The Bible - Explained by Kabbalah

Kabbalah Explains the Bible
Article in Kabbalah Today Issue 12

What does it take to author the greatest bestseller of all time? Apparently, it takes as much as discovering a world where there are no words at all, and finding words from our world to describe it. more…

The Creator and The Creation - a Collection of Authentic Kabbalah Inspirations

The inspirations contained in this book are derived from the works of authentic Kabbalists. Meaning, only Kabbalists who actually attained the spiritual levels of which they speak. The truth in these inspirations is clearly evident to those seeking the answer to the question, “What is my purpose?”

The Creator and The Creation: A Collection of Authentic Kabbalah Inspirations - compiled by Rob Taylor

Together Forever - a Story for Children and Parents by Michael Laitman

February 22, 2008 at 9:03 am · Filed under Books, Kabbalistic Stories
Together Forever
A Story for Children & Parents by Michael Laitman

In Together Forever, the author tells us that if we are patient and endure the trials we encounter along our life’s path, we will become stronger, braver, and wiser. Instead of growing weaker, we will learn to create our own magic and our own wonders as only a magician can.

In this warm, tender tale, Michael Laitman shares with children and parents alike some of the gems and charms of the spiritual world. The wisdom of Kabbalah is filled with spellbinding stories. Together Forever is yet another gift from this ageless source of wisdom, whose lessons make our lives richer, easier, and far more fulfilling.

Together Forever by Michael Laitman
* Free PDF eBook Download
* Purchase Hard-Cover Book at the Kabbalah Bookstore

Love, Deciphered

Love - the Unifying Factor Between All Elements in Reality
February 20, 2008 at 5:39 am · Filed under Kabbalah Today, Love
Article in Kabbalah Today Issue 12

Kabbalists explain that there’s a reason why we feel best precisely when we experience “this thing called love”: because what we feel towards another person somewhat corresponds to the innate quality of Nature.

By feeling love, we gain contact with the positive quality that invigorates and binds all parts of reality. Kabbalah calls this quality “love” or “bestowal,” and explains that it is the unifying factor between all the elements in reality: minerals, plants, and animals, as well as all the experiences in man’s inner world. more…

The Hidden Laws Between Us

Everyone knows that we are affected by the laws of nature. For example, take the law of gravity. It is invisible and imperceptible, but it is always affecting us. It’s simply a part of our lives, whether we notice it or not. And the same can be said about all other physical laws.

Moreover, there’s been a lot of talk about other kinds of forces acting in the world, such as the power of thought and intention. Many scientists and philosophers are noticing that these non-physical forces also follow specific laws, and that thinking in a certain way has specific effects on one’s life and well-being.

But what many people don’t realize is that our relationships in the social realm are also affected by permanent and absolute natural laws. Just like the invisible laws of gravity and electromagnetism are always affecting our bodies, there are invisible laws of Nature that constantly affect our human interactions.

What would happen if you tried to ignore the law of gravity and jumped off a cliff? Something not very pretty. Kabbalah explains that in the same way, all our problems in life are caused by the fact that we unknowingly transgress natural laws of a higher order. Hence, we could avoid most problems if we learned about the higher laws of Nature, the invisible forces that regulate our human relationships.

Since we do not know the laws of Nature that regulate human relationships, we think that we can do as we please in this realm. We invent our own rules of relating to each other and establish arbitrary education systems, social institutions and systems of government. But in fact, for all these systems to function flawlessly and to our benefit, we have to study the natural laws of the social realm and build our systems accordingly.

The wisdom of Kabbalah studies the social laws, and other laws that are concealed from our five senses. When one begins studying this wisdom and learns about the laws of Nature, one discovers that they operate only to benefit him and then, naturally desires to comply with them.

What makes one want to act in harmony with the hidden laws of Nature? Kabbalah explains that they influence us with just one purpose: to elevate us to the state of eternity and perfection. In that state, all people act as parts of one integral body, in which they feel the innate quality of Nature itself - complete, unconditional bestowal.

Presently we don’t feel these laws, and therefore we think that our lives are progressing from one coincidence to another. But if we felt the forces of Nature that constantly drive us toward a single, exalted goal, we would know that nothing is coincidental and that our lives are systematically moving toward Nature’s goal. This goal is described by the great Kabbalist of the 20th century, Baal HaSulam, as "The revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world."

Bnei Baruch, http://www.kabbalah.info/ is the largest group of Kabbalists in Israel, sharing the wisdom of Kabbalah with the entire world. Study materials in over 25 languages are based on authentic Kabbalah texts that were passed down from generation to generation.

Kabbalah Says: There Is No Coercion in Spirituality

This What’s it like to be a Kabbalist? Can you see through walls? Do you live in seclusion, meditating all day and using just the barest necessities? Can you manipulate other people’s thoughts and feelings? Can you stop a train with just your thoughts?

The fact is that a Kabbalist’s only concern is to be in harmony with the force that enlivens the whole of reality, called “Upper Light.” When one gains contact with this Upper Light, one changes from within and begins to feel new sensations. Actually, what one feels are the qualities that are present in the Upper Light – qualities of love, bestowal, perfection, and eternity. The Kabbalist’s relationship with the Upper Light is called the “Upper World,” a realm beyond time and space.

As a result of the Kabbalist’s internal changes, his relation toward others also changes. He naturally begins to feel love toward other people, as if they were his kin. This is because he is occupied with his relationship with the Upper Light, and since the Upper Light is all love and bestowal, the Kabbalist naturally adopts these qualities as well.

However, this isn’t something that you will necessarily be able to discern on the outside. A Kabbalist doesn’t change because someone teaches him how to behave and preaches moral principles to him, or because he reads about “proper behavior.” Any changes in his attitude occur naturally, without any coercion or external instruction.

Kabbalah maintains that any teaching or activity that restrains a person is faulty. We cannot enforce any kind of behavior on people, since this is simply ineffective. Therefore, Kabbalistic education does not try to suppress any of our habits or preferences. Rather, Kabbalah guides a person on how to achieve balance and harmony with Nature from within, and only if the person desires this. Through Kabbalah, one learns about the qualities of the Upper Light, how to gain contact with it, and how to become similar to it.

Therefore, there is no coercion in teaching people the wisdom of Kabbalah. When Rav Kook, the great 20th century Kabbalist, was asked who could study Kabbalah, his answer was: “Anyone who wants to.” And in fact, it also works the other way around: You can’t really study Kabbalah if you don’t desire it; because what you study - the connection with the Upper Light - is felt specifically through your desire. So it would be incorrect to urge anyone to study, since it can’t bear any fruit.

Today, Kabbalah is available to all, and anyone who wishes is able to learn about the Upper Light, its qualities, and how to achieve harmony with it.

Kabbalah Has Come out of Hiding

Kabbalists explain that the wisdom of Kabbalah has been waiting in concealment for millennia until the present time, when it would be revealed. This is because in previous generations the bulk of humanity was not interested in finding out, “What is the purpose of life?” Whereas now, many people are asking this question and are ready to study the wisdom of Kabbalah, which answers it.

But if Kabbalah wasn’t really necessary until the present day, then why did it emerge thousands of years ago? Why wasn’t it discovered in the modern age, the way quantum physics is being discovered only now?

In fact, the first Kabbalistic knowledge was received about 5700 years ago by a man named Adam. He was one of many people who lived on earth at that time, and he differed from other people in that he felt a desire for spirituality. Twenty generations after him, about 3800 years ago, an inhabitant of ancient Mesopotamia named Abraham became the next person to search for answers and to attain the spiritual world.

Why was the presence of such special individuals in history necessary? After all, the rest of humanity didn’t really ask about the purpose of its existence. It’s only recently that many people have begun looking to the wisdom that those special individuals have developed – the wisdom of Kabbalah. So why did Kabbalists appear so long ago? Why couldn’t they simply emerge today, when others are more receptive to their knowledge?

Kabbalah explains that these special, spiritually developed individuals were necessary in each generation because the wisdom of Kabbalah had to be revealed in different forms over time. It had to be adapted to humanity’s development in each period of time. While most people were not aware of it, those individual Kabbalists were accomplishing tremendous work, researching the universe and their own attitude to reality. In doing so, they perfected the Kabbalistic method from one generation to the next, so that it could reach the modern era as a modern, scientific method of studying the spiritual world.

This is why Kabbalah had to originate in the ancient world, in a simple, archaic form, the way it is revealed in the book Raziel HaMalach (The Angel Raziel), by the first Kabbalist, Adam. Other Kabbalists in subsequent generations adapted it to the changing times, and eventually the descendants of the ancient group of Kabbalists formed by Abraham, dispersed bits of this wisdom throughout the whole world. As a result, Kabbalah was developed in the midst of mankind, albeit in concealment, incorporating the atmosphere of its surroundings in order to become suitable for all of humanity.

Interestingly, the gradual development of Kabbalah throughout history indirectly spurred the development of all humanity in other realms, such as the technological, social and scientific progress. How so? Without our awareness, Kabbalistic knowledge spread throughout the world, permeating all of mankind, and increased our latent desire to connect to the source of our existence, the Creator. This innermost desire we have pushes us forward in everything we do. So for instance, the love songs we write, the works of art we create, and even our scientific research, are all ways for us to express our latent desire toward the Creator.

But the actual wisdom of Kabbalah is intended only for spiritual development, and this is what is now starting to happen for the first time in history. Kabbalists have finally come out of hiding and are openly teaching this wisdom to all. This marks the final point of Kabbalah’s development, and the beginning point of its practical application. Using Kabbalah, any person, regardless of age, gender, religion, or nationality can reveal the spiritual world – a world of perfection, eternity, infinity, and boundless joy.

History of Kabbalah: The Story of The Book of Zohar

History of Kabbalah: The Story of The Book of Zohar by Bnei Baruch

Zohar means Radiance, and The Book of Zohar is the fundamental book in the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is the key enabling one to reveal the spiritual part of the universe, hidden to our five senses, and the Upper Force that governs everything and brings everything into being.
It was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, or Rashbi, a great Kabbalist who lived in the 2nd century CE. Rashbi attained all the wisdom that was to be recorded in The Book of Zohar while hiding from the hostile Roman authorities in a cave in Northern Israel. Together with his son Rabbi Elazar, Rashbi spent 13 years living in this cave, eating fruits of a carob tree and drinking water from a nearby source. In that time, the father and son had attained all the degrees of the spiritual world, and were able to feel the Upper Force or the Creator with utter clarity.

13 years later, Rabbi Shimon and his son reemerged from the cave, assembled a group of disciples, and wrote The Book of Zohar along with them. Kabbalah explains that ten men were necessary to write this unique book, because their souls corresponded to ten spiritual forces called "Sefirot." Only together were they able to create the common spiritual vessel able to perceive the highest degrees of the spiritual world.

Therefore, when The Book of Zohar describes Rabbi Shimon and his students, it actually refers to the qualities that exist in the spiritual world. The ten sages had attained these spiritual qualities through their souls and were able to record them in a book.

The book was written in a special way. Rashbi knew that the text had to conceal its spiritual content, because this information was intended for those who would live two millennia later--us. This is why he had one of his students, Rabbi Aba, write it. Rabbi Aba was able to put the spiritual information in a concealed manner. He wrote The Book of Zohar by listening to Rashbi and recording what he said in a way that an uninformed reader could comprehend only the shallowest, most external layer of the text. For instance, here is how the book starts: Rabbi Chizkiyah opened, "It is written, as the rose amongst the thorns." The text is beautiful and poetic, yet requires a spiritual attainment in order to decipher its true meaning.

Hence, when we read The Book of Zohar without the needed preparation, it appears as a series of fantastical tales and legends. And to learn how to read it properly, we should start with the writings of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, also called Baal HaSulam, after his Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar. Baal HaSulam composed a comprehensive, accurate, and systematic interpretation of The Book of Zohar. His goal was to unveil the book to the public and make it suitable for the souls of our time.

The Book of Zohar was to be concealed for two thousand years, waiting for humanity to desire spirituality. And this is happening in our time, when more and more people are asking about the purpose of their very existence. That is why The Zohar is now becoming revealed to all by the great Kabbalists who have concealed it until now.

Kabbalah on Love, Marriage and Family

Kabbalah on Love, Marriage and Family
February 15, 2008 at 5:51 am · Filed under Family, Love, Marriage

Rav Michael Laitman, PhD discusses love, marriage and family in a talk with the principle instructors of the Russian Kabbalah Academy, Michael Sanilevich and Yevgeniy Litvar.

Topics covered in this talk:
* What is love?
* About jealousy
* Love means giving yourself to others
* How can one learn to love?
* Condition of love
* Who invented marriage?
* What is the purpose of a family?
* Who dominates in a family?
* About biblical commandments

Read the Full Talk “On Love and Marriage”

Kabbalah Explains The Spiritual DNA

All of us know about the DNA inside our bodies, containing genetic instructions for our biological development. Basically, it is a set of informational data that gives orders to our bodies about how to develop and when. But how is that connected to Kabbalah, you might ask?

Kabbalah says we have more than just physical DNA inside us. We also have a spiritual one, called Reshimo. And just like the physical DNA, the Reshimo is a set of information inside of us. The Reshimo can be described as a spiral of information that gradually unravels, causing us to change and develop at every single moment.

This is how it works: every new moment for us is, in fact, a new Reshimo that surfaces within us. As soon as it does, we suddenly feel different from the previous moment, see different things around us, and experience the phenomenon of time going by. As soon as we’ve gone through the experience that the present Reshimo directs us to go through, a following, completely new Reshimo comes to the surface and we suddenly feel that time moves forward another instant, along with all the inner and outer changes we experience.

But there's more. Kabbalah explains that the spiritual gene, the Reshimo, has a purpose. It directs our spiritual development toward a single goal: to connect to the force that binds all parts of Creation, the Creator. This means that eventually, we will reach a state where we will feel and understand the very force that sustains our existence and created us to begin with. This goal is described in Kabbalah as adhesion with the Creator.

Hence, throughout the generations, and from one year to the next, it's not only our technology, culture and science that develop. We also develop internally or spiritually, coming closer to adhesion with the Creator. In fact, it's our spiritual development that induces all our corporeal innovations and achievements. How?

As described above, the unraveling of the Reshimo makes us constantly find ourselves in new states of development, both personally and globally. We begin wanting higher living standards than before, better technology, a more refined culture, and so on. Kabbalah explains that this is happening because behind the scenes, the Reshimo ceaselessly propels our desires to grow, and that is why we constantly want new things. Hence, precisely our spiritual development has brought about our external progress, that is, everything we have achieved in technology, culture and science.

Kabbalah explains that the Creator created us along with the Reshimo that guides our development, so that we will eventually reach His state. The interesting thing is that the only thing that changes and develops is us, while the force called Creator remains unchanging - it is in a state of complete perfection. Therefore, somewhat ironically, the purpose of all our movement and development is to reach that same perfect state of absolute rest as the Creator is in. This is where our spiritual genes are leading us.

Kabbalah - What is It?

Is it a science, a religion, a teaching? Is it secret or evident? Is it something we can sense and evaluate? Is it outdated, or is it relevant in our time?

Kabbalah is wisdom about the universe. However, it studies much more than the part of the universe that we perceive through our inborn five senses. Kabbalah explains that the universe is, in fact, much wider than what we perceive through our five senses. It teaches about that part of the universe that we currently don't perceive.

Kabbalah explains how the universe began, how it develops, and how it will end. It studies the universe’s general structure and all of its particular details. This wisdom consists of several sections, all of which talk about the general law of the universe and how we can attain it.

If we break it into sections, then Kabbalah covers:

• The creation of the entire universe and all of its levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human.

• The phases and the final goal of the entire evolutionary process, including man's part in that process.

• The connection between our current state and the states we were in before we appeared on the Earth.

• The purpose of existing in a biological body for several decades and perceiving the surrounding world through the body and its five senses.

• Our state after we leave this world.

• Our reincarnations and the relationships between them.

• The way of evolving to a higher, spiritual form while living on earth.

Where Did the Authentic Kabbalah Come from?

The wisdom of Kabbalah appeared over five thousand years ago. Its roots go back to deep antiquity, the Sumerian-Akkadian period and the time of ancient Babylon. However, Kabbalah remained virtually hidden from humanity for millennia.

Despite the concealment, people have always been interested in it. Renowned scientists and philosophers the world over, including Newton, Leibniz, and Pico Della Mirandola investigated the wisdom of Kabbalah and attempted to understand it. Johannes Reuchlin, a humanist, classics scholar, and expert in ancient languages and traditions, writes in his book, De Arte Cabbalistica: “My teacher, Pythagoras, the father of philosophy, took his teaching from Kabbalists … He was the first to translate the word, Kabbalah, unknown to his contemporaries, to the Greek word philosophy…”

Yet, to this day, authentic Kabbalah is tainted with many misconceptions and misrepresentations, such as red strings, holy water, spells, miracles and whatnot. Evidently, only a few know what authentic Kabbalah is really about.

Therefore, one must first clarify what the wisdom of Kabbalah is. Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag puts it this way in his article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah:"

"...this wisdom is no more and no less, than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, in fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as 'the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world."

What does this mean? It’s saying that there is an Upper Force or the Creator, and there are forces that descend from Him to our world. We are here, in our world, and we are governed by these forces. They’re similar to the forces we are aware of, like gravity or electromagnetism. The only difference is that these forces are of a higher order, and they act while remaining hidden to us.

“The Creator” is the ultimate, all-inclusive force. He is the sum of all the forces in the universe and is the highest of all the governing forces. The Upper Forces descend from the Creator, going through phases called “spiritual worlds,” and finally they give rise to our world and man inside it. This constitutes the subject of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Discovering Our Connection with the Upper Force

"All kinds of unpleasant situations are sent to us so that we will finally understand that it is not the external things that we should fear, but the lack of contact with the Upper One, the absence of spirituality." Awakening to Kabbalah, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
If we were aware of the Upper Force that's always influencing us and arranging everything in our lives, then we would know the secret of life. We would know what life's grand purpose is and how everything in our life is led by that purpose.

So how do we reveal this Upper Force? We have to learn from the people who've already revealed it. Such people are called Kabbalists, and they have written books that can help anyone discover what they have discovered. By reading their books, one gradually begins to feel and understand how the Upper Force motivates his life and why it brings about the things that happen to him in life.

The authentic wisdom of Kabbalah deals with this only: revealing the Upper Force to a person in this world. Or as Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, author of the Sulam commentary on The Book of Zohar, puts it: "This wisdom is no more and no less, than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, in fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as--"the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world." (The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah)

Authentic Kabbalah has nothing to do with temporary distractions like lucky charms and magic spells, red strings or holy water. Rather, it is an ancient, time-tested wisdom that helps people open their eyes and discover their interrelation with the Upper Force.

This is not something you will feel in your imagination one moment and forget about it the next instant. It is a discovery of a whole new reality that you did not feel before. Kabbalah explains that there is a vast spiritual world concealed behind the picture of reality surrounding us. And this hidden reality is intended for us. Once we discover it with the help of Kabbalah books, we will feel life's perfect and eternal flow, and experience genuine, lasting joy. Studying Kabbalah, one suddenly realizes where everything comes from and that life has no coincidences. One tangibly feels that everything in our world comes from the Upper Force. As a result, one begins living in harmony with the Upper Force and avoids making mistakes in life.

In practical terms, learning about the Upper Force gives us real knowledge about how to live correctly. We become conscious of what is harmful to us and are able to avoid it. One gains a spiritual vision, where he sees the full scope of existence, the entire system of reality and how to use it to benefit the world. Hence, Kabbalah is a practical and essential wisdom.

Kabbalah: God is Altruistic Nature

Of all parts of Nature, only man puts his own interest before the needs of the system. Kabbalah shows how we can operate according to the altruistic laws of Nature, which in Kabbalah is the same as God. In a presentation at a Tokyo hall in November 2005, evolutionary biologist Elizabeth Sahtouris stated that "Every molecule, every cell, every organ ... has self-interest. When every level in the body shows its self-interest, it forces negotiations among the levels. This is the secret of Nature. Every moment in your body, these negotiations drive your systems to harmony."

Quite similarly, Kabbalists state that cells in organisms unite by reciprocal giving for the sake of sustaining the whole body. Each cell in the body receives what it needs for its sustenance, and spends the rest of its energy tending to the rest of the body. At every level of Nature, the individual works to benefit the whole of which it is a part, and in that finds its wholeness. Without altruistic activities, a body cannot persist. In fact, life itself cannot persist.

Both science and Kabbalah acknowledge that the biggest, if not the only, problem with our world is us. Below are two examples of such states of mind:

"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image" (Stephen Hawking, British cosmologist and physicist).

"And in simple words we shall say that the nature of each and every individual is to exploit the lives of all other people in the world for his own benefit, and all that he gives to another is only out of necessity. Even in that there is exploitation, but it is done cunningly, so that his friend will not feel it" (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), "Peace in the World").

Thousands of scientists, judging by the latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, already state that we must stop working against Nature, as we have been doing for centuries, and begin to work in harmony with it. They explain that Nature already knows what to do and when to do it. If we only get out of the way, things will sort themselves out. Just as each body has its immune system, Nature has mechanisms that maintain its balance.

This balance is a dynamic equilibrium controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms, in which Nature thinks not of particular elements within it, but of the whole system. Just imagine the havoc our body would fall into, if each organ cared only for its own good, instead of caring for the good of the whole body.

In such a state, organs would steal blood vessels from one another, denying neighboring organs nourishment and oxygen. Organs producing antibodies would direct them against other organs because other organs would be considered foreign bodies, and the ones with the strongest antibodies would destroy the other organs. Soon, very soon, the body would die, and its self-centered organs would die with it. When such a process happens in an organism, it is called "cancer."

The fact that Nature does exist and that it isn't destroying itself every single moment is proof that Nature does not work egoistically. It is a proof that Nature works as a system, putting the well-being of the system before the well-being of its parts. In Kabbalah, when the system's needs come before the needs of the part, it is called "altruism." In an altruistic system, the particular elements constantly contribute to the system, whether it is an organism or a human society.

Humans, in almost every aspect, are just another animal species. But there is one aspect in which we are different from Nature: We put our own interest before the interest of the system. This is the essence of egoism. We don't need to teach animals, plants or rocks how to behave. Their behavior is always in harmony with Nature, altruistic, putting the system's needs before their own. This is why when prey animals hunt, they hunt only enough to sustain themselves, and thus maintain the natural balance of their habitat.

But humans don't hunt to eat; they hunt to gain wealth, to exploit. This is why we have penalties for poaching. The only problem with the human race is that, unlike animals, it runs on an egoistic "operating system" instead of an altruistic one. To mend ourselves and to stop disrupting Nature's homeostasis, we need to install an altruistic operating system instead of our current, faulty system.

And to find the missing disk, you need to go to the "program vendor," the Creator. In Kabbalah, the words "God" and "Nature" are synonymous. This is why they have the same numeric value: 86. Kabbalists have discovered and upgraded a method that teaches how we can replace the egoistic disk with an altruistic one, and today, when many already recognize that a real change of heart is necessary, they are stepping to the fore and introducing it to the world.
By Bnei Baruch
Published: 12/17/2007

Developing Our Latent Sense

We feel that there is a world, an entire universe around us. But what we don't realize is that there is another part of the universe that we don't feel. Let's call it the "upper" part of the universe.

Presently, we perceive what our five senses can absorb, and they only allow us to attain a part of the universe called "our world." However, Kabbalists explain that we have the ability to penetrate much deeper. We can delve through our world into nature and perceive the Upper World. Let's take a closer look at how we can do this.

We perceive our world through our five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. We also build physical instruments such as microscopes or telescopes that widen the range of our senses' perception. But all the instruments we create can only expand our senses' perception and hence they can't let us perceive something beyond the reality called "our world."

Again, all investigations we conduct in our world are confined to our five senses. And as long as we are confined to them, we cannot begin to see, feel, and understand what lies beyond our senses.

O ur imagination is also a product of our five senses and the experiences which stem from them. We cannot imagine an object or a creature unless it resembles something that our five senses are familiar with.

For example, if you ask someone to draw an alien from another planet, he will draw it according to the elements he is familiar with from our world. And if you ask someone to describe a fantastical scenario, he will no doubt describe something which is fundamentally very similar to this world.

We all live in a small world and are not able to feel or imagine anything beyond it. And since our science and philosophy are also limited to the perception of our five senses, they too cannot help us understand what lies beyond this world. Therefore, to get behind the scenes of our world and recognize the forces that affect it - we need a new sense.

The wisdom of Kabbalah offers a person the method to develop his latent, additional sense, called the "screen." Using the screen, one can penetrate through our world and reveal deeper, inner layers of reality, which influence our level of reality. Hence, the Kabbalists call these layers "Upper Worlds." These worlds are like the layers of an onion, where our world is in the midst of all the worlds.

To summarize, we naturally feel only the innermost sphere in all of existence, but Kabbalists explain that 'this world' is just a small fragment of the true reality. It's the fragment we are able to feel with our inborn five senses. But if we develop the additional sense called "the screen," we will feel the Upper Worlds that Kabbalists feel. This is what Ka bbalah teaches: how to acquire the screen.

www.kabbalah.info

5 Stages of Desires’ Development

Kabbalists discovered that our desires for pleasure evolve by 5 stages:

1) The first, and most basic desire, is the desire for food, health, sex, and family. These are necessary desires for our survival.

2) The second stage is the aspiration for wealth. Here we think that money guarantees survival and a good quality of life.

3) The third is the craving for honor and power. Here we enjoy controlling others, as well as ourselves.

4) In the fourth stage appears the desire for knowledge. Here we think that having knowledge will make us happy.

5) But only when the fifth, and last stage of desire appears, we become attracted to an unknown “something” that is beyond us. Here we feel that connecting to this unknown “something” can bring us greater and lasting enjoyment, and we search for ways to make this connection. This desire for something higher is called “the desire for spirituality.” more…

Taken from “Kabbalah in Our Times: Spirituality, Kabbalah and the 21st Century” in the “What Is Kabbalah?” environment of Kabbalah.info

VIDEO: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD explains the process of evolving desires:

Watch more videos like this at Kabbalah TV

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1:30pm - 2:30pm

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Physical and Spiritual Connections

How Do We Renew & Improve Education? The Hot Question in Bnei Baruch

How Do We Renew & Improve Education? The Hot Question in Bnei Baruch
November 21, 2007 at 9:05 pm · Filed under Daily Lessons, Education

From Today’s Daily Lesson:

What began as a daily Kabbalah lesson with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD turned into a 2-and-a-half-hour long question-and-answer super session on the subject of education—its crucial state in our world today, and how to optimize education for our following generations.

Bnei Baruch are now clarifying a new system of education based on revised study methods, new teacher requirements, how to train the world’s next generation of leaders, how to use media and globally-connected technologies in the most beneficial way for humanity’s development, and how to fulfill the educational needs of our future generations.

Download the Full Lesson: wmv video | mp3 audio

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Welcome to the Official Kabbalah Blog of Bnei Baruch
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www.kabbalahblog.info

TV Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on Bloomberg show “Night Talk” with Mike Schneider

TV Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on Bloomberg show “Night Talk” with Mike Schneider
November 22, 2007 at 11:13 am · Filed under Interviews, October Tour 2007

Download the Interview: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (WMV)

BLOOMBERG TV (October 24, 2007): Mike Schneider, on Bloomberg’s “Night Talk,” interviewed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD investigating Kabbalah from a variety of angles. The interview was composed of 3 parts, each detailing a specific angle on Kabbalah:

Part 1: The Mystery Surrounding Kabbalah
• Kabbalah – What Is It?
• An Ancient Wisdom that Predates Judaism
• Kabbalah and Judaism – What Is their Connection (if any)?
• Is there One Individual Figure Who Occupies a Position of Leadership in Kabbalah?
• Prophecy – Is there such a thing in Kabbalah?

Part 2: The Buzz Surrounding Kabbalah
• Madonna in Kabbalah – What’s the Deal?
• Ethics – Why We Don’t Need Them
• Science and Kabbalah – Are they Competitive or Complementary?
• Kabbalah Involves No Rituals of Any Kind
• Kabbalah Is a Method. Is it a Philosophy as Well?
• You Don’t Need to be Trained in Traditional Judaism Before Studying Kabbalah

Part 3: The Modern World Surrounding Kabbalah
• World Problems. Their Causes. Their Solutions.
• Improve Personal Behavior, Relationships and Family Connections
• Terrorism – the Source of the Problem (Is the Same Source as Every Problem)
• Philosophers and Kabbalah
• What Is the Main Change that Happens to You When You Study Kabbalah?

Related Posts:
Radio Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on The Maria Sanchez Morning Show, Los Angeles
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Radio Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on The Brian Sussman Show, San Francisco
Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on his Upcoming USA Tour
Interview between Rav Michael Laitman, PhD and Vladimir Molchanov

www.kabbalahblog.info

5 Things You Should Know About The Zohar

5 Things You Should Know About The Zohar
November 5, 2007 at 11:41 pm · Filed under Zohar

1) What is The Zohar?
The Zohar is a collection of commentaries on the Torah, intended to guide people who have already achieved high spiritual degrees to the root (origin) of their souls. more…

2) Who is The Zohar For?
The Zohar was written for people who have already achieved spiritual perception. more…

3) Who Wrote The Zohar, and When?
According to all Kabbalists, and as the beginning of the book writes, The Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi), who lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. more…

4) Why was The Zohar Hidden for So Long?
The Zohar was kept hidden for 900 years, between the 2nd and the 11th centuries CE, since those who possessed its wisdom understood that at the time, people did not need it and would misunderstand its contents. more…

5) Where do I Find Out More About The Zohar?
Bnei Baruch provides introductions and free lessons on The Zohar, as well as shorter articles describing concepts from The Zohar, and how to prepare for the encounter with these concepts. more…

www.kabbalahblog.info

As far as traditional Kabbalists are concerned, string’s not the thing - an Article in The Telegraph

As far as traditional Kabbalists are concerned, string’s not the thing - an Article in The Telegraph
October 31, 2007 at 6:58 am · Filed under News, Press

THE TELEGRAPH (October 26, 2007): This month, the popularization of Kabbalah has definitely seen a significant turn from the faddish to the authentic. Journalist Jill Moon contributed to this month’s press demystification of Kabbalah with her article “As far as traditional Kabbalists are concerned, string’s not the thing.”

Rather than scratching around the surface of conflicts in opinion between different brandings of “Kabbalah,” Moon took an investigative dive into Bnei Baruch’s teaching of Kabbalah, searching for how Bnei Baruch defines authentic Kabbalah, its purpose and its fundamental concepts.

“The goal of Kabbalah is to change the ‘will to receive’ into the ‘intention to bestow,’ or to become more like the ‘creator,’ that wants everyone to be fulfilled,” Moon quoted Bnei Baruch senior instructor Michael R. Kellogg, who teaches live, interactive Kabbalah introductory courses for free at the Learning Center.

“The literal definition of Kabbalah is the revelation of ‘his Godliness’ to his creatures. In other words, it means that here, in this world as we exist, we are in complete and total concealment of any upper power of God … Kabbalah is the revelation of this thing called ‘God,’ meaning not revelation of belief, but of actually sensing the force called ‘God,’” Kellogg continued.

Moon went on to quote Kellogg discussing the work between intention and egoism in Kabbalah, and how Kabbalah explains our evolution in terms of evolving egoistic desires. Moreover, Kellogg fit in the very popularization of Kabbalah within this explanation, in that “all other desires have been fulfilled, and now the desire for spirituality is coming out. Egoism had to grow to a point that society is ready for Kabbalah.”

Click Here to Read the Full Article