Kabbalah and Philosophy

Lesson 3

A fraction of truth developed by the human intellect

• When will it be possible to submit the Kabbalah to humanity?/li>
• The role of Kabbalah
• What is spirituality?
• The theft from the books of the prophets
• The philosophers' mistake

Why don't we have philosophy like Islam, Christianity, ancient China, ancient India, Greece, and Rome have? As I've said, it is because we did not have to research humanity, life and nature, using the human intellect. From the beginning, we have been approaching the research through the development of the point in the heart and through the upper world.

Abraham from whom emerged the group called "the nation of Israel", actually began researching the spiritual world immediately. In the "Book of Creation" he immediately describes to us the structure of the worlds, what they exist for, what the source of life is, and what the purpose of life is. So there was no room left for philosophy or any intellectual assumptions. What was left is only to actually achieve the goal.

Look how much and in what way philosophers have written about the source and purpose of life. They were great people with great minds, and they invested a lot in getting to know the forces of reality. However even such great minds as Aristotle or Appleton could never touch the answer to these questions.

It is simply impossible, because a different sense is necessary. It is like a cat, which is not able to comprehend what happens to a person. As much as the cat may develop, on the level of a cat, it would not help. This is why we never needed this type of development. Those who have developed at a cat's level finally arrive to a state in which they know nothing. But now they are like a cat, at least they know that they have no knowledge and no benefit, either from the technological, scientific, philosophical or cultural advancements. All of these advancements only bring us sufferings.

What can be done?

Now humanity will do some self reflection, and then the wisdom of Kabbalah will be offered to mankind, and they will be ready to receive it. It is as if Kabbalah was waiting for humanity to develop. The wisdom was always there, and only now it is necessary to present it to all nations.

The spiritual is a force without a body

"And that is what the Kabbalists define by the name "spirituality", which they discuss, that it has no image of time and place, or of any of the corporeal values whatsoever." Spirituality is something that has no time and space; there are no corporal values in it such as those we live in. It is something completely separate from us.

"And in my opinion the entire field of philosophy has wrapped itself in a Talis which is not its own" because it discusses the Creator, spirituality, "because it stole some definitions from the wisdom of Kabbalah, and they have flavored it with human comprehension, since otherwise it would not have crossed their mind to fabricate such wisdom". Indeed if they wouldn't have heard some discussions about spiritual forces, seemingly disconnected from human beings, then they would simply worship all sorts of physical objects.

Even recently when I was in England I saw ads in the newspaper for people who were buying an apartment and were looking for someone to clean the apartment of ghosts. So in this form they exist, never thinking about anything spiritual. People would be living like men who lived in caves if humanity wouldn't have stolen the relation to the spiritual world. (Baal HaSulam writes that the philosophers stole from the books of the prophets). Then they began to "research" it with the vessels they had, and that is how philosophy developed.

"But it (spirituality) is a force which is concealed, meaning that it is not clothed in a normal body of this world, but it is a force with no body." If it is a force without a body, which isn't clothed in matter, then how can we approach, grasp, study or feel it? That is why philosophy, which thought that this force is related to the body and clothed in it, dealt with it that way and constructed shapes around these forces which are like bodies. So they may say that the soul is related to the breath coming through the nose or other very primitive things, because they accepted that spirituality clothes in corporeality. As Kabbalists determine that spirituality is not at all related to corporeality (that there is a clear cut between them), it becomes clear that humanity is not capable of researching the spiritual.

A spiritual vessel is called a force

"And it should be noted here that the issue of force in the spiritual, does not mean the spiritual light itself," Why? We do not discuss the light either. "Because this spiritual light is drawn directly from His Essence Blessed Be He. And if so" that it is drawn from the Creator "therefore it is considered to be equal to His Essence Blessed Be He" It is like the Creator. Therefore the light that comes from the Creator but is outside of our vessel is not discussed; we only discuss our impression of whatever is outside of us. "Meaning, that in the spiritual light as well, we have no apprehension or attainment that we could define by some name or definition, because even the name "Light" is borrowed and not real. Therefore it is necessary to know that this name "force" without a body is said specifically on the aspect of "spiritual vessel". this means that when we refer to lights we do not mean real lights that are outside of us, but the reaction we have to something that comes from the Creator; the influence of the Creator on us. Our reaction is called light.

Lights and vessels

"And it requires an explanation, how do the wise Kabbalists distinguish the lights, which the wisdom is entirely filled with their discernments?" (If we don't relate to the light?) He says, "Indeed these discernments are not discussing the lights themselves but only the impression of the vessel which is the above mentioned force, impressed by the light that comes across it." It is just like some waveform that hits my ear drum, and through the ear drum I begin to discern its motions. If my ear drum was torn or not functioning correctly then I would not feel that there is anything outside. But if it is corrected, it can receive all of the motions that are outside. In the same way, I interpret according to my own attributes the external influence in the most correct way. These are actually all of the corrections that we need to go through so that each of our senses will be changed according to the light, while the way we will experience it is determined according to our nature.

Vessels and lights (the interpretation of the words)

"And here should be added the issue of the distinction between the gift and the love born by it. Since the lights, meaning the impression of the vessel, which is attainable," The vessel is impressed. When I am impressed I am able to feel how I am impressed and what I am impressed from. I can measure it and examine it. In me remain Reshimot through which I can go back to that sensation, write about them, and transfer them to others. This impression is called "matter and form" together, because the impression is the form, and the force above which builds this form is the "matter".

But the love that is born ".out of the impression, is distinguished to be a shape without matter. Meaning, if we are dealing with the abstraction of the love from the matter of the gift (as if it was never clothed in some concrete gift, but only in the abstract name 'the love of God Blessed Be Him'), then it is distinguished as form. The dealing with it is distinguished as reception in form."

I receive gifts, and according to the gifts themselves I can not ascertain who gives the gifts. However, according to the shape of the gifts and all sorts of signs that I am able to discern with my intellect, I begin to determine who the giver of the gifts is. Not Him, but His relation to me. Because the sender of the gifts seemingly knows me, loves me, and wants to benefit me. He sends them to me in such a way that I begin through these gifts to develop a relationship with Him. This relationship is called love, and this sensation is already not related to the gifts, but I sense and relate to Him. Even if there would be no more gifts, I already built a relationship between us which is beyond the gifts. Then it is considered that I am not involved with matter but with form. Matter is the gifts themselves, and the form (which is constructed above the matter) is called reception of form. We are already dealing with the connection between us.

"But it is considered to be real, with no similarity to formational philosophy, because the spirit of this love is what truly remains in attainment in a way which is completely abstracted from the gift, meaning the light itself." A person, who begins to sense the relation of the Creator to him, immediately starts to develop emotions accordingly. Those emotions eventually reach a form called love. There are in this process many forms that the person experiences, from the formation of a simple connection and then to many more. This starts from some descriptions of the giver of the gift, until he begins to elevate above the gifts and connect with the giver without the gifts. Then he receives out of this process "intellect of form "or "reception of form". These are good developmental stages for a person to go through.