The Kabbalah is a mysterious document with authors going all the way back to before Judaism. The Kabbalah has recently been talked about, not as a religious book, but as a mystical view of how God works and how life works. The modern study of the Kabbalah might even be considered a "how to" book for living ones life by correcting oneself. In the beginning, the Kabbalah asks us to consider some questions and then to observe nature for the answers. This is what Abraham did and he was considered the first Kabbalist who met with his Creator by choosing the path of light. He then taught everyone who would stop and visit him. Here are his questions: 1.) What is our essence? 2.) What is our role? 3.) When we look at ourselves we fall short, when we look at the Creator, we see perfection. Why create the imperfect? 4.) Why, when there is no beginning and no end, things are finite? 5.) What is the purpose?
Here is what Kabbalah teaches:
Human behavior appears imperfect. The actions of humans show people enjoying the suffering of other people. There is a desire that says, "I feel good only if I control others." The human attitude toward others is a problem. Beyond the basic desires of food, shelter and sex, the acquisition of money, honor, and power are the goals for which humans hunger. None of these goals satisfies the human soul in the end. This appears to be what we are when we look at human behavior. This Youtube illustrates the Kabbalah view of humans and their goals as taught by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD.
Was creation born in a "big bang"? Did we exist, born out of nothing? We are an innovation from our creator, but why did he/she create us? Is the answer in what existed before our creation was made? The Creator made creation for a personal reason. All of creation is a fragile and temporary place where mankind resides, as "bad fruit" that can become "good" through internal, natural forces.
We are really one with the creator who made us, but there's a problem:
We are all made by the creator, so we are all from the same source, a soul, split into small pieces and separated from everything else. Each soul piece encased in the bubble feeling very alone or empty, we are wanting to receive. We feel opposite to the benevolent/light that wants to give to us. When we feel opposite, it interferes with receiving.
God/Creator wants to give to us, but our wanting to receive shines a light on our short-comings:
The desire for connecting with God makes us aware of our flaws, hating others and therefore hating God. It makes us search for a way to correct the flaws. Seeing the flaws makes us feel that we must correct them because they are abhorrent to us.
We are at the center of creation.
We eventually will be forced to do the right thing. In the meantime, those who ascend toward the creator by studying the Kabbalah will ascend and the more they ascend, they will become increasingly distant because the spiritual world will be "real" when compared to creation.
The Kabbalah and the spirit of the Old Testament/Torah appear to complement each other.
So in light of this information, I would say this is a set-up for connecting with the forces of God/Light/Creator. So far it appears that Kabbalah is not a religion but it does not conflict with religion and may even complement it. My next post will continue to address basic ideas of the Kabbalah. It qualifies as mysticism because it is about finding ways to get closer to God.
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