In AUG 2011, through the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute (edu.kabbalah.info), I signed up for a free live online course on the fundamentals of Kabbalah, hoping this “traditional rabbinic lineage” angle of study would contribute to a more holistic understanding of Kabbalist disciplines alongside studying Hermetic Qabalah and Tarot.

Important info on the lineage of these teachings:

Dr. Michael Laitman is the founder of Bnei Baruch, through which the message of Kabbalah is spread globally. This is the institution that offers the free classes. All of my online instructors are students of Dr. Laitman.

Bnei Baruch is Hebrew for “Sons of Baruch,” referring to Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag a.k.a. “ The Rabash .” Dr. Laitman is the prime student and successor of The Rabash.

Shalom HaLevi Ashlag a.k.a. “ .” Dr. Laitman is the prime student and successor of The Rabash. The Rabash was firstborn and successor to Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag a.k.a. “the Baal Ha-Sulam ,” Hebrew for “author of the ladder.”

,” Hebrew for “author of the ladder.” Baal Ha-Sulam was a big deal because of his commentaries on The Zohar and his commentaries on the entire works of Isaac Luria a.k.a. “ The Ari ”. The Ari (1534-72) is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah, his teachings being referred to as Lurianic Kabbalah.

”. The Ari (1534-72) is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah, his teachings being referred to as Lurianic Kabbalah. Baal Ha-Sulam differed from most other Kabbalists in that he believed the wisdom of Kabbalah should be made accessible to everyone rather than kept secret and hidden. He foresaw an era in which mankind would suffer existential crisis and require such wisdom to correct itself.

As a web developer by trade, I applaud what they have done with the site. Don’t get me wrong, I necessarily have my fair share of user interface gripes, but as someone who’s seen what it takes to put a project of this size together, I can tell you it’s no small feat to provide accessible occult metaphysics distance social e-learning in multiple languages with that smooth of an experience–I’m grateful they obviously put forth a lot of effort. I wonder what they run their site on…

The class interface consists of a live video stream from instructors, a live chat feed to field student questions, and links to relevant materials. There is also a moderated forum where students can post questions outside of class time. In both the chat feed and the forum, students are encouraged to think carefully about formulating questions that are relevant to the material, and not to engage in idle musings, interpretations, or discuss topics not directly relevant to course material.

Reminder e-mails are sent automatically on every class day, and some e-mails are sent between class days that discuss specific topics, articles, events, or writings, perhaps something extra to study between classes. The website provides free PDFs of all essential reading materials for the class, including the main textbook, Kabbalah for the Student, and several others.

Eager to begin studying, I clicked around for material I could get started on, and in the days leading up to my first class ended up watching a series of 16 Kabbalah Revealed videos hosted by Tony Kosinec. All of these videos are available here without signing up for anything. They were a good introduction to the course material and piqued my interest in the subject matter as well as the teaching approach.

Classes for my group are held every WED and SUN at 8:00pm (GMT -5); my first lesson was 07 SEP and the last class will be 27 NOV. Each session is taught by two instructors; one presents the main lesson while the other monitors questions posted by students in the live chat feed and chimes in with additional insight. Each class is roughly an hour and 15 minutes long.

Within 24 hours of every session, a video of that class is posted in the archive section, so missing a day is not a big deal, and it is easy to go back and review a lesson for reinforcement (though I never felt the need to do so). This archive section also allows a student to watch the videos of sister classes in other time zones taught by different instructors. Yet another advantage is the ability to download these video files permanently onto a hard drive for reviewing later or uploading onto a device.

My class has registrants from Chile, Brazil, the Netherlands, the UK, the U.S.A, the Philippines, and many more places. Students logged in from all over the world are encouraged to sound off with a greeting at the beginning of each class (this is deliberate, as I will explain later), and as the course progressed I found myself recognizing various familiar students every week.

The format of the class has been pretty consistent. Some lectures cover increasingly detailed diagrams and descriptions of the structure of creation, while others focus on integrating this terminology into theory and practice along with readings from various source materials and extensive Q&A.

One thing I noted was the repetitive, almost tedious nature of covering the same material again and again before introducing new concepts. Many consecutive class sessions began with the instructor re-drawing the same basic diagram anew “from the ground up.” I wondered if it would be more efficient to just have print outs of the diagram on hand to bring out as needed, but concluded quickly that there must be a certain deliberate intention behind redrawing the diagrams in this way.

Indeed, the instructors exhibit a subtle reverence for the deliberate way in which the class is taught. I suspected early on that they understood on some level the ritual significance of the structure of the class itself and the manner in which it was conducted. They confirmed my suspicions in revealing the tri-fold importance of The Books, The Group, and The Teacher, expressed more as esoteric concepts of symbolic, archetypal significance than literally “these books”, “these students” and “us guys.” Encouraging students to greet before class and welcoming some aloud by name before beginning the lesson contributed to the framework of the ritual, as the instructors concertedly framed an environment of essence conducive to the study of Kabbalah.

Approaching Kabbalah from what I viewed as a new angle, I did my best to “empty my cup”, to start fresh and receptive, but I do catch myself trying to find parallels with the teachings of Fortune, Regardie, Crowley, et al. For example, I haven’t yet seen them refer to or describe what is commonly known as the popular sephirotic Tree of Life diagram, but I keep looking for it! The instructors are quick to dispel confusion with any other outside associations. They fervently explain that Kabbalah has absolutely nothing to do with:

tarot

religion

magic

New Age

astrology

numerology

meditation

esoteric teachings

cults and ceremonies

eastern teachings

chakras

mysticism

exclusivity

lucky charms

2012

For a great explanation of all this, watch this five-minute video: What Kabbalah Isn’t.

All the symbol sets, Hebrew names, and detailed descriptions of complicated spiritual processes seem daunting at times, but no more so than some of the correspondences and systems I have read about in other disciplines. Becoming intimate with a heavily detailed ancient emanationist cosmology and its social implications takes a little patience.

Here are some main points:

Language of Branches - the Kabbalist’s teachings are written in a language of branches – this is essentially the esoteric interpretation of words. When the Kabbalist describes a “place” in spirituality, we know he doesn’t mean an actual physical location with coordinates. If there is no space in spirituality, how do we “go to” a “place?” We must feel for the essence behind these words to get the real truth out of them.

the Kabbalist’s teachings are written in a language of branches – this is essentially the esoteric interpretation of words. When the Kabbalist describes a “place” in spirituality, we know he doesn’t mean an actual physical location with coordinates. If there is no space in spirituality, how do we “go to” a “place?” We must feel for the essence behind these words to get the real truth out of them. The Will to Bestow - This concept is synonymous with the Creator. The Creator is the will to bestow, the prime-mover and first-cause of this emanationist system. No thing manifested in spirituality or corporeality is not part of this, for, “there is nothing else beside Him.”

This concept is synonymous with the Creator. The Creator is the will to bestow, the prime-mover and first-cause of this emanationist system. No thing manifested in spirituality or corporeality is not part of this, for, “there is nothing else beside Him.” The Will to Receive - Necessary and implicit along with the concept of bestowal is that of reception. It is like the yin and yang. Therefore, as a necessary derivative emanation of the bestowal in the Creator, we have the reception in the creatures. A creature is a will to receive – the will to receive that which the creator bestows.

Necessary and implicit along with the concept of bestowal is that of reception. It is like the yin and yang. Therefore, as a necessary derivative emanation of the bestowal in the Creator, we have the reception in the creatures. A creature a will to receive – the will to receive that which the creator bestows. Equivalency of Form - In spirituality, there is no physical space, no distance, so when one thing is said to be “close to” something else, it means they are alike. This closeness/likeness can be seen as different degrees of equivalence of form between the two objects – that is to say, when the distance equals zero in spirituality, the two things are literally the same.

In spirituality, there is no physical space, no distance, so when one thing is said to be “close to” something else, it means they are alike. This closeness/likeness can be seen as different degrees of equivalence of form between the two objects – that is to say, when the distance equals zero in spirituality, the two things are literally Equivalency of Form with the Creator - The ultimate goal of the study of Kabbalah is to correct the vessel of reception (i.e. You) so that it “receives only in order to bestow.” In doing so, the will to receive becomes the same as the Creator. My instructors often referred to the parable of the feast prepared by the friend. A man takes a lot of time and care to prepare a huge banquet for his best friend. He knows all of his favorite foods and arranges them on this big table as a surprise. The friend arrives at the house, and there is the feast. There is that hesitant moment of, “No way, I can’t accept this! This is too much!” but then the realization occurs that it is the desire of his friend that he should enjoy this food, and to refuse the food would be a manner of insult. So the intention behind his reception of the food changes – he decides to enjoy the banquet in order to please his friend who wants him to enjoy it. He receives in order to bestow.

The ultimate goal of the study of Kabbalah is to correct the vessel of reception (i.e. You) so that it “receives only in order to bestow.” In doing so, the will to receive becomes the Creator. My instructors often referred to the parable of the feast prepared by the friend. A man takes a lot of time and care to prepare a huge banquet for his best friend. He knows all of his favorite foods and arranges them on this big table as a surprise. The friend arrives at the house, and there is the feast. There is that hesitant moment of, “No way, I can’t accept this! This is too much!” but then the realization occurs that it is the desire of his friend that he should enjoy this food, and to refuse the food would be a manner of insult. So the intention behind his reception of the food changes – he decides to enjoy the banquet in order to please his friend who wants him to enjoy it. He receives in order to bestow. Kabbalah as a Science - Time and time again, the instructors remind us, “Don’t ‘believe’ a word we say!” There is no belief in Kabbalah – only “attainment,” which is their word for gnosis (my words, not theirs). The Kabbalist writings are given by those who have attained wisdom using the methods. Try it and see for yourself – become the lab and the experiment. Or don’t.

The idea of the “worlds” in Kabbalah make a lot more sense to me now. I understand now that a “world” is a collection of circumstantial vocabulary at any given level/degree of emanation. At one stage of creation, the entire “world” is comprised of 1) the will to bestow, 2) the will to receive, 3) the “difference” between the two concepts, and 4) that which is bestowed. At this level of creation – at this level of the playing out of manifestation from the unmanifest –the whole “world” is only made of these things, and there is no other thing! In such a “narrowed down”, closed system of dynamic forces, it is easy to see how every subsequent complexity that arises has a very natural, divine logic to it.

The only points at which I’ve (seldom) taken issue with the way something is described is when it ceases to adhere to this sort of natural, logical, scalable playing out of force from original source. The instructors would explain, “And then, this is what happens next,” and I sort of am left asking, “…why should it be so?” But I hold onto my questions of “why” and have the patience to take in the entirety of the lesson, and more is revealed in time.

One of my favorite concepts is that of Adam Ha-Rishon – popularly known as “first man.” In the emanationist model, this represents the archetype of the human species. Adam is that essence which plays out as it does through us in the way that we express ourselves. Fascinating!

As I said before, my last Fundamentals class is on 27 NOV, after which, according to my instructors, there’s nothing for me to do but wait for Intermediate classes to begin on January 4th, and my account will automatically be updated to grant access to the proper course materials and continue studying.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my review.

In tandem, I have continued to read Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune, and I can honestly say my experience of both studies feels enriched, not confused, as I feared might be the case. I have also been studying paganism and Islamic philosophy, and started getting back into Campbell. I have committed most of the Hebrew alphabet to memory, and for the first time really started to understand the nature of feelings or essences which we are to navigate in our exploration of self. So a lot of exciting pieces have been coming together lately!

Namaste, Shalom, and a Jeffers evening to you