The difficulty of explaining and teaching Kabbalah lies in the fact that the spiritual world has no counterpart in our world. Even if the objective of study becomes clear, understanding of it is only temporary. It is grasped by the spiritual component of our cognizance, which is constantly renewed from Above. Thus, a subject once understood by an individual may again appear unclear at a later date. Depending on the mood and the spiritual state of the reader, the text can appear as either full of deep meaning, or entirely meaningless. Do not despair if what was so clear yesterday becomes very confusing the next day. Do not give up if the text appears to be vague, strange, or illogical. Kabbalah is not studied for the sake of acquiring theoretical knowledge, but in order to see and to perceive. When a person begins to see and perceive, then, through his own contemplation and after acquiring spiritual strength, his consequent reception of the resulting spiritual lights and levels will bestow upon him a sure knowledge...
Our knowledge of the spiritual worlds was given by people who managed to develop a perception of the upper worlds and described the mechanisms and structures of those worlds in their writings. Methods of establishing contact with these worlds were also passed on. This legacy enables us to enter the spiritual worlds, acquire the full knowledge, perceive complete perfection, understand the goal of Creation and fully grasp our existential purpose, while still living in this world. This course by Rabbi Michael Laitman is based on three sources: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s Zohar written in the 2nd century CE, the works of the Ari, Rabbi Y. Luria, a Kabbalist who lived in Safed in the 16th century, and finally, the works of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (the Baal HaSulam), who lived in the middle of the 20th century...
Man was created for receiving unlimited and absolute Delight. But to reach such a condition man needs to know how the system of worlds operates. The laws of this world are issued from the spiritual worlds. There our souls were before our birth, and there our souls return after life. We are interested only in this particular time period when we are in our physical body and how Kabbalah can teach us the best way to live this life...
Even an insignificant change in our senses will significantly modify our perception of reality and our world. Everything we sense is called the Creation. As our sensations are subjective, the picture we build is also subjective...
Having journeyed thus far toward the goal of learning Kabbalah, we urge the student not to fall by the wayside due to difficulties with some of the technical nature of our explanations...
We shall commence with a brief review: the Creation is brought forth by the Light emanating from the Creator, and this Light is the desire to give delight, and is called Behina Shoresh (Root Phase). It builds for itself the desire to receive delight, Behina Alef, which after being filled with the Light, adopts the attribute of the Light; that is the desire to give, to relentlessly bring delight. This corresponds to Behina Bet. But there is nothing it has to give. It realizes that it can bring Him delight only if it accepts a portion of the Light for His sake...
There are five worlds between the Creator and our world. Each of them consists of five Partzufim and each Partzuf of five Sefirot. In total there are 125 levels between us and the Creator. Malchut, moving through all these levels, reaches the last one, and in this way, Behina Dalet, the only creation, merges with the four previous phases. Malchut fully absorbs the properties of the four phases and thus becomes equal to the Creator. This is the Goal of Creation...
The first Partzuf of the World of Atzilut, Atik, comes out on the Reshimot of Alef-Shoresh (Hitlabshut of Level 1, Aviut of Level 0) in the Katnut at first, from Tabur to Parsa. Then it spreads in the Gadlut all the way to our world on the Reshimot of Dalet-Gimel (4,3). It is the only a Partzuf by means of which the Light can shine in our world. We do not see or feel this Light, but it shines and drives us forward...
All sacred scriptures describe the feelings that a man is expected to live out. The message is always the same: that we are to prefer spirituality to the lures of the material world, and to praise the Creator. The Creator does not stand in need of our praises, because He is totally devoid of egoism. The only thing He wishes is to fill each one of us with delight. This is proportionate to our desire to choose Him amongst all other things, and to our aspirations to achieve attributes similar to His...
The spreading of the worlds from Above to Below matches the progressive increase of the Aviut of the four desires or phases from 0 to 4. The worlds are like a sphere surrounding Malchut. As an analogy, you can picture a man surrounded by spheres and using his organs of sensation to perceive only the sphere that is closest to him: the World of Assiya. By sharpening his organs of sensation and by modifying his qualities, man begins gradually to perceive the next sphere, and so on. All the worlds are a sort of filter placed in the Light’s path, a special Screen that blocks the Surrounding Light: the Ohr Makif...
There are only the Creator and man, i.e. the desire to give delight and the desire to enjoy this delight. There are five filters around man, which conceal the Light of the Creator, five worlds. If a man acts naturally, according to all his desires, he finds himself under the influence of these filters. All of them are above him. But if a man decides to correct himself in accordance with the properties of just one of these filters, even the lowest of them, he will ascend. He will stand above the filter and his attributes will match the attributes of the given world. Furthermore, if his attributes become similar to those of the other two worlds, he will neutralize the action of these two filters as well, and will find himself above them. Then the Light of the Creator will shine directly through his soul. Everything that happens to us between life and death is a consequence of what takes place in the spiritual worlds...