Kabbalah for Beginners 1

Realization of the Ultimate Reality-the truth of one's unbounded existence and connection to the Cosmos, is the purpose of human life, according to Maharishi Vedic Science, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Closeness and devotion to God are gestures on the way to experiencing this eternal truth. Conscious and permanent alignment with the unbounded Being and divine qualities of God permeates what sometimes can be perceived as the separation of religions and beliefs. Refinement of perception, through the practice of Transcendental Meditation, which cultures the nervous system to function at what is considered "normal", can be considered a form of devotion. Culturing the nervous system means bringing the state of the physiology closer to perfection, which naturally brings one closer to God, until one is able to perceive the lack of difference between the essential nature of the human self and God. Genesis 1:26 reads, "And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth…'" 1 This tells us God wants man to rise to His own value.

This paper focuses on the Buddhist perspective of understanding self. The questions regarding the nature of self, have always taken the central position in almost all schools of Indian Philosophy. Liberation (the summum bonum of life) is impossible without knowing the self. Even the mundane existence falls prey to the query of life, self and its purpose etc. So the need of the hour is to dig into the idea so as to emerge out of it (which eventually leads to the cessation of suffering). The four noble truths, the five constituents of human personality, and the eightfold path of Buddhism are discussed to shed light on the meaningful existence of human beings. In this paper, I have tried to figure out (although briefly) the points of similarities between Wittgenstein and Buddha on the question of death. This holds importance because the dreadful fear of losing life haunts every individual leading one to anxiety and depression. So the only way to come out of the suffering caused by existential bounds is an understanding or realisation of the nature of reality. When the true nature of self is realised then one can break not only the cycle of life and death but also deal with the superficial nature of mundane suffering. This Paper is based on a qualitative theoretical research methodology.

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“Self-transcendence is the essence of human existence.” This statement of Frankl leaves no doubt about the significance of self-transcendence. Yet when we consider the variety of definitions of the self, as well as the many means of “transcending” the self, we must acknowledge the necessity of clarifying the concept intended. Frankl’s concept of self includes the physical and psychic dimensions, as well as the noetic dimension. In addition, he recognizes a religious dimension of ultimate meaning which is the source of the noetic dimension. In the context of Kabbalah, self-transcendence is the miraculous state that is made possible through the process of noetic self-transformation and constitutes the completion of that process. The spiritual work of reducing self-love and increasing love of the other is the preparation for receiving the gift of the divine attribute of selfless love. Thus, the process of self-transcendence as ordinarily perceived in logotherapy is subsumed in the process of uniting with God, which is seen as the ultimate purpose of creation.

The Need for Meaning - Drive to Understand - "The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."- Leonardo Da Vinci - William James, Clifford Geertz, Roy Rappaport Albert Einstein, Lev Tolstoy, Baumeister's Paradigm w/ primer preamble new research in unconscious, selective attention, spirituality, 2025

Dr. Stephen Farra said "Charles, Fine paper - accurate, well written," Why is meaning important? Because, without meaning - well....life then becomes meaningless! The number of suicides in the US in 2022 reaches record level: CDC An estimated 49,449 people died by suicide in 2022, When I spoke to a Towson University undergraduate student and she said she had never heard of a need for meaning. Tull's history of psychology had no references to meaning, When I asked a biology PhD what the meaning of life is - she replied - "There is no meaning to life since science has shown there is no purpose to the universe. That was Tolstoy's mistake - Tolstoy somehow came to the conclusion that his personal life was somehow intricately connected with the ultimate purpose of the universe. Baumeister observes that "There is no ultimate Meaning of life" - The meaning of life is a holistic synthesis of a number of diverse meanings of a person's life - family,. friends, school, religion, spirituality, laws, ethnic groups, culture, and the thousands of other factors in a person's life. - Far beyond materialist quantification and the only reference to synthesis processes was by Kant who observed synthesis processes would require imagination. Kant also argued imagination was pivotal in beauty - which he believed to be the foundation for morals. As Sherif and Frankl point out schools of thought are separate and disconnected. In contrast to mainstream psychology, existential psychology - based to a degree of Frankl's will to meaning.- has extensive research into meaning. Dr Paul Wong edited the anthologies - two editions of The Human Quest for Meaning: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Clinical Applications (1998) and The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications (2012), overflowing with studies and analyses of meaning. The very profound and powerful personal experiences as a concentration camp victim dramatically affected Frankl’s views of humanity and the human being. In his book, Man’s Search For Meaning, Frankl notes that when life became meaningless for people, they ceased struggling to live. He observed that the prisoners’ religious beliefs were intense and very sincere. A woman who knew she would die in the next few days said to him, “I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard. In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously.” (p.69) Further, he states, “In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of the life in a concentration camp, it was possible for spiritual life to deepen. Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain (they were often of a delicate constitution), but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom. Only in this way can one explain the apparent paradox that some prisoners of a less hardy make-up often seemed to survive camp life better than those of robust nature.” (p. 37 search) The meaning that people derived from their spirituality was a pivotal reason why some survived and others didn’t. Tolstoy notes, “One can suffer only in the body, the spirit knows no suffering.” (Gust p.151) The human need to make sense of the world underpins numerous psychological and social psychological theories. Scientists estimate that there could be as many as 100 billion neurons in the human brain - and over 100 trillion synapses. The amount of information and data that the human mind simultaneously processes at any one time by various and diverse systems is absolutely phenomenal - unimaginable. Every theory, in one way or another, postulates innate processes that impose order on what would otherwise be chaos. Without processes to put things in order and assign meaning to information, people would be like William James’ baby who sees the world “as one great blooming, buzzing confusion.” Just think of all the bits of information processed by the visual system alone. Besides the important function of processing visual input simply in order to see, there are secondary processes that automatically review and analyze all the visual information received. For instance, the brain has specific areas and systems that process information about facial features. Facial features are automatically analyzed for significance and meaning. The brain automatically scans faces for signs of others’ intentions, looking for anger, happiness, sadness, and so on. That information is largely processed nonconsciously – as most information is. We only become conscious of particular facial features when they become salient, such as when you are confronted with an angry face. The human brain is the most complex and sophisticated object in the universe, and is endowed with a number of systems that process information and analyze data for significance and meaning. The human mind is endlessly sorting data and information for relevance, meaning, and value in its eternal struggle to impose order on the world. Two prominent social psychologists, Michael Hogg and Dominic Abrams, observe that without mental processes that organize stimuli and put the mind in order, “We would be overwhelmed and paralyzed by overstimulation.” They go on to say, “In keeping with many of the dominant perspectives in social psychology—for example, cognitive consistency (Abelson et al. 1968), attribution (Harvey and Smith 1977), and social cognition (Fiske and Taylor 1984)—the social identity perspective assumes that the human organism seeks to impose order upon the potential chaos.” (my italics -p.17 soc id) They also point out that social cognition theory has demonstrated the validity of some of the assumptions of the ‘new look’ cognitive psychology. The central concept of ‘New look’ cognitive psychology is that people form hypotheses about the world and how it works, which is how people can function effectively in the world. People understand the world by forming theories of how people and things operate in the world. Of course, theories and hypotheses are – in and of themselves - simply structures and organizations of meanings and values. In some sense or another, order and meaning are always foundational principles for psychological theories. And that principle also applies to spiritual experiences as well which in some cases has to make sense of what might appear on the face of it to be utter chaos and raving madness.

From Chaos to Harmony: The Solution to the Global Crisis According to the Wisdom of Kabbalah reveals the factors contributing to the perilous state in which we find our world today. Many researchers and scientists agree that the cause of humankind's problems is the human ego. Yet Laitman's groundbreaking new book not only demonstrates that ego has been the basis for all suffering throughout human history but also reveals why we are subject to suffering due to our egos, and how we can turn our plight to pleasure, our troubles to opportunity. The book contains two parts. First, an analysis of the human soul and how the soul's own structure is its bane. The book also maps out what we need to do to once again be happy, and what we should avoid because it would worsen our suffering. Throughout the book, Laitman's analysis of the state of humanity is supported by examples from science and from Kabbalists both ancient and contemporary. From Chaos to Harmony determines that we can and must collectively rise to a new level of existence and explains how we can accomplish this goal on personal, social, national and international levels.

Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research, 2017

This paper attempts at analyzing the phenomenon of the human self in the Western and Eastern traditions , its dissociation and alienation in the contemporary world, and meditation as a way to the True Self. The author used anthropological integrative approach, philosophical hermeneutics, along with transpersonal approach. To overcome the feelings of loneliness, isolation, and alienation , modern individuals need to break through to the spiritual pole that provides them with ever new and deeper meanings; to go beyond the limits of dual thinking to perceive the true nature of their mind. The representatives of the Eastern religious and philosophical schools paid considerable attention to the problem of alienation, loneliness, and the ways of overcoming it. Trying to achieve the state of absolute unity, the Eastern traditions use meditation techniques, which have been developed over the centuries. Meditation contributes to the experience of the unity of existence-the state, in which the very idea of the own self disappears and the «subject – object» unity arises. Reaching the state of nonduality, meditators experience their deep involvement in all that exists. Their mind is filled with absolute peace and harmony; everything has deep meaning and value. They feel freedom. People become exis-tentially absorbed in the world-the changeful world of artists and children, the world where everyone and everything undergo transformations. Meditation leads to the new horizons, to the awareness of infinity and diversity of life. Human integration into the cosmic body of the universe transforms their perception of the world. Returning to the world of space, time, and causation, being unable to escape the world of differentiation, individuals face a new dilemma. This entails internal conflict. To overcome it, they learn to cultivate the unbounded mind. Incorporation of mindfulness into our daily life brings many benefits. However, the molecular mechanisms of these processes are still insufficiently studied. Nowadays, scientists actively explore the effects of meditative, mind-expanding practices on the physical and mental health. Since the modern life becomes more tough and complex, people seek the way to a harmonious, balanced, and happy existence. It is therefore no coincidence that the spiritual heritage of the East has attracted vivid attention and considerable interest. The Eastern spiritual practices can be used as a guide to a happy human life.