Michael Laitman - Awakening to Kabbalah: The Guiding Light of Spiritual Fulfillment

Rav Michael Laitman, PhD

2006 First Printing

2006 by Michael Laitman

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Laitman, Michael.

Awakening to Kabbalah : The Guiding Light of Spiritual Fulfillment /

Michael Laitman.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-58023-264-7

1. Cabala. 2. MysticismJudaism. 3. Spiritual LifeJudaism. I. Title.

BM525.L247 2005

296.1'6dc22 2005026131

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Jacket design: Tim Holtz

Jacket art: S-113 Kabbalah, 1976 original serigraph by Shraga Weil.

Published by the Safrai Fine Art Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel. Copyright

Safrai Gallery.

Published by Jewish Lights Publishing

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Out of all known creatures, the human being is the most complete. Yet it is the human who asks the eternal question, repeated in every generation: What is the purpose of creation?

Scientists have been trying to find the reason for our existence for centuries, and yet they have failed to find the answer. The question grows more and more acute with each passing generation, because the pains of the world only increase in time, and the struggle for survival continues. Hence, it is quite possible that the answer is not within our reach, and science simply cannot provide it.

But the question is not just Why do things exist? but also What am I living for? The evolutionary processes of nature and living organisms astonish us with their inconceivable contradictions. For example, young animals mature in a matter of weeks or months, while humans need many years to grow. Only at the end of the process do you see that humans are the masters of creation; however, during the transitional phases, humans are much weaker than any other animal. If we did not know the final outcome, we would reach the opposite conclusion that it is the young animal who will become the master of creation and the human who will lead a bitter life and die. It follows that we understand neither the meaning of our existence, nor the reason behind the evolutionary process.

We perceive the world through our five senses. What we perceive by sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch then unite to form our image of the world around us. Therefore, if we had other senses we would feel the world differently. It is common knowledge that dogs see the world through their sense of smell, and to the bees the world appears to be divided into billions of cells.

If we can perceive only a small portion of all that exists around us, and in a very limited range, is it then possible to feel everything around us? Can it be that this is where the secret to the purpose of our existence lies? If this is so, then we need another sense, a sixth sense, to discover what we cannot feel with the other five senses. How can we acquire that sense? Why are we not given that sense at birth?

There is a simple answer to these questions. It is up to us to develop this sixth sense. Because humans are very different in their development from all other creatures, they acquire or develop everything with a human, moral effort. And once we have acquired this additional sense, we differentiate ourselves from the beast once and for all. Out of all living creatures, we humans are the only ones with the ability to discover in ourselves that hidden sense and develop it.

Humankind evolves gradually, from generation to generation. We evolve technologically, scientifically, culturally, but not ethically. At a certain point in their evolution, people must feel an inner need for spiritual development, a need to discover that extra, hidden sense, or else they will not endure. Kabbalah is the method for the discovery of that sense.

The evolution of humanity is like the evolution of the individual: It evolves through infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. During this process, it uses every means at its disposal. Then, when we discover that extra sense within, we begin to feel a wider world around, to see the meaning of life, the reason for suffering, and the purpose of existence. Those feelings enable us to control the world, to uproot the source of pain and head toward the goal of discovering the meaning of life.

The purpose of this book is to help those of you who are interested in spirituality. Many sources, and most notably The Zohar, have pointed to our moment in history as the age of Kabbalah. Our souls have evolved over many centuries, through many difficult periods in history, and we now possess the spiritual readiness and desire to go beyond our limited physical existence and rise above this transitory world. The large - scale movements and popularization of Kabbalah through workshops and meditation retreats are merely small signs that our time has come. We are now able to start developing the sixth sense, and by so doing, we will change ourselves and, by extension, the world around us for the better.

Many, many people contributed to the making of this book. They have given their precious time and outstanding abilities; I am in debt to all.

My first thanks are to Marc Daniels and his wife, Adrienne E. Hacker Daniels, PhD, whose initial initiative and zeal are the very reasons you are reading these lines.

I would like to thank Benzion Giertz for the original compilation and supervision of the Hebrew version. I would also like to thank Chaim Ratz for his sensitive and intelligent translation.

I would like to thank the entire Jewish Lights Publishing staff, but the hard work and dedication of some is worth special notice: Alys R. Yablon, Jewish Lights Publishing Jerusalem - Based Editor, for her sensitive and thoughtful editorial assistance without which this book would not have been so accessible to the reader; Emily Wichland, Vice President and Managing Editor of Jewish Lights, who was so helpful in managing the development of the book from its conception to its final word; and Lauren Seidman, project editor, who carefully brought the draft into its completed form.

Last but by no means least, I would like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude to Stuart M. Matlins, founder and publisher of Jewish Lights, whose wise assistance and personal care were crucial to the successful completion of this book. I have already published over thirty books, in many countries and with many publishers, but it was especially pleasurable for me to work hand in hand with this master of making books. His advice and counseling I will always treasure.

Every authentic Kabbalah book contains terms that depict suffering, such as beating, affliction, and torment. As in the Bible, Kabbalah uses these terms to refer to any state of being that is less than ideal. The Creators purpose in creation is to do good to His creations. Thus, if a desire to take pleasure in something is not realized immediately, it is defined as suffering. It is written in the Gomorrah that if you put your hand in your pocket expecting to pull out three coins and find that there are only two, you are already suffering.