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In the texts, the “will to receive” is described as the essence of creation. At the same time, egoism — receiving for oneself — is considered the root of all evil and separation from the Creator.
Should we clearly distinguish between the “will to receive” and “egoism”? Are they identical, or does egoism only emerge when the will to receive becomes self-centered and conscious?
Genesis says that creation was “very good” — yet egoism is described as the very thing that makes us unlike the Creator. How can creation be called good if its fundamental nature leads to separation and evil?
Is there a coherent way to understand this paradox — that we were created with something (the will to receive) which we must then overcome or transform in order to return to the Creator?-
Hi Blaho,
Our nature is the desire to receive pleasure. It simply means that every calculation we make is to chase pleasure or avoid pain. This is similar to how any other animal functions. By itself, there is nothing wrong with this nature, it’s simply the program by which we function and preserve ourselves.
Egoism is when this program begins to be used in a way that harms others. Not only do I want to receive pleasure, but I want to receive it at the expense of others, at their detriment. This is the corporeal ego.
There is also a spiritual ego. Spiritual egoism is everything that stands in the way of our connection with the Creator. Normal people don’t have a spiritual ego. This is only something that we discover after doing some serious spiritual work.
We’ll learn how to work practically with the spiritual ego in the more advanced semesters. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/10/true-evil/
As for why we were created with egoism even though it separates us from the Creator? That is done on purpose for our own development. It’s just like with kids. We don’t just give them a completed jigsaw puzzle. On the contrary we take it and break it down into many pieces. Then in the process of them putting it together, they grow and develop. Same with us, this process of losing that initial state is a necessary part of our further growth and development.
This process also adds to us a certain level of freedom, without which, we would be no different than machines, or robots, that were programmed to act a certain way and they just carry out this inner script. Instead, we were programmed one way, and we rise above this inner programming, become independent of it, and then develop our own desire to advance towards this goal.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/01/from-perfection-to-perfection/
Albert @ KabU
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Greetings
In the course, you say that Kabbalah is a science. I’m curious whether you mean that literally — as in a discipline that follows the scientific method — or more metaphorically, in the sense that it has a systematic internal logic and studies something “objective”.
By science, I mean a method based on empirical observation, testable and falsifiable hypotheses, reproducibility, and objectivity. Scientific results are independent of the researcher’s beliefs or inner experiences or any kind of spiritual state.
Since the broader scientific community doesn’t seem to recognize Kabbalah as a science in this sense, and since many esoteric systems have used scientific language to gain credibility, how can I be sure this isn’t one of those cases? Thanks for your answer.
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Hi Blaho,
Kabbalah is a science, like any other science. The main difference is that traditional sciences research life within our egoistic desires, whereas Kabbalah researches life within the desire to bestow.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/kabbalah-and-other-sciences-philosophy-and-religion/
As for being sure Kabbalah is for you, we learn that “there is no coercion in spirituality” and “one studies only where one’s heart desires”. Meaning that no one can tell you if this is the place for you or not, you have to feel it for yourself.
Albert @ KabU
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How do we reconcile the history of Kabbalah presented here with that of academic historians and scholars of Kabbalah like Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel?
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Hi Logan,
I’m not a historian, nor have I studied their work, so I cannot comment on what they teach.
As for what we’re learning here, Kabbalists are practitioners, not historians. Meaning that we’re not interested in dry knowledge, rather we’re interested in learning how to practically reach spirituality. And if we do bring up something from history, it’s for us to learn something about our inner spiritual work.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2023/01/the-real-history-of-the-world/
Albert @ KabU
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Why 10 Sefirot and not 9 or 11 ?
Kabbalah explains the cause and effet between the world above and the world below. Kabbalah seems to have no connection with religion, but why are images and allegories found in some Kabbalah writings?
Does Kabbalah speak of what becomes of us after our time on earth? Do we live another live on earth for another experience , or do we pass to another step with an awareness of our experience on earth?
Thank you
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Hi Guy,
1. 10 is not an arbitrary number, rather it’s based on the structure of the upper worlds. We’ll learn this structure in great detail in the upcoming lessons.
2. I’m not sure which images or allegories you’re referring to. But in general, Kabbalah is a science. Just like a scientist can draw a graph to help us understand the relationships between certain concepts, likewise in Kabbalah, we occasionally use graphs and charts to help us understand the relationships between certain spiritual concepts. And just like a teacher can draw an allegory to make a certain topic more relatable, likewise in Kabbalah we use allegories to make the concepts more understandable and relatable.
3. Each person has a point in the heart. That is their spiritual potential. If they use this life to fully realize that spiritual potential, then they build out of it a desire called a soul and continue to experience life within that desire. If not, that same spiritual potential will continue to reincarnate again and again until it gets realized.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/06/what-happens-to-the-soul-after-death/
Albert @ KabU
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I’m curious about how to practice Kabbalah, after understanding the basics concepts , I just wonder, what is the main thing a Kabbalist should do in his daily life , or how this big knowledge fits in our routine and how altruism is manifested , thank you
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Hi Andres,
First we need to keep in mind that our very nature is egoistic, meaning it’s completely opposite to spirituality. And just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature. We require outside help to make this change. This help comes to us from the light. The light is a special force that has the ability to change our nature. Our work essentially boils down to extracting more and more of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
So the most practical action that you can do towards revealing the spiritual quality of bestowal is to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, books, etc. Such a habit will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
And in the more advanced semesters, we’ll learn how to do this type of spiritual work within the Kabbalistic group. The Kabbalistic group is like a lab where we practice manifesting the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal. In the group we build a strong connection with other points in the heart that are together with us on the spiritual path. This becomes like a nucleus. Once we build that nucleus, we will be able to add to it wider and wider circles of the world, until we’ll come to include the whole world in that connection. But this is gradual work. And until we build that nucleus, we have nothing with which to do any spiritual work towards the world.
We’ll learn about these things in greater detail in the more advanced lessons, in the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
Albert @ KabU
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