Kabbalah Revealed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD Introduction by: Professor Ervin Laszlo Kabbalah Revealed The Ordinary Person’s Guide to a More Peaceful Life LAITMAN KABBALAH PUBLISHERS Rav Michael Laitman, PhD Introduction by: Professor Ervin Laszlo KABBALAH REVEALED The Ordinary Person’s Guide to a More Peaceful Life Copyright © 2006 by MICHAEL LAITMAN All rights reserved Published by Laitman Kabbalah Publishers www.kabbalah.info [email protected] 1057 Steeles Avenue West, Suite 532, Toronto, ON, M2R 3X1, Canada 194 Quentin Rd, 2nd floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11223, USA Printed in Canada No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Laitman, Michael. Kabbalah revealed: the ordinary person’s guide to a more peaceful life / Michael Laitman p. cm. ISBN 0-9781590-0-4 1. Cabalah. 2. Mysticism—Judaism. 3. Spiritual life—Judaism. I. Title. BM525.L253 2006 296.1’6—dc22 2006031322 Copy Editor: Claire Gerus Layout and Drawings: Baruch Khovov Cover Design: Richard Aquan Printing and Post Production: Uri Laitman Executive Editor: Chaim Ratz Cover photo: Manuscripts of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag, courtesy of Bnei Baruch archives and Studio Yaniv, Israel. FIRST EDITION: JANUARY 2007 KABBALAH REVEALED TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographies .......................................................................................................9 Introduction ...................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1 - KABBALAH: THEN AND NOW .....................................19 THE MASTER PLAN ....................................................................................19 THE CRADLE OF SCIENCE ......................................................................21 Other Routes ...........................................................................................23 The Big Questions ...................................................................................24 KABBALAH STEPS IN .................................................................................24 The Engine of Change ............................................................................25 Taking the Driver’s Seat ..........................................................................26 HIDING, SEEKING, BUT NOT FINDING ................................................28 The Global Crisis Has a Happy End ......................................................30 Egoism Is a Catch-22 ..............................................................................30 THE NECESSITY OF ALTRUISM ..............................................................32 Enhanced Perception ..............................................................................34 The Time Is Now .....................................................................................36 IN A NUTSHELL ..........................................................................................37 CHAPTER 2 - THE GREATEST WISH OF ALL .....................................39 SPRINGBOARD FOR GROWTH ...............................................................40 Behind Closed Doors .............................................................................41 The Evolution of Desires ........................................................................43 HANDLING DESIRES .................................................................................46 A New Desire in Town ............................................................................47 A New Method for a New Desire ............................................................48 Tikkun—the Correction of the Will to Receive ......................................50 IN A NUTSHELL ..........................................................................................52 CHAPTER 3 - THE ORIGIN OF CREATION .............................................53 THE SPIRITUAL WORLDS .........................................................................54 Four Basic Phases ....................................................................................55 THE QUEST FOR THE THOUGHT OF CREATION .............................61 THE ROUTE .................................................................................................66 ADAM HA RISHON—THE COMMON SOUL ..........................................71 IN A NUTSHELL ..........................................................................................73 CHAPTER 4 - OUR UNIVERSE .............................................................75 THE PYRAMID .............................................................................................76 As Above, So Below ................................................................................78 UP THE LADDER ........................................................................................79 THE DESIRE FOR SPIRITUALITY ............................................................84 IN A NUTSHELL ..........................................................................................90 CHAPTER 5 - WHOSE REALITY IS REALITY? .....................................93 THREE BOUNDARIES IN LEARNING KABBALAH ..............................96 First Boundary—What We Perceive .........................................................96 Second Boundary—Where We Perceive ..................................................96 Third Boundary—Who Perceives ............................................................97 PERCEPTION OF REALITY .....................................................................100 A Nonexistent Reality ...........................................................................103 The Measurement Mechanism ..............................................................105 The Sixth Sense .....................................................................................106 Where There’s a Way, There Was a Will ..............................................109 The Thought of Creation ......................................................................111 Reshimot—Back to the Future ...............................................................113 IN A NUTSHELL ........................................................................................116 CHAPTER 6 - THE (NARROW) ROAD TO FREEDOM ........................119 THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN ...........................................................121 A Brave New World in Four Steps ........................................................126 KNOW YOUR LIMITS ...............................................................................129 The Reins of Life ...................................................................................131 Changing Society to Change Myself .....................................................133 FOUR FACTORS ........................................................................................135 CHOOSING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT FOR CORRECTION .....138 No Anarchists ........................................................................................142 THE EGO’S INEVITABLE DEATH ..........................................................143 The Cure ...............................................................................................145 Fake Freedom ........................................................................................147 Conditions for Free Choice ..................................................................149 IMPLEMENTING FREE CHOICE ............................................................150 Faith .......................................................................................................150 Reason ...................................................................................................151 IN A NUTSHELL ........................................................................................153 FURTHER READING ............................................................................157 B IOGRAPHIES RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN, PHD Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, is an international authority on authentic Kabbalah. His background is highly unusual for one renowned in the spiritual: he was educated in the sciences, holds an MS in bio-cybernetics, and has pursued a successful scientific career, later turning to Kabbalah to further his scientific research. He received his PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1976, he began studying Kabbalah, and has been researching it ever since. In 1979, seeking new avenues in Kabbalah, he came across Kabbalist Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (1906-1991), the firstborn son, and successor of Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (1884-1954), known as Baal HaSulam for his 9 10 KABBALAH REVEALED Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar. Mi- chael Laitman was so impressed with Baal HaSulam’s son, that he became Baruch Ashlag’s closest disciple and personal assistant, spending the bulk of his time in the company of his revered mentor, and absorbing as much as he could of his teachings. Today, he is regarded as the foremost authority on Kabbalah, having authored thirty books on the subject, translated into ten languages. His live lessons are broad- cast daily on cable TV and internet around the world. In recent years, he has become a sought-after lecturer in academic circles in the United States and Europe. Dr. Laitman is the founder and president of Bnei Ba- ruch - Kabbalah Education and Research Institute, which operates the largest and most extensive internet site on the subject of Kabbalah, www.kabbalah.info. The website provides unlimited access to Kabbalistic texts and me- dia in over twenty languages, with 1.4 million hits per month. Since the year 2000, the Encyclopedia Britannica recognizes kabbalah.info as one of the largest internet sites for both number of visitors and quantity of educational and informational materials on the science of Kabbalah.