laitman.com

A comment I received: I’m shocked and moved to tears to find out that we are also potential Nazis. Why did great Kabbalists, who attained Gmar Tikkun (final correction), continue to take part in cruel slaughter and use of animals? How can it be possible that the exalted teaching of Kabbalah ignores cruelty to animals?

It’s obvious that it won’t correct anything in the soul if we were all to become vegetarian. But great Kabbalists corrected everything and did not become lovers of miserable animals. How can this be? Maybe there are 126 levels and the time of the complete Gmar Tikkun has arrived only now, when “love thy neighbor as yourself” will also include animals, plants and the still level of nature? As far as I understand with my simple mind, we must ultimately feel love for ants and bugs as well…

My Response: There are rules for how to act in order to correspond to the general law of nature, called Elokim. Man has been created opposite to this law, and our task is to change ourselves in order to be the same as this law. This is the purpose of our existence in this world. This change in a person, from our level to the Creator’s level, can be attained only by studying Kabbalah. Baal HaSulam writes about it in the article “Introduction to the Book ‘From the Mouth of a Sage’”: “Even if a person is completely righteous in this world, knows the whole Torah and has fulfilled all the earthly commandments, but did not study Kabbalah, then he must return to this world again in order to study Kabbalah” – because only by studying Kabbalah does he attract the Light of Correction to him, as written in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” item 155.

By correcting himself, a person unwillingly acts according to the Upper Laws. When this happens, how does he relate to the nature around him? He relates to it based on the degree of his equivalence of the Creator. And no matter what he relates to, he does so based on his equivalence to the Creator. But perhaps his actions and behavior won’t seem righteous to you, because you imagine righteousness differently to what it is in the spiritual world.

 

 What Is Control? [4:13m]: Play Now | Download

Filed under: World - No Comments →

And I prayed to G-d: Lord! Let me cross Jordan, and I shall see this good land! But G-d became angry with me because of you and said: Do not speak to Me of this anymore! Rise to the summit, look west, north, south and east, for you shall not cross Jordan! And give an order to Joshua, and strengthen him, for he shall become the head of the nation and he shall conquer for them the land that you will see.

And now, Israel, hear the rulings and laws that I teach you to observe, in order that you will live, and come, and take possession of the land that G-d, the Almighty of your fathers, is giving you! Do not add to what I command you, and do not subtract from it, in order to observe the commandments of your G-d.

Just protect your soul, so you won’t forget what your eyes have seen, and so it won’t leave your heart for the rest of your days, and tell of them to your sons and to the sons of your sons: Of the day when you stood before G-d at Chorev. [Read more →]

Filed under: Spirituality - 2 Comments →

The Torah. The Book Bamidbar. Chapter Baalotkha (abridged)

And G-d said to Moses: “Tell Aaron: when you light the lamps, seven lamps shall turn their light to the front of the Menorah.” And the structure of the Menorah is as follows: it is forged from a single ingot of pure gold, to its very foundation. According to the image that G-d showed to Moses.”

And G-d said to Moses: “Take the Levites out of the environment of the children of Israel and purify them: sprinkle them with purifying water, let them shave their bodies and cleanse their garments and purify themselves. And you shall lead the Levites to the Tent of Revelation, and you shall gather the entire community of the children of Israel. And the Levites shall come before G-d, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. And Aaron shall devote the Levites to G-d on behalf of the children of Israel, so they shall serve G-d. Thus you will separate the Levites from the environment of the children of Israel and the Levites shall become Mine.” [Read more →]

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Two questions I received on what will happen to us at the time of final correction:

Question: After the full correction, will the corporeal world disappear forever? Or will it constantly return depending on our behavior?

My Answer: The full correction means that it’s final, marking the correction of all desires that the Creator created in the World of Infinity. Therefore, there is no longer any “return to the corporeal world,” as you say… by the way, there is no such thing as a return to an older desire that had been corrected and then became corrupted - that’s impossible. A “return to the corporeal world” in the spiritual work means the revelation of a new, uncorrected desire, which was always in you, but hidden from you until it became revealed. Therefore, once all desires become corrected, there is no more revelation of new, uncorrected desires.

Question: After the full correction, will there will be any more “natural disasters”? Do these phenomena happen only because the human race is opposite to the laws of nature, and not due to any other “natural” causes?

My Answer: Only we evoke all the natural phenomena, both good and bad. From the Creator’s side, everything is in balance.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Soul Splitting
Kabbalah Today Article: Rabbi Hya’s Vision
Chapter 2.12 from the Book The Path of Kabbalah: The Body at the End of Correction
Rabash Article: To which level does a person have to reach in order that he should not need to be reincarnated a second time?

 

 Lecture: Concealment and Revelation [01:39:15m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson: Concealment and Revelation [01:39:15m]: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Two questions I received on our perception of the world:

Question: How can I understand this paradox: On the one hand, we are being treated as one integral system of Adam, but at the same time we feel like individuals? And what about the individual who is incorporated into all the general suffering and woes, which happen to the entire system? How can he go through this path pleasantly and safely? And who is to blame for the fact that this system is so opposite to the laws of bestowal?

My Answer: Everything is built perfectly and logically. What you perceive is not a lousy world, but your own imperfections, your own picture of the world. If you correct yourself, then everything will radiate harmony.

It is because the screen on which you see yourself and your surroundings is your qualities, and in order to change yourself to see the world as eternal and perfect, or in other words, to live in this kind of world you depict, is by acquiring eternal and perfect qualities. This is why Kabbalah has been given to us.

Question: Why was the world created precisely the way it is? Why is there nature, attitude, change in attitude, suffering, pleasure, the will to receive, the will to bestow, etc.? Who needs all this? Why can’t we just enjoy and so be it? What is there to do for someone who has no patience and who doesn’t even have a desire to exist (not in a body or without a body, but to simply not exist)?

My Answer: The soul was created in perfection, in the World of Infinity. It lacks only one thing: the perception of this perfection. The only way to achieve this perception is by comparing the opposites of darkness and light - the absence of perfection and its presence. Its presence is there, but its absence is missing. This is why our world was created; it is the place where we have to fully perceive the absence of perfection, and together with it, return to the world of infinite perfection. There we will feel true fulfillment through these opposites.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: I Saw a Reversed World
Article: Perfection and the World
Shamati Article #34: The Profit of a Land
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 - The Profit of a Land [53:59]
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 - The Profit of a Land [53:59]

 

 Why Can't We Just Get Along? [03:15m]: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Perception - No Comments →

A question I received from P.T. Thompkins in the Ask a Question section: How does one function in business when one has to set goals for profit? Profit is certainly an egoistic function but I get so perplexed because I want my desires to be altruistic. I’m confused because I want to change my ways to please the Creator, but how do I do so while still doing what needs to be done for my business?

My Answer: You need to be an honest businessman according to society’s laws.

Filed under: World - No Comments →

A question I received: These days, many women are taking national leading positions. Some examples are Angela Merkel (Germany), Tarja Halonen (Finland), Vaira Vike-Freiberg (Latvia), Cristina Kirshner (Argentina), Pratibha Patil (India), Gloria Macapagal (The Philippines), Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), and Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine). It also looks like France and the USA are next. What does Kabbalah have to say about this situation of women taking national leadership?

My Answer: It doesn’t correspond to the spiritual system. In our era, equal rights seems correct and just, while the demands of spirituality (where the woman helps, directs, strengthens and approves, while the man attains the Upper Light of correction and fulfillment) seem sexist.

Nevertheless, if we don’t correspond (as much as humanity’s desire for spirituality develops) to Nature (the Creator, the property of absolute love), we’ll disfigure our existence. Our dissimilarity and imbalance evoke the negative forces of correction, which we feel as suffering, and Nature (the Creator) will nevertheless make us follow its laws by force.

So we can follow Nature laws either by being forced, i.e. through the path of suffering, or we can consciously will ourselves to follow them. The place of our freedom is not in inventing our own paths, because there’s only one truth and only one path to it (the same path through which we descended from the World of Infinity). The place of our freedom is in our aspiration (our request for correction), above our egoistic aspirations (to receive), and our striving toward the goal of Nature (to bestow).

Why is it that women are being allowed to take leadership positions in our times? It’s because they use their egoism more carefully than men. When it comes to today’s enormous egoism, a woman’s egoism is better and calmer than a man’s.

(In the photo: my daughter and I.)

Filed under: Women - 3 Comments →

Murphy’s Law: Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will definitely go wrong. This law has many variations: If you drop a slice of bread, it’s sure to fall butter side down; the change in the cash register will always end just before it’s your turn; if you just washed your car, then it’ll start raining, and so on. People think that Murphy’s Law is nothing but folk wisdom, which ironically portrays our perception of the world. However, this law stems from real “wrong” things happening to real people.

The Law of the Torah: How do Kabbalists feel about the law that they discover? In my blog post “Klipot (Shells) - Harmful and Helpful (Advanced),” there is an explanation about the role of evil (Klipot), stating that everything takes place with the aim of bringing humankind to correction, either by way of good or evil, i.e. according to how one perceives good and evil. There’s just one force operating in nature, but it manifests in different ways depending on how we act. When we aim our actions at the goal of creation, this force helps us. On the contrary, when we aim our actions in opposition to those of this force, it holds us back.

Moreover, this force (of the Creator) that helps everyone who aims themselves at the goal of creation, also creates disturbances for them, which helps them develop by motivating them to move faster toward the goal. In Kabbalah, Murphy’s Law, the law on the level of our world, manifests as the law of the Upper World: “There is none else beside Him. He is good and does good!”

 

 Lesson on Shamati article #1 - "There Is None Else Beside Him": Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson on Shamati article #1 - "There Is None Else Beside Him": Play Now | Download

Filed under: Love, Perception - No Comments →

Question for ML: You define God as laws of nature. In the times of Tanach, Moses spoke to God and God spoke back to him and to the nation. Why then, is your definition of God different? I find it very difficult to think of God as laws, as opposed to someone I can cry to or talk to in times of trouble. I understand that the Creator’s laws and orders must be followed, but I don’t understand why your definition of Him is different.

My Answer: We often project our qualities onto nature and then expect nature to react in the same way. For example, we get mad at the computer or at traffic lights. The Creator is absolute, and as such, He is perfect and invariable. He is kind and creates only goodness. His actions are wonderful, but I sense the opposite! So what should I ask Him? I should ask Him to change my perception, so that I can understand Him and see the perfection of His actions in everything. In other words, I’m asking for the correction of my qualities - from egoistic to altruistic. I will then understand His actions and justify Him, because I will be like Him. I will sense eternity and perfection just like Him. This is what I have to ask for!

Talking about the Creator and talking about Nature is the same.

Filed under: Perception - 1 Comment →

The liberal system in the West has become its own trap. If, in the past, liberal ideologists believed that there needed to be laws for people, nowadays, in place of morals, laws lack moral boundaries and mechanisms of self-restraint. In a society where rules exist for the sake of rules, and not for the sake of people, there ceases to be any common sense.

In his article, Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam writes that out of four possibilities - matter, form in matter, form abstracted from matter and essence - a person can only work with matter and form clothed in matter. All of the liberals’ morals, however, are based on abstractions from matter and from a person. Therefore, they cannot be controlled, and like all of our theories, they lead to mistakes that cost us dearly.

This is why the science of Kabbalah only studies concrete (spiritual) forms that clothe into matter (i.e. desires and thoughts). Kabbalah is a science of forms assumed by matter.

My Current Mood: confused

Filed under: World - No Comments →