Courses / Fundamentals of Kabbalah 2024/2025 / Lesson 1: Human nature and the perception of reality according to Kabbalah
Lesson Lesson 1: Human nature and the perception of reality according to Kabbalah

Lesson 1: Human nature and the perception of reality according to Kabbalah

The lesson dives into what drives us, where our thoughts come from, and what sparks our desires. It breaks down Kabbalah’s core idea: our desire for pleasure. Discover the goal of authentic Kabbalah and why it’s still crucial today.

Lesson content
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Playlist
  • What drives human nature? Where do our thoughts come from and what awakens in us the desires that drive us?
  • What are the fundamental building blocks of creation according to the wisdom of Kabbalah—the desire to receive pleasure and delight—and what are their characteristics?
  • What is the benefit of studying authentic Kabbalah, and why is it relevant today?

We make nothing new, our work is only to illuminate what is hidden within a person.
Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

 

“Our essence is as the essence of all the details in reality, which is no more and no less than the will to receive.”
Baal HaSulam. Item 20.  “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”
 

"The magnitude of the value of the power of the human will will yet be discovered in the world, and its degree in reality, how decisive it is, and this discovery will be the crown of all science."
Rav Kook
 

“The abundance itself is like an ocean. There is one who draws with a thimble, and there is one who draws with a bucket, and so forth.”
RABASH, Assorted Notes. Article No. 798, "The Merit of the Little One"
 

“The whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah is only to know the guidance of the upper desire, why He created all those creations, what He wants with them, and what will be the end of all the turnings of the world.”
RAMCHAL, Daat Tevunot
 

Characteristics of the will to receive

  • Our desires are growing all the time
  • Fillings, which are achieved by much effort, are felt for a short time and disappear.
  • When the filling is gone - it leaves us with a greater emptiness
  • As a pleasure increases in quality, the filling lasts longer
  • Desires are not under the control of the person
  • Desires are strongly influenced/controlled by the environment
  • Desires cannot be cancelled - it is possible to reduce them through sufferings
  • Egoism = a person’s pleasures come at the expense of others
  • Desire as substance is neutral
  • The ego = a natural hate (unfounded) for others, one will always prefer fulfilment for one’s own self over the fulfilment of others, and usually this will happen at the expense of others.

 

Some of the topics we will dive into during the course

  • The plan of creation and its purpose
  • What is a soul, and how does it relate to me?
  • The upper force: Is there any? None? How and what?
  • Perception of reality
  • Freedom of choice
  • The history of humanity and the wisdom of Kabbalah

Introspection / further self-study

  • What desires arise in me, and at what rate?
  • Do my desires appear on their own?
  • Let's observe people around us, how do their desires operate them?
  • Am I able to differentiate between the point in the heart and the other desires?

Video Clip -> Kabbalist Rav Michael Laitman explaining the goals of the cours and welcoming the new students 

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Lesson 1