Daily Kabbalah Reality Check
Examples in the daily Kabbalah lesson elucidate spiritual concepts through explanations of situations in this world
Zohar Study Hinges On The Unity Between Us
With
respect to the spiritual world, we are not divided into smart and dumb. If you
were to bring Einstein to Kabbalah, he'd be just as confused as everyone
else. Until you acquire the qualities of the next spiritual degree, it is
impossible to know it or sense it because it must first become revealed in you.
Only then will you begin to sense, and then to understand what it's all about.
Indeed, it is comprised of a new set of ten Sefirot, which constitutes
all new material.
That is why there
are no smart or dumb students in Kabbalah. We are all in the same boat, and
with respect to the next spiritual degree we are all equal: an intellectual or
an ignoramus, a nerd or a dolt, a professor or a student-there is no difference
between them. All that's needed is a desire to attain the goal, steady nerves,
and patience. Therefore, you should exercise, stay in good physical shape, and
focus the rest of your energies on your inner work together with the group.
We've been reading The
Zohar for two months now, and it's beginning to affect us already. However,
right now each of us is fluctuating in his own direction, as though on random,
chaotic waves. Unity has not yet been attained; we don't feel that we are parts
of one collective movement where a sequence of strong waves washes over us
after every lesson, shaking us like a tsunami.
The Zohar must affect
everybody in the same way, regardless of how long a person has been studying,
in what language, what is his place of origin, sex, or age. The very source
that we study must affect every one of us.
For instance, when
it's light outside, then everybody knows that it's day and not night,
regardless of whether you are a baby, a man or a woman, or even a cat or a
mouse. Similarly, we must come to a state of unity where everybody reacts to
reading The Zohar in the same way, in unison.
Our present goal is
to work on our unity, so that The Zohar will begin to influence all of
us at once, like a single whole. And in so doing we are working to reveal it,
for it will only be revealed in a united desire, in the union of the points in
the heart.
Daily Kabbalah Tip
Advice in the daily Kabbalah lesson is recommended, practical tasks for advancing spiritually
The Ray Of Light That Lifts Us Up
What is the Light that Reforms,
which is supposed to lift us up?
It is a force that comes to you as a
result of your study and your desire. There is a very thin ray of Light that
begins to influence you if you "walk" into it. You and your desires take up the
whole sphere, but you must find this narrow ray by moving toward the spiritual
goal. Then this Light will begin to influence you, returning you to its Source.
The Light comes out of that very
goal, and if you attune yourself precisely to this Light, you will come under
its influence. It will begin to shine on you and draw you toward the goal along
its ray.
What does this have to do with
reading The Zohar and thinking of the unity of souls? This ray takes
root precisely in the source of unity-in the collective soul before its
breaking, where all the souls are united into one, in Malchut of the
World of Infinity. That is why it is so important for you to desire to come
under the influence of this Light that Reforms and to feel that you depend on
it completely.
In addition, you have to find this
ray on your own. It is aimed sharply down from Above, from the World of
Infinity, the root of your soul. It spans across all the worlds and reaches all
the way into this world, "touching" you. However, it shines from Above only at
a specific point in this world, and you have to come to that point by having
the right intentions. Only when you find this point will you see that narrow
ray of Light shining from Above, and then your soul will ascend along the ray
up to its root.
You have to
change in order to detect this point. In the meantime, the Light is all around
you, but you cannot see it. You will only see it if you find a way inside it;
therein lies the challenge.
Daily Kabbalah Question
Q & A segments in the daily Kabbalah lesson provide a deeper exploration of the lesson’s topics
Connecting To The Book Of Zohar
When I read The
Book of Zohar I cannot connect to it. What should I do? We have looked
forward for so long to this cherished moment when we would open The Book of
Zohar, but now we feel disappointed.
Dr. Laitman's
Answer: Baal HaSulam wrote that there is no better moment in a person's life than when
he senses complete disappointment in everything he has done up to this point.
He sees that nothing has helped him, that there is no source of salvation and
no hope of spiritual ascent if everything continues as is.
Once he reaches
this realization, he then reveals a new feeling of hope. However, he does not
know who he should rely on. Eventually he realizes that only the Creator can
help him, and that's when he cries out: "Save me!" That is when he receives
help.
Studying The
Zohar is not like regular study where you receive knowledge immediately, by
the principle, "You apply effort and receive." In this case, another principle
comes into force, "You apply effort and find."
You probably hoped
that as soon as you opened The Book of Zohar, miracles would start
happening. But nothing can happen in the very beginning. My teacher Rabash gave
an example of a man who bought a little gosling and wanted to turn it into a
big, fat goose. So he started incessantly stuffing food down its throat. He
would stuff the gosling and then immediately check whether it got fatter, which
it didn't. He kept stuffing more food into it, but the gosling still didn't
gain weight. Smart people told him: "You should wait a month or two to begin to
see the difference." The same applies to a child-the parents have to invest a
lot of effort before the child can get up, walk, and become strong.
If we observe our
soul we'll see that it grows in the same way. When I want my point in the heart
to grow into a soul, I have to treat it as a newborn baby within me that has just
started to develop. It will take time for a soul to grow out of this point.
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