Kabbalah Library

Typed Text - Article "About Matan Torah"

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:58:38 GMT

Article - The Bright One

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:01:48 GMT

The Bright One!

And from the Heavens He shines.

There—within curtain of the screen...

Article - Abraham's Revelation of the Creator

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:57:14 GMT

1) In the days of Enosh, humans made a big mistake, and the counsel of the sages of that generation was crass, and Enosh himself was among the erring.

This was their mistake: They said that since God created these stars and cycles by which to lead the world, and has placed them above and granted them honor, and they are His servants, they are worthy of praise and respect, and it is God’s will to raise and to honor those who have grown and been honored, as the King wishes to honor those who stand before Him. And this is the King’s glory...

Article - The Prophecy of Baal HaSulam

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:47:48 GMT

And it came to pass in the days of the war, the days of the dreadful carnage, that I was praying, crying bitterly all through the night. And behold, at the break of dawn, it seemed as though all the people in the world have gathered in a group before my mind’s eye. And a man was hovering amongst them, with his sword over their heads, lashing their heads. The heads soared upward, and their bodies fell to a great basin and became a sea of bones...

Article - Rav Michael Laitman's Interview, to the Russian magazine Itogi

Wed, 27 May 2009 18:25:53 GMT

Human egoism has evolved to such a degree that it transformed the entire humanity into one small village. On the one hand, people today, are sensing that they greatly depend upon one another. This concerns all the countries in the world, and despite the fact that people don’t see it clearly, it is starting to reveal itself today, and in the full measure, but in the future this inter-dependence will be strengthened. On the other hand, people’s egoism has evolved such that they can’t stand each other and can’t live in peace with each other, not even within a family...

Typed Text - "A New Humanity" - Lesson 2

Mon, 25 May 2009 19:00:52 GMT

After yesterday's lesson I received a very good question. The question is that in the book Shamati we study articles about a person’s spiritual work. It is a personal work even if a person is all by himself, without a teacher, only he and the Creator. On the other hand, both Baal HaSulam in his letters, and my Rav, Rabash in his articles, write that the main thing is working in a group.

I remember the time when, for about a year or so, I was studying with Rabash and became stuck to him. During the first four or six months, I was studying with Hilel, another Baal HaSulam’s disciple who, too, was sixty-five years old. When I asked Rabash what I lacked, he said that I needed a small group of men to study with. I needed other desires, thoughts and aspirations which would be similar to mine and would support me...

Article - Ask the Kabbalist (April 3, 2008)

Mon, 25 May 2009 13:26:01 GMT

The world has to correct its nature; we have to correct the ego. That is what we were born for, and that is why we exist. And at our present time, the time of the Messiah, is when we have to attract the force from Above that will take us out of our present state. And this state is bad because of man’s ego that overcomes him and forces him to do all the terrible things in the world...

Typed Text - Article "The Essence of the War"

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:52:16 GMT

A sin is not necessarily a sin. It is a situation, a place, desires, and conditions in which a person is certain to fail. This we understand when speaking about the stony heart. There are all kinds of ways in which a person is forbidden to enter these desires. He should distance himself from them, freeze them, and create like a shield to stay away from them. There is the shell ( Klipot) section and there’s a certain distance that we shouldn’t come close to (in thought) in the shell section, in order not to come in contact with them even just a little bit...

Typed Text - Article "The Holiday of Passover"

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:28:00 GMT

We learn that the Creator created a ladder of degrees for the creatures. In The Tree of Life and Talmud Eser Sefirot, we learn how these degrees descend from Ein Sof (Infinity) to the lowest degree called “ Olam ha Zeh” (this world) , which isa part of Malchut deAssiya...

Typed Text - Article "Divinity in the Dust"

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:07:55 GMT

We learn that the Creator created a Kli (vessel) called the soul of Adam ha Rishon (the First Man). That Kli was in D vekut

(adhesion), in equivalence of form with Him, meaning in complete bestowal, but without differentiation from Him, without its own desire. When its own desire was added to the Kli, then according to its independent desire it wanted to draw much greater Light than filled it at first...

Article - From Publisher

Mon, 04 May 2009 20:22:23 GMT

Typed Text - Article "Who Delights the Shabbat"

Mon, 04 May 2009 19:44:38 GMT

Shabbat is Gmar Tikkun (End of Correction). It is when all the Light that is intended for the will to receive (the creature which is the existence from absence) corrects this will in accordance to itself, according to the law of equivalence of form. It then fills the will to receive, and it is sensed in it in all profundity; in understanding, attainment, delight, pleasure and in adhesion from the creature's side, as it was originally in the Thought of Creation. That’s the meaning of the term Shabbat...

Typed Text - Article "A Shabbat of Genesis and of the Six Thousand Years"

Mon, 04 May 2009 19:30:08 GMT

What does Shabbatmean? Shabbat is the time of rest. When everything is corrected, organized, everything is in harmony, in absolute rest. When all the Kelim (vessels) are filled with Light and are therefore without any thought of filling themselves, of getting something, but all is at peace and rest. There is congruence, there’s equivalence of form between the Kli (vessel) and the Light. Only this state is the permanent state, unchanging. It doesn’t ask for any corrections or changes. And this is why this state is called Shabbat...

Article - About Bnei Baruch

Mon, 04 May 2009 19:02:31 GMT

Bnei Baruch is a group of Kabbalists in Israel, sharing the wisdom of Kabbalah with the entire world. Study materials in over 30 languages are based on authentic Kabbalah texts that were passed down from generation to generation...

Article - About the Author

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:59:27 GMT

Michael Laitman, PhD, is a professor of Ontology, a PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah, and an MSc in medical Bio-cybernetics. He is founder and president of Bnei Baruch and Ashlag Research Institute (ARI), two Israel based international educational organizations with branches all over North America and Canada, Central and South America, as well as Eastern and Western Europe...

Article - III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 17: Epilogue

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:46:42 GMT

I titled this book, Bail Yourself Out: How You Can Emerge Strong from the World Crisis, because today we cannot rely on others to do it for us. And the irony about the title, as you might have sensed, is that although the only way out of the crisis is to work together, the decision to act this way lies with each and every person...

Article - III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 16: … and Staying Cool

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:44:11 GMT

On the surface, ecology should be the easiest topic to address in this book. Make all cars electric, all power plants solar or wind powered, and make all plastic recyclable. Then, voila, the world is a green, beautiful, and cool place once again. But if it’s that easy, why haven’t we succeeded so far?..

Article - Healing the Healthcare System

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:41:33 GMT

Clearly, we cannot emulate the ancient Chinese healthcare system. We have grown too entangled in our egotistical systems to untangle them without causing the whole system to collapse. The Chinese model, however, can serve as an example of how simple, inexpensive, and health-promoting our healthcare system should be...

Article - Being Well and Staying Well

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:39:34 GMT

Thousands of years ago, in ancient China, medicine was practiced quite opposite to the way it is practiced today. In those days, every household put a vase outside its door. As the healer made his daily rounds through the houses of the village, he would look into each vase. If there was a coin inside it, he took the coin and went on his way, knowing that everyone in the house was healthy. If the vase was empty, the healer knew that someone inside was ill. He would enter and treat the patient to the best of his ability. When the sick person was well again, the daily payment of a coin resumed...

Article - III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 14: Yes, We Can (and Must)

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:35:23 GMT

The change proposed in this book is not a superficial one, but a fundamental change that goes beyond how we build our economic system, our education system, or even our political system. It is a change in our understanding of life, and as a result, of the society we live in. For the change to last, we need to realize that at our stage in human development, we as individuals cannot prosper unless the whole world prospers, too.

Article - III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 13: Teach Your Children Well

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:33:11 GMT

In Webster’s dictionary, education means “the action or process of educating or of being educated [schooled/informed].” But in a world where fifty percent of what we learn in the first year of college is outdated and irrelevant by the end of the third year, what good is our schooling? Even more important, with the escalating global crisis, can we guarantee our children’s education, even through high school? Because the current crisis is global and multi-faceted, the education system must adapt itself and prepare our youth to cope with the current state of the world...

Article - III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 12: Money, Money, Money

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:30:10 GMT

Article - Melodies of Harmony

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:25:25 GMT

Instrumental music is a different tune altogether. The focus on harmony in Western music makes it an almost natural medium to convey unity and balance. Many famed composers—most notably Bach and Mozart—paid close attention to keeping their music balanced and harmonious. In fact, classical music, particularly Mozart’s, is so well balanced and wholesome that the University of Leicester, UK, found that it increases milk production in dairies! Although the composers were probably unaware of the depth to which this balance goes, or the purposes for which their music would one day be used, it is this quality that has assured their popularity up to the present day...

Article - Songs of Endless Love

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:52:58 GMT

With vocal music (songs), it is slightly easier to define the change required for it to fit into the new direction. As with cinema, the themes can remain pretty much the same. And as with cinema, behind each song should be a subtext that conveys a message of unity and expresses both desires in reality—to give and to receive...

Article - Finding Balance in Song and Melody

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:50:52 GMT

Article - Films of Hope

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:40:35 GMT

To give people a reason to watch and re-watch movies and plays, the plots must be credible, providing valid hope and a real prospect of positive change. While a film’s starting point can be our current reality, it must include some form of reasoning about what brought us to our current state. When people discover that the cinema has become a place where they can get information that will improve their lives, they will begin to flock to the movies!..

Article - How the Arts Can Model New Attitudes

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:21:30 GMT

As important as media is to our culture, it cannot make the required shift in spirit all by itself. To complete the shift in our thinking, we must engage actors, singers, and other public idols and celebrities in the process. Their productions are displayed not only on television, but also on the Internet, in movie theatres, and on the radio, and are vital to getting the new message across...

Article - Achieving Equilibrium

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:11:56 GMT

The following chapters will outline our escape route from the current crisis. They will touch on six basic aspects of life—arts, economy, education, politics, health, and climate—and will offer guidelines as to how we can use the desire to give to our benefit...

Article - Waters of Love

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

A wise man once said that our hearts are like stones, and our good deeds towards each other are like waters that fall right at the center of those stones. Bit by bit, the waters carve a crater in one’s heart, into which an abundance of love can pour...

Article - Creating a Media that Cares

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:58:11 GMT

The media must play a key role in shifting the public atmosphere from alienation to camaraderie. The media provides us with almost everything we know about our world. Even the information we receive from friends or from family usually arrives via the media. It is the modern version of the grapevine...

Article - A Way Out of the Woods

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:54:36 GMT

To see how we can let the desire to give into our lives, let’s look at how nature does it. We perceive the outside world by using our senses, and we believe that the picture of reality our senses provide is accurate and reliable. But is it?..

Article - Learning from Nature

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:52:35 GMT

The surest way to correct mistakes is to learn from those who have done things right. In this case, nature is our role model and a proven success, so she should be our teacher...

Article - I. The Seeds of the Crisis. Chapter 7: Stepping Off the Mount

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:51:16 GMT

Had Josh and I parted on Mount Rainier, I might not have been writing these words today. Lucky for me, our friendship endured. (Also helpful was the fact that we only had one compass and one map, so it wasn’t as if we had other options). But from the moment we decided to pull out of our plight together, we sensed such a great relief that it was as if we had already found the trail...

Article - Nimrod’s Way

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:48:45 GMT

Naturally, Nimrod did not want to accept the rule of integrated systems that Abraham introduced. He was the ruler of Babel, and yet here was one of his subjects telling him that he, the ruler of the greatest land in the world, must yield to a higher law than his own...

Article - Cellular Unity

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:46:46 GMT

Like Josh and me on Mount Rainier, humanity has been lost in the wilderness for generations. Like Josh and me, humanity did not heed the first warning signs of impending trouble. And like Josh and me, humanity kept on going, relying on what tools it had, although it has been blind to half of reality, as if a mist (or cataract) had covered its eyes. This is why today we are in such a massive, global crisis...

Article - I. The Seeds of the Crisis. Chapter 5: Insatiable Humanity

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:44:11 GMT

Our imperiled world is indeed a sad result of man’s lack of recognition of the desire to give. In contrast, the rest of nature is a magnificent display of balance between the two desires. In the diverse ecosystem that is Planet Earth, each creature has its unique role. The system is incomplete if even a single element in it is missing or deficient, be it a mineral, a plant, or an animal...

Article - Like a Motherless Child

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:39:22 GMT

To understand why our ignorance of the desire to give is so harmful, we can think of the relationship between the desire to give and the desire to receive like the relationship between a mother and her child. In a healthy relationship, the baby knows her mother and knows to whom to turn when she is hungry, cold, or tired. But what if the baby had no mother? To whom would she turn to satisfy her needs? Who would feed her, clothe her, keep her warm and love her? She would have to take care of herself. What would the chances of survival be for such a poor child?..

Article - The Secret of the Two Desires

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:37:59 GMT

In the previous chapter, we said that the desire to give creates matter, and the desire to receive gives it shape. Humans are no exception to the rule: we receive our life energy from the desire to give, and we are formed by the desire to receive. However, since we learned that we could change our surroundings to suit our desires, we have been focusing entirely on the desire to receive. We have become ignorant of the fact that we receive energy and life not from the desire to receive, but from the desire to give...

Article - The Dawn of Humanity

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:26:34 GMT

Layer by layer, life evolved peacefully in its course. Then came humans. The first humans were more like apes. They ate what they found on the ground or in the trees, and they hunted what they could. They cooperated, but they acted purely on instinct. But humans are not like other animals. They discovered that to increase their chances of survival, they should focus on developing their intellect rather than their bodies. As a result, they learned how to make weapons for hunting, instead of using their hands or rocks. They also learned how to use vessels for gathering and storing food. Over time, humans improved the use of their intellect, which enhanced their chances of survival even more. Thus, gradually, the human race became ruler of the earth...

Article - The Birth of Life

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:24:24 GMT

The story does not end with the creation of the universe. When a baby is born, it cannot control its hands or legs, which seem to move about erratically. However, there is tremendous importance in these seemingly erratic movements: after many repetitions, the baby gradually learns which movements get results and which do not. Unless the baby tries, it will not learn how to turn over, crawl, and eventually walk. In a baby, the life force (the desire to give) creates movement. But it is the desire to receive that gives that force direction and determines which expressions of the desire to give (movements) should stay and which should not...

Article - The Currents of Desire

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:22:54 GMT

When we reflect on humanity’s state at the time of Babel, we can begin to understand why Nimrod rejected Abraham's revolutionary discovery. Even today, after humankind has spent centuries searching for the single, perfect formula that explains everything, Abraham’s explanation of reality seems too simple to be true—until you begin to implement it...

Article - Wisdom in the Tent

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:18:03 GMT

Abraham, the inquisitive, thoughtful priest, was astonished to discover that the world runs on desires—two desires, to be exact: to give and to receive. He found that to create the world, these desires form a system of rules so profound and comprehensive that today we can only consider it a science. At the time, the term “science” did not exist, but Abraham had no need for a definition. Instead, he sought to explore these new rules and learn how they might help the people he loved...

Article - Lessons from the Cradle of Civilization

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:08:24 GMT

Today, as I reflect on the state of the world, my adventure on Mt. Rainier often comes to mind. In more ways than one, it can be seen as a strong parallel to our current situation.

When we look at the present state of humanity, it may seem quite grim, with a doubtful prognosis for success. But just as my friend and I were able to unite and emerge from the woods triumphant, we can be positive about the future of humanity. To guarantee our success, all we need is to unite and collaborate...

Article - With a Map and Compass, and Still Lost

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:02:47 GMT

It was about 9 a.m. when I parked my beat-up Toyota pickup at a parking lot on one of Mount Rainier’s northern slopes, and my friend, Josh, and I stepped out of the truck. Our plan was to hike down to CataractValley, spend the night there, and hike out the next day. The forecast predicted a beautiful, sunny July day, and we were confident that by late afternoon we would be boiling water for supper at the camp...

Article - The Seeds of the Crisis

Mon, 04 May 2009 06:00:18 GMT

The global crisis we are all facing did not begin with the collapse of our financial system. It was actually in existence long before—rooted deep in human nature. To understand how we can bail ourselves out of this crisis, we need to understand why our own nature puts us on a collision course with nature and with each other.

Book - Bail Yourself Out

Mon, 04 May 2009 05:49:08 GMT

“Everything that exists is an outcome of interaction between two forces—giving and receiving. When they work in harmony, life flows peacefully in its course. When they collide, we must deal with calamities and crises of great magnitude,” says Prof. Michael Laitman. These forces are at work in every aspect of life: family, economy, politics, ecology, and health. Bail Yourself Out: How You Can Emerge Strong from the World Crisis is a guide to mastering these forces on the personal, national, and global levels. With this knowledge, we hold the key to success by harnessing them to our benefit.

Article - The Law of Motivation

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:01:25 GMT

Human beings are naturally motivated to seek lasting pleasure...

Article - The Law of Necessity and Surplus

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:47:18 GMT

A human being’s desires can only be fulfilled according to their natural purpose...

Article - The Law of Purpose

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:42:17 GMT

The end result of an action is already contained in the initial thought...

Article - The Law of Success

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:40:46 GMT

In a social system, an individual’s success is motivated and measured by the society...