Kabbalah Fundamentals. Episode 2. The Language of Kabbalah.

<- Back Videos

December 10

07:23 PM

SUMMARY FEEDBACK TRANSCRIPTION TIMELINE

Kabbalists discovered that all four spiritual worlds—Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya—are structured identically. Everything that exists or happens in a lower world is an exact imprint of what exists in the world above it, like a seal and its imprint.
Therefore, every element in this world (the “branch”) has a corresponding spiritual source (the “root”).

Because branches precisely reflect their roots, Kabbalists created a unique language: the Language of Branches. They use names of physical objects and phenomena to describe spiritual forces and processes, since each physical form points to a specific spiritual root.

This language allows Kabbalists to communicate their spiritual attainments accurately from person to person and across generations. Unlike ordinary languages—which lose precision over time—the language of branches is based on fixed natural definitions and therefore remains clear and reliable for spiritual research.

Kabbalah Fundamentals: The Language of Kabbalah. Hello everyone, and welcome to our show. With us in the studio is Rav Dr. Michael Laitman, I'm Michael Samilevich, and the topic of our lesson today is the Law of Root and Branch. It's a very interesting topic about how Kabbalists communicated, passed on information. In this article, The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Balasulam explains that over thousands of years, Kabbalists used a specific language in order to communicate their spiritual states, and there were four such languages. Also, I heard you say that music is a language and drawing, but let's focus on these four languages, which are the language of the Torah, Halakha, Aggadah, and the language of Kabbalah. And why is specifically the language of Kabbalah more suitable for our generation? The thing is that when we attain the higher world, then this attainment is strictly personal, inside the person. And when he needs to pass something on to another person, then there are no words for it because it's an inner feeling. You need to somehow express it through some external actions that another person can get an impression from, and by that, to generate inside himself the same feelings, understanding, as did that person who attained the upper world. Meaning, in order to pass on to another person that's supposed on the same level as I'm on, more or less, for that, you also need to find some kind of code. It's like today, where we connect between ourselves, between modems, my computer with your computer. Then there is some kind of a box that makes the connection between us, connects one computer with another, back and forth. And what you get is a kind of communication. How do we do it between ourselves? In the ordinary world, we have some kind of collectiveness of feelings, understandings, circumstances. Meaning, we have a language that's taken from our day-to-day life. And in the spiritual world, when we initially don't have that language, and we don't know on what level and where is our counterpart, if he does feel the spiritual world at all, and therefore there is a problem of how do we connect, what laws of communication, commutation are there here. And thus, Kabbalists needed to invent a language in order to speak amongst them in a way that they'll understand each other, where each of them is on what level of attainment of the higher world, what exactly does he feel, perceive, very possibly that what I feel, another doesn't, even though that they too are in some kind of attainment, or maybe it only seems to them that way, or to me. Meaning, there is a tremendous range of uncertainty here that we somehow need to scrutinize, sort, start working with. And here appears a problem of communication, even sheerly externally. How will I explain to people in what words, letters, expressions, gestures, maybe through dance, colors, sounds, etc.? How? How can I draw it all? All the methods of communication of information from person to person are earthly. And how can I pass on something spiritual? All these things don't exist in spirituality. What exists in our world? And therefore, Kabbalists, first and foremost, discovered the language of branches. Meaning, that everything in our world has its initial starting point in the spiritual world, and the spiritual forces gradually descend into our world, and in our world, they give their physical manifestation, some kind of volume, some kind of form, some kind of expression, sound, color, etc. Eventually, any chemical elements, organic, doesn't matter, they all stem from spiritual forces. Meaning, they looked at the objects of our world and named spiritual states by the objects of our world. Yeah, meaning, if I say glass, then I mean a glass in the higher world, meaning a certain force that in our world generates this object. And this is how the first language of the Torah appeared in the form of historic stories. Suppose they looked at a snake in the Torah, there's a lot about the snake, so they looked at a snake and named the spiritual state by it. They saw the spiritual root of that state, of that object. And what is it? This we don't exactly understand because we don't feel the law of cause and consequence. I remember when I took my teacher, Rabash, to the zoo. Well, here it's not exactly like a zoo. You know, it's open, it's big, it's also called Safari. So he wanted to see all of these animals. Before that, he didn't go to the zoo? No, no, he didn't see them. And I showed him all these things. He saw a snake, elephant, well, he saw it in pictures someplace, obviously, but not in real life. And so these were very interesting moments. For Kabbalists, they happen very frequently. By the way, we can't imagine what is there about a snake in this world besides its venom that is taken by doctors as a source for medicine. But in that, they actually implement a Kabbalistic principle that the most horrible and harmful can be the most beneficial and positive. In the Torah, there are many types of animals, names of animals, as I understand. It's not about these animals that we know. No, no, by no means. It's about the still vegetative, animate, and human nature of man. And these forms are used in order to describe the four phases of the desire. And thus, in our world, what we have is this kind of manifestation. So the donkey, the bull, it's all types of desires in me. Yeah, it's the manifestation of the desire. So if a Kabbalist looks at a donkey, he sees in himself a certain desire. He sees in himself a desire that generates that donkey. The donkey itself doesn't exist. It exists because man generates it. So this is how the entire Torah is written. As Balasulam writes that this is the language of the Torah in the form of historic stories where they use all these names of animals, etc. There's also the language of Halakha. It was used to write the Mishnah, the Talmud, Gemara. Yeah, these are languages that already describe certain spiritual actions of correction. It doesn't describe in general nature and how it's divided into the still vegetative, animate, and human levels, etc. But what's the right interaction between these parts of nature, with the surrounding world and between themselves? And this is the language of Halakha, meaning it describes already more detailed interactions between the parts of nature. And there's the language of Aggadah in the form of allegorical stories. Yeah, it's a very complicated language, complex, very conditional, because you have there are many, well, I can stories. There are many different forms that actually don't exist in our world. It's not the language of commandments or the language of our world, zoological as of. Did some one person create this language or how? No, no, these languages, they developed gradually in the measure to which we've advanced in our attainment of the higher world and the commutation, its commutation with our world. From here, these languages. But also, there are many other different languages, if you can call them languages. Different poetic languages, lyrical ones, there's music, drawings even, etc. Meaning, everything that a person can depict as his inner world, it is all used in the Torah. And the language of Kabbalah, what's the difference there? As I understand, it's more ancient or modern. The language of Kabbalah is special. The thing is that when we begin to attain the higher world, then we attain it gradually, and it develops in us as the language of legend, a poetical language, similar to our world, zoological, etc. The language of Kabbalah, it's a very non-simple language. It's a complex language. Especially, you can see it in the book written by Abraham, three and a half thousand years ago, the book of Yetzirah, the book of creation. Already there, he used Kabbalistic language. Yeah, he writes, through 32 rays of higher light, is created such and such. And then he clearly describes the system of the world of Atzilut. Meaning, the Ten Sefirot, it already exists there? Of course. Of course, it's all written. These are 32 parts, 32 paths, flows of light. Meaning, he describes these Lamed Bet Netivot, meaning, he describes the system of the world of Atzilut, not just some initial orientation or something, but the system of governance. So here, there's already a completely different language, the language of Kabbalah, what Adam did not describe yet. Because in the book of Adam, mainly, he uses an allegorical language there. And Abraham, he already described things in the language of Kabbalah. And afterwards, very frequently, was used the language of Halakhot, the language of spiritual actions, that describes, take this, do that, this possible, this impossible, etc. Something that's very commonly used in the Torah. Practically, the Torah uses all languages, but especially. And the book of Zohar, in it, everything's described in the language of, how to call it, it's also allegorical, stories, legends there. There are only a few parts that are written in the language of Kabbalah. Yeah, Safled, it's Niouta, Idra Raba, Idra Zuta, these parts are written in Kabbalistic language, and the rest is written in the language of Musal, morals. Yeah, as if in the language of morals that you should do this, not do that, as if like a kind of teaching. But for our generation, what can you advise? What language? We have four languages now. We can use any of them? Well, throughout the generations, these languages, they transformed, mixed, influenced one another. Kabbalists used on and off this language, that language, depending on the qualities and level of the generation. And in our time, it's the language of Kabbalah, because it's the clearest, it's physical, mathematical, you can't confuse it with anything else. It clearly gives you the level on which you need to work, in what way to act with the force of, with the help of what force, what counter force, meaning desire, screen, resistance, restriction of the light, reception of the light in a certain volume, etc. Meaning, it all comes down to these two parameters that exist in creation, which is desire and the fulfillment. In what way do they interact between them? And how do the correct interactions need to happen between them? And if they're incorrect, then also what happens then? Is Gematria also a language? Gematria is a language, but it's not a language of actions. It's the language of depiction, description. It's like you take a certain language in order to describe certain feelings of yours. You can use the language of emotions. Maybe there's such a language where you can explain everything through chemical processes inside yourself, biological processes, that you can describe it through poetry, sounds, etc. So Gematria is the form of writing down information. So for example, you can say Elokim in translation, it can be creator, or it can be Pivaf 86, that if I tell a Kabbalist 86, he understands that I want to tell him something about the creator. Well, actually, yeah, of course. Kabbalists, they don't perceive the words themselves that you say, but they immediately translate these words into their inner sensations, what we do with the ordinary language that we use. If I tell you water, book, piano, child, things like that, sun, then in you appear certain images, forms, and you immediately somehow sort them inside yourself, relate them to pleasant, unpleasant, distant, close, clear, more or less, etc. I mean, they awaken in you certain reactions, inner reactions, emotional reactions. The same with a Kabbalist. You tell him numbers or even Kabbalistic formulas. And in him, it's like for a musician where he sees notes that it creates an entire range of feelings. When the language itself was formed, the letters, there are 22 letters. Well, it's from the attainment of the higher world. Meaning, there are four forms: dot, line, plane, and some kind of 3D figure. Suppose the letter itself, Aleph, you explained once, I heard you say that there are lines and dots in it. Well, letters are merely a reflection, representation of the spiritual vessel that represents a desire formed in such a way that in some form it can be similar to the higher light. I mean, what is a letter? It's my desire, meaning me, practically, that makes out of his qualities such a form where one is similar to the creator, that man's similar to the creator. Therefore, each letter represents a certain form of similarity to the creator. And what is the combination of letter? It's the order of those changes which I generate inside myself in order to attain some kind of understanding of the creator, meaning a word is a certain order of my inner actions. If I generate them, then as a result of these actions, from the beginning of the word to its end, I get some kind of message, some kind of connection between myself and the creator, and then I understand in what kind of connection with him I am. One letter can't do anything. There need to be minimum two, at least two, etc. Meaning, the language is where we, all of us, connected in one feeling that we wouldn't need a language. We would have simply been inside each other and would have mutually passed on to one another our feelings, sensations, and we would have simply fulfilled one another. Meaning, we'd exist in one realm. It's like one person that there's no, right? It's what sometimes happens between people when they're very much connected. They feel each other. The same in Kabbalah. Only in Kabbalah, it's not between people, but in the measure to which between themselves they're connected with the creator. So at the end of times, when all of humanity will come to correction, there will be no need for language? No. All shall speak, as it says, one language. It'll be the language of inner sensation. There will be no body, no language, no orders of production or perception of language, etc. That'll simply all be filled in one heart, all these states, and that's it? The language itself. Suppose plants, they emit certain smells. Even the still nature, there are certain vibrations, waves. It's also a language, of course. Well, and animals, obviously, they have a language. That's also a language. Yeah, of course. What's interesting, when man became man already, a Homo sapiens, and language appeared, that people could interact between themselves through different abstract forms. Yeah, but the thing is that in the measure to which people grow apart, the more they need a language in order to understand each other. Meaning, on the one hand, it's mutual growing apart, and on the other hand, it's a kind of mutual coming together. This is how we were made, that we consist of two opposite aspirations, directions. I remember you once explained that man has the ability to pass information on to each other, such information that a person didn't even feel yet. Meaning, people can tell each other about objects like the soul, the creator, things that they never felt. Yeah. Something that animals don't have. Right. It's something that we can do. And one way or another, all of this information is passed on through us, and even those people that are as if completely unrelated, because we're all interconnected in one closed system. And thus, you and I were talking now, between us, amongst us, there could also be now millions or even billions of people, souls, so-called vessels, kelim, through which we interact. But they perform only a passive kind of task, since they still can't participate in it actively. But actually, when we achieve a serious degree of correction, then we become included in these people consciously in our communication, and they take part in the conveyance of all the information. I wanted to ask about the conveyance of information. You can pass it on orally or in writing. And there's also something that's a secret. It's not secret because it's a secret that no one can know about. It's secret because those that don't know about it won't know about it. They simply can't. You can't tell a dog about a Pythagoras theorem. You can't. It won't understand it. It doesn't have the right structure of vessel, of mind for it. And thus, it's called a secret. But otherwise, really, secrets don't exist. A secret is that which is limited by my development. Well, you just told me a secret that between us, there are millions of people, but I can't feel them, see them, so for me, they don't exist. Yeah. Naturally. So in writing, what is that? What's the difference between written and oral? Well, writing is a tremendous achievement of mankind that stemming from the attainment of the inner qualities, the 32 forces that come down upon our world and generate, create 22 letters, qualities meaning, and then these qualities can be expressed by us in the form of drawing, where there is a dot and line and circle, and there's a correspondence between the straight lines. For us, they create the opportunity to write down all the spiritual forces. And thus, in order for us to write down the spiritual forces, for us are enough the 22 combinations between dot and straight line. And this is how the alphabet was created. Meaning, it's not something artificial, but it's simply the manifestation, realization of the higher forces of nature in their graphical representation. And when we orally pass on information, can you pass on more exalted, maybe secret information than in writing, or the other way around? It depends on the level of the Kabbalist that you're in interaction with. Because Kabbalists, they mainly use writing. Well, for beginners, it's better writing, because it's hard to understand. Yeah, but the writing that Kabbalists use, it's not the writing that an ordinary person uses. For a Kabbalist, using letters, circles, dots, straight lines, it is a feeling. It's his degree of perception of the upper light that he describes in that way. If you look at the signs, symbols that composers write, for you to also will seem like bugs with a tail or something, and you won't understand what it's about. But for them, these are tremendous emotions. Well, there was the oral and written Torah. What's the difference between them? Well, it's a vast and separate topic. The written and oral Torah differ in the level on which you can understand and generate it. It's two forms of writing down information, of creating information. Meaning, it's like the realization of some kind of like a copying of the higher light into our world. So we're approaching the end of our show, and I'd like to conclude with the language of Kabbalah. From what I read in Balasulam's articles, he recommends to all beginners to study in the language of Kabbalah, because then you don't envision, you don't depict different abstract forms, concepts. It's concrete. You say, Chochmah bin Azahan, when you read these Sefirot, you can't imagine any shapes or forms. You won't have mistakes. It's clear to you that you're speaking in codes that can be understood only to a person who studied it and is in some kind of attainment at least, or understands these concepts at least. Even if, for example, you read the Torah, in the beginning it says that the Creator created the heaven and earth, whether I want it or not, I imagine heaven and earth to myself. And in Kabbalah, it says that the Creator created the desire to receive and the desire to bestow. That's it. I don't imagine any forms, obviously. And thus, it's best to study the wisdom of Kabbalah in Kabbalistic language. It keeps you from many mistakes. And the language of music, what do you think? Is it possible to use it? And to what measure is it possible to communicate information through it? It's impossible to communicate information through it. You can bring through it a person into a state that will help him connect to the source and from there to draw information. But it's not the communication of information itself. Because sounds are not on a clear degree of attainment. The thing is that when you write Kabbalistic information, you can write it in precision down to the smallest details that you receive. Meaning, to rise to such and such a degree, perform such and such actions, integrate into a system of interactions with such and such objects, to direct them this way upon yourself and yourself upon them. Meaning, it's a tremendous amount of information that can be written down in a pretty uncomplicated way on the one hand, and then to transform these actions from one to another, etc. And when you create music, if you perform it on a musical instrument, then it really depends on the instrument itself, the degree of the person who's performing it, and the degree of the person who's listening to it. And here, there can be strong discrepancy, meaning on different degrees on what happens on different levels. It's like, for example, you take a children's story, Masha and the Bear, and you read it to a child. And the child, he doesn't know how to respond to it. Maybe it seems to him frightening or something. When you read it to someone more grown up, he understands that it's written for children, and it's all fine. You read it to a Kabbalist, the Kabbalist starts understanding that the story is not about Masha and not about the Bear, but about completely different qualities and creation. And so what turns out is that practically, probably all people in the world use the hidden language. They actually, no matter what they're engaged in, they always talk about what they receive from the Creator and express it only on the level on which they understand it. So from them, it's hidden. Yes, but they always express the actions of the Creator in them. This is the true language of creation. And even a child, even birds, even dogs, whoever, not to mention great Kabbalists, physicists, chemists, they all speak about creation. Only the language of Kabbalah communicates to us a precise picture of what goes on. So it's like taking biologists that talk about love through different chemical reactions in our body. Yeah. Okay, so it was very interesting. And on our next lesson, we'll talk about the approach to the study, how to study, what should be the approach, the right approach, different methods of studying, and the benefit from it. What does a person in our world gain from studying the wisdom of Kabbalah? Until next time, all the best.