1. What does Kabbalah mean to you?
There are many interpretations of Kabbalah that have developed over time. At The
Kabbalah Centre, we teach Kabbalahas a universal wisdom that predates the Bible or
religion, and can be studied by anyone regardless of his or her faith or path. We
present the wisdom from a lineage of great kabbalists, and the course of study
explains the physical and spiritual laws of the universe, describing the origin of
Creation, the role of humanity, and the journey of the soul.
2. What is the mission of the Kabbalah Centre?
The Kabbalah Centre seeks to provide a platform to help students improve their
lives. To accomplish this, Kabbalah Centre teachers provide spiritual tools and
kabbalistic principles that students can use in order to make better decisions to
benefit themselves and the world. We believe that the path of Kabbalah consists of
not only of studying of wisdom but also of actually applying that wisdom to everyday
situations for the purpose of positive transformation. This is what makes us practical. Kabbalah is not an intellectual pursuit, but rather learning for betterment.
3. How can people better detect past life lessons and use them to better themselves in the future?
The work we are meant to do this “go around” can be found in our challenges and in those things we avoid or run away from. For me, for example, the most difficult lesson to learn was how to be alone. When my husband, teacher, friend,and partner in this spiritual work had a stroke, I was left by myself in many ways to continue everything we had started together. Though this was an extremely difficult situation at the time, it was through this challenge that I uncovered a great gift: a deeper understanding of my work and life. 10, 20, or even 30 years ago, I would have thought that my purpose was something completely different than how I see it today. The point is we just never know what the Creator has in store for us: no matter what happens, no matter how hard life seems, our challenges only (exist) to bring us to become our best selves.
4. What is the role of soul mates in our lives? How can we be sure we’re with the right person?
In Kabbalah, we learn and teach that one of the most difficult things for the Creator is to bring two souls together. There are several reasons for this (which we elaborate on in many of our sources). To start, let me explain that before the Creation of this world, human souls were one. Thereafter, the souls split, each one into two parts, that come into physical bodies seeking to reunite the other half.
Most of the time, this process of reunification is not an easy one, because there is a spiritual law in the universe that in order to have lasting fulfillment and light, we need to earn it. Soul mate relationships are earned through profound spiritual work that results in an elevated consciousness. For this reason we call it a “soul mate” not “body mate.” In order to merit this connection, we need to do our spiritual work of becoming more sharing, less reactive, tolerant, loving beings.
It is written that only one soul out of a thousand can earn its true soul mate. So what does that mean for the other 999? Well, essentially, the Creator sends us the perfect mate for where we are in our life right now–the person who will help us to grow and reach our next level on the journey of becoming our best self. If there is growth, struggle, and healthy challenges that support both partners to become better, more caring, and more conscious people, then it is a good relationship. However, if there is no growth, or if two people are together but continually bring each other down, then perhaps it might be useful for them to redefine the boundaries of their connection.
5. In TO BE CONTINUED, you explain that it may be possible to connect with our loved ones who have passed away, but urge others not to because it may interfere with what the souls are doing in their current incarnations. Could you discuss this further?
As we know, souls reincarnate. Therefore, sometimes, if we are trying to connect to loved ones who have passed-be it a mother, child or friend– we may be interfering with that soul’s current incarnation. In other words, we could try to contact a grandmother and not know that the grandmother has actually reincarnated as our daughter or niece. For this reason, it is usually best to pray for the elevation of the souls of our loved ones and send to them Light and love, but not necessarily to try to create contact with them through some sort of medium (though it is possible to do so).
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KAREN BERG is the spiritual director of Kabbalah Centre International and a globally respected teacher of Kabbalah who has touched millions of lives around the world. Her goal is to provide people with spiritual tools based on Kabbalistic principles that can be applied to improve their lives, regardless of their religious beliefs, and by doing so, make the world better.
She is the founder of Spirituality for Kids, a free on-line program that provides spiritual lessons for children – helping them develop a sense of purpose so they can make better choices; and Kids Creating Peace, the initiative that teaches spiritual skills to children who are caught in war-torn areas of the Middle East. She is author of God Wears Lipstick: Kabbalah for Women, and Simple Light, a
collection of insights on Kabbalah. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Rav Berg.