Entries in the 'kabbalist' Category

Financial Crisis Causes Spike In Anti-Semitism

Financial Crisis Causes Spike In Anti-SemitismNews Report (from PRNewswire): NEW YORK, Oct. 2 — In the wake of the collapse of major investment banks and the government’s proposed bailout of financial institutions, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy.

Hundreds of anti-Semitic posts regarding Lehman Brothers and other institutions affected by the sub prime mortgage crisis have been submitted to discussion boards dealing with finance, with many more arriving by the minute. The messages rail against Jews in general, with some charging that Jews control the government and finance as part of a “Jew world order” and therefore are to blame for the economic turmoil.

My Comment: Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” items 66-71, (summary):

When the people of Israel make efforts to elevate the soul, then the nations of the world recognize this and value them. But when the people of Israel lower the greatness of spirituality, they cause the nations of the world to prevail over them, to accuse and humiliate them.

Spirituality can only be elevated through the study of Kabbalah. Then the nations of the world acknowledge that Israel is special, because it has the method to correct the world. But when the people of Israel do not engage in elevating the goal of creation, then the nations of the world degrade them, considering them useless and harmful to the world.

Hence, Israel’s fate depends only on the study of Kabbalah, and its entire descent was caused by the neglect of Kabbalah. Woe to them who neglect Kabbalah - their actions cause hunger, poverty, war, violence, pillage, killings and destruction in the world.

The Talmud says, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.”

The Tikkuney Zohar says: “Woe to them who cause poverty and ruin and robbery and killings in the whole world.”

But if they will reveal the method of correction to themselves and the world, then all the nations of the world will recognize the importance of Israel and they shall carry out the words: “And the nations of the world shall take Israel, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall posses them in the land of the Lord” ((Isaiah 14:2). And the words of The Book of Zohar will come true: “That through this composition, which is The Book of Zohar, they will be freed from spiritual exile by the Creator’s mercy” (Nasah 124). Amen!

Additional Comment: However, it’s also possible for things to take a different turn. The “patriotic” forces of every country, combined with the middle class that has fallen into poverty, may create a situation similar to Germany in 1929, when people will start demanding a powerful centralized government and compensation for their degraded state. This is how Fascism and Nazism arise.

Baal HaSulam writes about this alternative to the path of Kabbalah in the book “The Future Generation.” Russia is perhaps closest to this than any other country.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: The Writings of the Last Generation
Laitman.com Post: Where Is the World Going - Nazism or Global Unity?
Kabbalah Today Article: Unraveling the Zohar - a Wakeup Call

 
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A Song In Memory of Rabash

A Song in Memory of RabashToday is the anniversary of my Teacher’s passing (Yahrtzeit). Rabash was a great Kabbalist, the last in the lineage of the passage of the Knowledge of the Creator, from Adam until our times. This lineage ended with Rabash, Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (1906 - 1991).

We, “Bnei Baruch” (“The Sons of Baruch”), are named after him, and we reveal this knowledge (the method of the souls’ correction) to our generation, the first generation of correction. We are bringing this knowledge to the point of practical use: private and common correction, and are creating a structure for the Kabbalistic society of the future.

Here is a song called “Teacher,” composed by my student from Russia, Igor Irtishky, with lyrics by Dina Baiter.

 
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Physical Qualities Cannot Give You an Advantage in Spiritual Development

Physical Qualities Cannot Give You an Advantage In Spiritual DevelopmentQuestions I received on different colored Light, Kabbalistic prophets, whether physical qualities can give one an advantage in spiritual development, and more:

Question: Right now I am studying the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” where it talks about green Light, red Light, and so on. Is this talking about my impressions of the white Light?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: Why doesn’t Kabbalah have its own prophet?

My Answer: Any Kabbalist who has attained the level of communication with the Creator is a prophet.

Question: Who is the source of information?

My Answer: The Creator, the Light.

Question: Can one’s ability to feel the desires of his neighbor through body language help him feel the spiritual desires of his neighbor? Wouldn’t this mean that these abilities give him an additional skill and prowess in being able to realize himself spiritually?

My Answer: No! There are no physical qualities that can give you an advantage in spiritual development.

Question: Is it possible to create a search of “groups by region” on your website?

My Answer: You can find the contact information of groups all over the world here.

Question: How do I identify my true “I”?

My Answer: In relation to the Creator.

Question: How do I know that I am not lying to myself?

My Answer: In relation to the group.

Question: What’s the difference between the animate and the spiritual “I?”

My Answer: “For your own sake” or “for the sake of others.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Eastern Teachings Have No Connection With Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Equality and Brotherhood Are the Means of Attaining Spirituality
Kabbalah Today Article - A Prophet in His Own Country
“Preface to the Book of Zohar” - Lesson 2
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 3 - “Receiving for the Sake of Giving”

The Only Books That Can Correct Egoism In Our Generation Are Baal HaSulam’s

The Only Books That Can Help Correct Egoism In Our Generation Are Baal HaSulam'sA question I received: You say that the only important thing to reveal the Light while reading a text is the intention to reveal the Light, to change ourselves and to become like the Creator. So, if I have this intention but I read other spiritual books like the Gospel, Dharmapada or the Quran, if I read them with the intention to change, will I change and reveal the Light? I find some of these books very emotional and I feel that they help me to change just like Kabbalistic books do.

My Answer: The fact is that Kabbalistic books were written by people who attained the Upper World or the Creator through their corrected qualities, and who then wrote their books from that spiritual level. The same people also drew special connections between their writings and our world.

Hence, if we want to raise our qualities to their spiritual level, to become similar to them or to the Creator (which is the same thing), then the Light of their spiritual levels descends from those levels to us only when we study their books, which describe the qualities of their levels. This Light shines on us from afar, gradually reforming us to match the qualities of these levels (qualities).

It says in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that the authors of the Talmud made special spiritual corrections so that when we study their books, we can receive Upper Light (Ohr Makif) from the study. No other means can help us reform ourselves, and this has been verified for millennia! In our days, the only thing that can withstand the egoism of our generation, the only texts that can help correct our souls, are the compositions of Baal HaSulam. The choice is yours.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Which Books Correct Us?
Laitman.com Post: It’s Time to Implement Baal HaSulam’s Dream - In Virtual Space!
Laitman.com Post: The Condition of Entering the Upper World Is Mutual Guarantee
Kabbalah Today Article: Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) – 1884-1954
Article - “Kabbalah as a Root of All Sciences”

 
icon for podpress  Kabbalah Books [2:59m]: Play Now | Download

 
icon for podpress  Great Kabbalists Throughout History [5:41m]: Play Now | Download

The True Meaning of “Observing Torah and Mitzvot”

Observing Torah and Mitzvot Means Correcting One's Natural Intentions to the Intentions of BestowalQuestions I received on the goal, the Ten Commandments, humor, Aviut, the point in the heart, and Torah and Mitzvot:

Question: One of our salutatory expressions is: “One Goal!” What singular word best sums up that one goal?

My Answer: Dvekut (adhesion).

Question: What is the Kabbalistic meaning of the Ten Commandments?

My Answer: Correction of the ten fundamental qualities of the soul.

Question: Could you please elaborate on how Aviut changes its qualities during Zivug de-Haka’a in each of the five levels, and what happens with Kashiut alongside?

My Answer: I explain this in great detail in my book The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha).

Question: Does humor have any value in the spiritual world?

My Answer: Yes, because it’s created by a combination of opposites.

Question: Can a Kabbalist see whose point in the heart has truly awakened?

My Answer: Yes. But more importantly, the person must feel this on his own and realize his point in the heart. He can do this by developing it in a group (being in contact with other points) and through study.

Question: In the Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot, Baal HaSulam says that observing Torah and Mitzvot is the attainment of real life. What does it mean to observe Torah and Mizvot for someone who isn’t religious and has no Jewish cultural background?

My Answer: It means to correct one’s natural intentions in all of one’s actions, from “for the sake of oneself” to the intention “for the sake of others.” This is done by means of Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) that descends onto a person during the study of Kabbalah.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Solution - Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah and Humor
Laitman.com Post: Listening to a Kabbalah Lesson Each Time Like It’s Your First
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is for the Whole World
Chapter from The Open Book - “Freedom of Choice”
Shamati #25: “Things that Come from the Heart”
Buy the Book: The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha)

All the World’s “Wise People” Are In a Crisis

All the World's "Wise People" Are In a CrisisQuestion: I found some information on Kabbalistic Cosmology on The Alchemy Website. Would you please comment on this?

My Answer: Kabbalah was concealed for millennia so humanity wouldn’t become confused while it was developing egoistically, until it would grow disillusioned in egoistic development. During this period, many amateurs who dabbled in Kabbalah wrote an overabundance of books on it. And in our times it’s even more so – anyone who has the time of day for it (from “self-made experts” to philosophers) are writing anything they feel like about Kabbalah.

I study Kabbalah only from the primary source texts, written by authentic Kabbalists. If you want to know the truth, then all of the authentic Kabbalah, including the primary source texts, can be found on our website.

Question: Are there any innovative articles that explain Kabbalah in the light of mathematical and physical achievements? Perhaps these explanations will help people see Kabbalah in a new way, for example, by seeing how it relates to nuclear forces and particles, the theory of relativity, the numbers theory, chaos theory, and others.

My Answer: No, and I don’t think that this is necessary. People come to Kabbalah through the need of the soul, not through the desire to penetrate into subatomic particles.

Question: In regard to your blog entry, Why Did I Write About Rav Berg and the Kabbalah Centre on This Blog?, how is it known that there is only one true source of Kabbalah?

My Answer: There can’t be several because the Creator is one.

Question: What’s going on with the World Wisdom Council? We have not heard much as of late.

My Answer: To tell you the truth, I also don’t know what’s going on with them. I was interested in this council as long as there were opportunities to disseminate Kabbalah through it by participating in international forums - such as the ones that took place in Germany, Switzerland, and Japan. Today I no longer need this, since the most important thing today is dissemination on the Internet. All the world’s “wise people” are in a crisis!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Illuminati’s Coming to Get You… NOT!
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Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace In the World”
Chapter from the book The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha)

Why Isn’t Spirituality Attained Individually, but Through Mutual Guarantee?

Why Isn't Spirituality Attained Individually, but Through Mutual Guarantee?A question I received: Today the wisdom of Kabbalah isn’t passed down the way it was in the past, from a Rav to a student. Instead, it is implemented in a big group. Spirituality is attained in a group, where all 600,000 people reach attainment together like at Mount Sinai. Is it true that there are no more individuals who can attain spirituality by the old method? Is this the reason why the mutual guarantee, “love your neighbor as yourself” in a group is now the method for attaining equivalence with the Creator?

My Answer: Kabbalah was revealed by Abraham in ancient Babylon. It’s a method of correcting the egoism of the whole civilization, bringing it to equivalence with the Creator - eternal and perfect existence. However, since the people of Babylon did not want to correct their egoism, but wanted to develop egoistically, we have now reached the dead end of such development, just like The Book of Zohar predicted.

Today that entire Babylonian civilization has spread around the whole planet, and it is reaching the conclusion that it’s necessary to implement the method of egoism’s correction. There is simply no other way to go, as otherwise we will destroy ourselves. The way to implement the method of correction is for everyone to unite into one soul, to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In the Torah, this is explained as the condition of the Creator’s revelation at Mount Sinai.

Throughout the past 4000 years the method was preserved and adjusted to fit the times. This was done by a lineage of individual Kabbalists who lived in every generation. Today it is presented to us through the compositions of Baal HaSulam in a form that’s ready to use. I am a faithful student of Baal HaSulam’s oldest son, Rabash (as stated in Rabash’s obituary in the newspaper “HaModia” on September 15, 1991) and my role is to help people understand these materials.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Who Are You, People of Israel?
Kabbalah Today Article: Camp Mt. Sinai
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
Lecture at the Educational Center “Nekuda Shebalev”: Unconditional Love

 
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icon for podpress  Rabash: The Last Great Kabbalist [03:28m]: Play Now | Download

First Become a Scientist, and Then You Can Speak Against Science

First Become a Scientist, and Then You Can Speak Against ScienceA question I received: Four years ago I had a tremendous thirst for science and knowledge. I saw so much meaning in these things that I devoted my life to them and became a Doctorate student majoring in environmental law. But since I found out about Kabbalah in 2006, my values gradually changed from material to spiritual. The 2008 Congress in Israel played a major part in this. I see great spiritual meaning in Kabbalah and it has become my true goal. But what should I do with my corporeal science? I’m no longer interested in it because now I know that I can bring harmony to the surrounding world only by changing myself.

I have a problem now: I am unable to complete my dissertation on the environment the way I’d like to - by integrating Kabbalistic elements, because legal scholars consider that environmental problems can only be solved by developing legal regulations and programs, such as reducing carbon emissions, and so on. But I can already see that these means will be ineffective and pointless. I feel that instead of working on my science I want to work on translating Kabbalah texts and do something real like write for the mass media and disseminate in other ways.

So my question is: Should I continue writing my dissertation “the proper way” just to get a PhD, or should I drop out of the doctorate program?

My Answer: I also wrote my dissertation on the topic “Kabbalah as a Method of Irrational Attainment,” even though I personally find Kabbalah to be the most rational science of all. I had to write something that I personally disagreed with because otherwise I would never have defended my dissertation. But after I received my PhD, I gained an ability to speak on a different level - as a Doctor of Philosophy. When I appear at international forums and interviews, the fact that I have a PhD changes something in people’s consciousness. This is why I think that you have to complete your dissertation.

You cannot write “against science” while you aren’t a scientist yet. First you must become a scientist (get a PhD), and then you will be able to legitimately speak “against science” and offer your view of the problem and its solution. Do this step by step. Good luck to you, and I would be happy to work with you on your topic!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah and the Earthly Sciences
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Article: “Kabbalah as a Modern Science”
Book: Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life

 
icon for podpress  Quantum Physics and Kabbalah - a Lecture by Quantum Physicist Jeffrey Satinover, MD: Play Now | Download

 
icon for podpress  Jeffrey Satinover, MD Answers Questions on Kabbalah's connection to Quantum Physics: Play Now | Download

Which Books Correct Us?

Which Books Correct Us?Questions I received on Kabbalah books and how to study them:

Question: Why do Kabbalists advise us to read The Book of Zohar even if we don’t understand or attain what is written there?

My Answer: You can find the answer to this in item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: Five years ago you started studying The Book of Zohar with us. When do you plan to resume teaching The Book of Zohar?

My Answer: We study it for about an hour every week - see the media archive.

Question: The books that help to correct us are the books of the Ari, Baal HaSulam, and Rabash. But I cannot read them yet, and I’m not sure if I will be able to in the future. Can’t I advance by reading your books?

My Answer: Of course, my books also contain the force of spiritual advancement, but the books of our Teachers - Baal HaSulam and Rabash, are more universal and their Light is more powerful. Nevertheless, I agree with you that my explanations are closer to you and easier to understand. My advice is to read the texts of our Teachers, and then study my explanations.

Baal HaSulam did the same thing – he based his teaching on the texts of The Book of Zohar by Rashbi and the texts of the Ari. He took these books as a basis and wrote his commentaries to them. This is also how I teach: first we read the original texts, and then I give my commentary on them.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Shamati - The Most Valuable Book In the World
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We Raise the Entire Universe Up to the Creator

We Raise the Entire Universe Up to the CreatorA question I received: By disseminating Kabbalah you ascended spiritually and enabled Rabash to ascend even higher. This is why during his life Rabash did everything to make sure that you would continue to disseminate Kabbalah once he is gone - this was the purpose of his life. Before his death Rabash instructed you to continue disseminating Kabbalah. Does your dissemination of Kabbalah today play any role in Rabash’s afterlife?

My Answer: All the souls are absolutely interconnected. Even in our world studies already reveal that every one of us knows everyone else through a sixth acquaintance. Baal HaSulam explains that all the souls in our world go through correction over the course of 6,000 years, in the form of one Partzuf:

  • At first, during the first 2,000 years, the world, common soul, Kelim Chabad are corrected with the Light of Nefesh;
  • Next, over the second 2,000 years, the world, the common soul, Kelim Hagat are corrected with the Light of Ruach;
  • Finally, over the last 2,000 years (and we are living at the end of this period), the world, the common soul, Kelim NHY are corrected with the Light of Neshama.

By correcting ourselves we receive the smallest Light - Nefesh, but due to our correction in the first souls (the forefathers, the great Kabbalists of the past), our corrections reveal the greatest Light - Neshama. The Kabbalists of the past prepared all the conditions for our correction, but it is we who correct the broken (devoid of a screen, of the intention “for the sake of bestowal”) and the mixed (Bina and Malchut) Kelim (desires). Hence, we and our actions are the most important in the process of creation’s development. We raise the entire universe up to the Creator!

Related Material:

Laitman.com Post: The Reshimot Surfacing Today Demand Spiritual Ascent of All Humanity
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The Open Book, Chapter 7 - The Purpose of Reincarnation According to the Zohar