas of the Western civilization (democracy, equality, and freedom) as coming from man. They understand them as coming from the Creator. Islam believes that the Koran dictates the world’s proper structure, and that only the Muslims are a nation of God. In the Muslim world, politics and religion are united, and hence even a purely political change is perceived as a threat to their religion and way of life. Salvation lies in complementing one another, rather than eliminating each other. But it’s impossible to achieve this, so there’s no solution!

According to Kabbalah, the Creator’s governance is realized in three lines:
1. Abraham - the right line,
2. Isaac - the left line, and
3. Jacob - the middle line.

Klipat Abraham is Ishmael (Islam), and Klipat Isaac is Esau (Christianity). There’s also a Klipa of the middle line, of Israel - those who oppose “faith above reason” or “Lishma.”

The clash of the right and the left lines is inevitable, and they can only be reconciled by the middle line - by Jacob (Katnut, or “the small state”), or Israel (or, “the large state”). Put differently, only the spreading of Kabbalah in the world can bring the world to peace, conciliation and tranquility. Otherwise, what lies ahead is the fall of the Western and the Eastern civilizations. The only remedy for this world is to understand that it’s necessary to attain love for one’s neighbor in order to attain adhesion with the Creator, eternity, and perfection.

My Current Mood: optimistic

Filed under: World - 2 Comments →

A question I received: Why do you reveal all of this secret knowledge to gentiles?

My Answer: I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the original sources: Baal HaSulam’s articles “Messiah’s Horn” and “The Arvut.”

A mutual guarantee (Arvut) among a single nation is capable of initiating the correction of the whole world. Likewise, all nations are incapable of carrying out this correction simultaneously. It is as the sages said: The Creator offered the Torah to all nations (through Abraham in ancient Babylon), but they declined the offer, because the magnitude of their egoism, their self-love, made it impossible for them to accept it.

Thus, Abraham created a group of Babylonians (people with desires for spirituality) who were ready and willing to renounce their egoism, and this group became known as the nation of Israel. The only difference between the Babylonians in this group and other Babylonians of that era was that Abraham’s group accepted upon themselves the method of rising above their egoism. Moreover, Abraham, who was a Babylonian priest, became the first Kabbalist. Therefore, by accepting upon themselves the required guarantee (Arvut), the nation of Israel was obligated to be the chosen people among all other nations.

In any case, the correction of the whole world will take place when all nations unite in their aspiration toward the Creator, and the Creator will reveal Himself to all nations. It is as it is written: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Creator, and all of the nations will flock to Him.” As such, the nation of Israel holds the responsibility for leading humanity to love for thy neighbor, and ultimately, to the goal of creation, which is to merge with the Creator.

My Current Mood: energetic

Related Material:
* ARTICLE: Who Is to Blame? - Selected pieces from a discussion on Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”

Filed under: Israel - 3 Comments →

A question I received: Do you really think that the world will ever take Kabbalah seriously? It is absolutely irrational. Besides, claiming that Kabbalah is the one and only truth discredits it in the eyes of the scientific community and aggravates the masses.

My Answer: You know, the title of my PhD dissertation was “Kabbalah as a Form of Irrational Consciousness.” I had to write “irrational” in order to say “the system of total interconnection in the universe,” because a person living in today’s modern world doesn’t yet understand or feel this system.

Today, a person thinks that taking care of himself is reasonable and rational. Kabbalah, on the other hand, explains the universe as an integrated system, and as such, states that all problems must be solved based on a common coherent system of all the worlds, including our world.

Let’s say that today, in light of the planet’s threatening state, we could decide together (or place our trust in some sage) on what is beneficial for the complete system, even if we just decide with regard to our planet, without Kabbalah or the Creator. As a result of such unconscious attempts to connect with the system of Adam ha Rishon (the system of souls), we would begin to feel the Upper world - the altruistic links between us. This altruistic connection to one another is the quality of the Creator.

I believe that humanity will come to assess reality with such objectivity, that personal and national issues will take a back seat or disappear altogether from our field of consideration. This is because solutions will come by themselves when we deal with the system as a whole, when everything is measured from the standpoint of the WHOLE of humanity.

Kabbalah is the one and only truth, because no other science in the world today speaks about and examines the whole world as a single organism. Even today, we are not yet thinking like Abraham was thinking 4,500 years ago.

* Kabbalah as a Root of All Sciences
* Kabbalah as Compared with Other Sciences

 

 VIDEO: Michael Laitman Meets Scientists from the Film "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" [30:14m]: Play Now | Download

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It’s obvious that there is something special about the children born today: they are especially egoistic, shrewd and intelligent. They want to know “why” they have to do something an adult tells them, and only then do they agree to it, i.e. if they agree at all (usually they don’t!) They’re a completely new generation, with no desire to “succeed” in life, i.e. in our understanding of the term. First they need to prove to themselves that life has meaning. Otherwise, isn’t it better to just escape into drugs, various pleasures, and their own virtual world, rather than put in all sorts of efforts? What’s the point anyway?

We can’t handle them. We can’t restrain their egoism, and we can’t answer their questions. For these reasons, adults use all the means at their disposal to try and tame the new generation - in particular, to tame their hyperactivity. Hyperactivity, however, only seems hyper to adults. It’s quite normal for the new generation.

Many children regularly have permanent damage inflicted upon them through the use of addictive medications, such as Ritalin. These medications cause up to 70 side effects, including suicidal impulses, psychoses and arrhythmia, which parents aren’t warned of beforehand. Such medications are registered as narcotic substances, and are therefore considered as being dangerous drugs. At any rate, the practice of teachers who force parents to prescribe their children with Ritalin, under the fear of their children being expelled from school, is unacceptable. (There is another opinion that Ritalin is not a drug, because it doesn’t cause “withdrawals,” meaning one does not become physically dependent on it.)

Parents themselves can no longer manage their children, and are ready for anything! For example, according to the New York Times, when New York State authorities decided to stop the use of electroshock therapy on problematic children, they were confronted by the parents who insisted that electroshock isn’t actually cruel, that it teaches children to behave.

Kabbalah tells us that we live in a unique transitional period of reevaluating our evolution. In Ancient Babylon, where our evolution began, we made a decision to evolve egoistically. This decision was in spite of Abraham’s advice, who called for humanity’s altruistic evolution. And so we started evolving egoistically, under the influence of egoistic forces. Today, we are discovering that we have come to a dead end. We realize that we have positioned ourselves against Nature (the Creator). Kabbalah, Abraham’s testament, is becoming revealed to the world as a method for a different kind of existence: one that is integral, filled with love, and in balance with Nature. Kabbalah tells us that suffering will force us to accept Abraham’s way of existence, but that we don’t need to suffer. We can change our civilization by recognizing the oncoming global crisis and putting the wisdom of Kabbalah to use.

Are we wise enough to make the right choice?

Filed under: Education - 3 Comments →

Kabbalah is the science of revealing Nature (the Creator). It was discovered by Abraham, as a result of his research into egoism’s growth within human nature. He was a Babylonian priest who focused his attention on the increasing egoism in his nation. Abraham revealed the complete picture of Nature (the Universe). Subsequent Kabbalists complemented his research with their own, adding details and developing the method of attaining Nature for anyone who so desired. Such development continues into our times: Since egoism constantly develops, within each individual’s lifetime, as well as from generation to generation, so the method of attainment is being expanded and perfected. Today, we’re developing a method that will allow the masses to master Nature/the Creator.

It is true for all sciences, that every new scientific discovery had always existed, but was unknown to us beforehand. Since egoism is growing, there are also new discoveries in Kabbalah - with regard to the people who are attaining them.

My Current Mood: energetic

Filed under: Science - 1 Comment →