Everything Returns To The Point of Perfection

Dr. Michael LaitmanA collective prayer that does not remain unanswered is a prayer “for the society,” a request to gather all of the souls that yearn for the Creator into one soul of Adam. This prayer is immediately accepted by the Creator (the system of Upper Forces of the World of Infinity, where everything is unchanging and perfect) because it aspires for perfection.

If people all over the world feel the need to know the Upper Force and unite their desires, then they do not feel separated by continents because they are in fact in a common “range” of spirituality. They exist in one spiritual plane without feeling geographical distances in our world but by feeling closeness in spirituality. They do not know and cannot explain how this happens, but their aspirations toward one goal pull and unite them inside a common spiritual field.

In this way, they all enter “Knesset Israel” (unity of those who aspire for the Creator, the quality of bestowal). “Knesset” (assembly, gathering) is the place where we all unite as one man, meaning Malchut of the World of Atzilut. Similarly, “Israel” (Yashar-El – straight to the Creator) signifies the souls who aspire toward one goal. Consequently, they become one assembly called Knesset Israel, the gathering of the souls who desire to attain the Creator.

They feel as one whole connected by one desire, one goal, and one purpose. Thus, there is a return to one body of the collective soul, as it was before the breaking of the Kelim (the vessels, desires) and the emergence of this imaginary corrupted world, perceived as our present reality.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, Article, “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many”

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Kabbalah For Beginners “The Ari” – 07.15.10

Kabbalah TV Channel 66’s Kabbalah for Beginners, “The Ari”
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Let’s Do It Willingly

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 7: The two are crowned and illuminate, meaning they became three—HGT—through the middle line that decided between them. Hence, three enter into one because the middle line, Tifferet, receives and spreads into three other lines by itself—NHY. This is so because the lower one is rewarded with the full measure that it causes in the illumination of the upper one, since it is its cause.

If you cannot awaken the Upper One, to cause the Upper one to bestow upon you, it means that you yourself haven’t accumulated the necessary desire to receive spiritual fulfillment. To the extent that the lower one is able to awaken the Upper One, he is corrected, ready to receive from the Upper One, and therefore receives. In fact, there is no action on the part of the Upper One; it is the lower one who opens the door and receives.

Nonetheless, in the entire process of bringing all of creation to perfection, there is a program called “Beito” (in its time), and accordingly, we must reach the purpose of creation in a certain period of time by uniting in one desire filled with Light as it was in the World of Infinity before the Tzimtzum (restriction). Therefore, there is a sequence of actions we must perform, either willingly or unwillingly.

Moment by moment, there arise our uncorrected Reshimot (informational data) and the force that corrects them. This process of correction leads us from the beginning of creation to the final correction, meaning to total equivalence with the Creator’s properties. For that reason, everything starts when the creature and the Creator are detached and set apart as two opposing poles. The impact of the force on the uncorrected desire (Reshimo) causes them to draw closer through similar properties.

The lower one doesn’t wish for and is unaware of drawing closer to the Creator, and by moving toward something undesirable, the lower one senses it as suffering. Thus, our whole life feels like suffering. We are advancing closer to the Creator, yet we feel that we are approaching evil. In this way, the path Beito (in its time) is a process that leads all of creation to correction automatically, without asking what the lower one wants.

On the other hand, today by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, we learn the program of our automatic correction called Beito, plug into it, and then correct ourselves willingly. In this way we engage in a process called “Achishena” (hastening our correction time), first out of desperation and then willingly.

The law of equivalence of form between us and the Creator, which is the state of the World of Infinity that we must attain, affects us and draws us into this state with or without our participation. Therefore, it is desirable to learn how to carry out this law. Otherwise, all of the phases we are entering with the lack of our similarity with the Creator, will cause us great suffering.

Now you can understand how much suffering is caused in the world by those who oppose Kabbalah.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, The Zohar

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How To Receive The Upper Abundance

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 6: This is the herald that comes at midnight, at the start of the illumination of the left line from the point of Shuruk for the righteous to raise MAN for extension of the middle line. The herald comes out and calls aloud because it is in the blocking of the Dinim of the point of Shuruk. This is why it is discerned that he comes out with great force and calls upon the righteous to correct him.

Before us is the clarification of the order of extension of the three lines from Bina to ZA, from ZA to Nukva, and from Nukva to the souls of the righteous.

To the extent that the lower one can awaken the Upper One in the middle line by raising MAN (a prayer), the Upper One can fill his desire. We only have to bring our desire to the Upper One, a desire that is similar to His. This means we need to wish to be filled with His fulfillment. Then we will receive it.

There are no special conditions on the part of the Upper One. He is just waiting for our desire to be suitable for His fulfillment according to the law of equivalence of form. This is why all of our prayers and pleas should not be about receiving fulfillment from the Upper One. Rather, they should ask for help to create the correct desire, necessity, and intention, which fit the fulfillment existing in the Upper One.

I am not asking the Upper One to fulfill me since as it said, “more than the calf wants to suckle the cow wants to feed it.” My whole request should be: “I want to become ready to receive from the Upper One, to become fitting for Him.” There must be similar and corresponding properties between us. As soon as it appears, the abundance automatically flows from Him into me.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, The Zohar

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A Prayer For Society

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is believed that a collective prayer occurs when a person raises his or her prayer among others who are praying at the same time. Yet, those who are more spiritually aware believe that a collective prayer is a plea for society. Such a prayer is immediately accepted by the Creator, whereas an egoistic prayer (when a person prays for himself ) is not heard.

Nevertheless, even a request to the Creator for society is not perfect. In fact, if the Creator “is good that does good,” my request implies that society is suffering because of the Creator, doesn’t it? It seems like I think that the Creator is mistreating society, and that I should pray for them. However, if the Creator is always benevolent to everybody, for whom am I asking?

It follows that I cannot ask the Creator to change His attitude toward me (a personal prayer) or toward society (a collective prayer). Since the Creator is absolutely and invariably good, I can ask Him only to correct me and all the others in such a way that we will feel that He is only good.

If all who desire to be connected to the Creator in the property of love and bestowal are willing to unite with others in the same property, then through their aspiration, they create a place where the Creator is revealed. That place is our mutual love.

However, such a state can be achieved only through the correction of each individual’s 613 desires, which is called the “fulfillment of 613 commandments.” In the degree of our correction, we draw closer to each other since the correction of desires lies in their unification.

This is why the sages said that “love of others is the greatest law of the Torah,” and all the commandments are necessary only in order to attain the last one, the universal commandment: love. As a result, in these individual and collective corrections, we will feel the power of love and bestowal filling us.

But if we are not corrected and united, and everyone wants to receive for himself, our prayer is solely for material things. (Material is what is received egoistically, whereas spiritual is what is received in order to bestow). In this case, receiving for ourselves, we become “the nations of the world,” and not “Israel” (straight to the Creator).

These terms are not related to some nation or nationality. They describe the states of a person on the spiritual path. According to this, our prayer is either to improve our personal state of existence or to correct our attitude toward the others and the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/10, Article “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many”

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A Driver’s License For Controlling Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanEvery person is the Creator’s worker although he doesn’t know or feel this. Suppose your “car” has an engine which causes it to move forward. Actually, it is the Creator who moves it by propelling you with suffering from behind and luring you with pleasure ahead. Therefore, your “car” rolls on whether you want it to or not, as it runs away from suffering and in the direction of pleasure.

However, there comes a time when you get a “Jeep” which the Creator does not move. You need to ask Him yourself to start your engine. And when you receive a force from Him, you can move from your spot only to the extent that you ask Him. In other words, you and He work like partners.

A Driver's Lincense
Initially you did not know where you were going, why, or for what purpose. You simply rolled forward without thinking about it. You lived many lives in this unconscious manner. You moved forward, but only like an animal that runs away from blows. It is written that such a life is an animal-like existence, meaning that you don’t know where your desires come from and why you act the way you do. All people live this way, for now.

However, then you receive the point in the heart and a connection emerges with the Leader. You begin to consciously ask Him to advance you. You now wish to learn the path and reach the goal instead of just getting rid of suffering and receiving pleasure. It is truth that interests you now. This goal is not connected to pleasure; what matters is that it is the truth. For the time being, you are set into motion by a lie. Therefore, you ask to be given the force of the Light so that you could advance to the truth in spite of your sensations.

A person comes to study, thereby leaving the advancement from “bitter to sweet” and enters the movement from “falsehood to truth.” In spite of his sensations, he moves from the considerations of feelings to considerations of the mind.

However, time is required until he “starts the car and it begins to move.” He also needs to pass the “test” and get a “driver’s license.” This is called “the period of preparation” which lasts until you are finally able to sit in the car and go.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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On The Purpose Of Creation, Part 19

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. Commentaries in brackets are mine.

Why Is The Creator Concealed From Man?

Everything is prepared beforehand [created in its perfect state] and each soul already exists in its entire light, abundance, and eternity. Only because of “shame” [in order not to feel humiliation because of undeserved reception] the soul came out of it [the initially created state of complete fulfillment by eternal pleasure] by the way of restrictions [increasingly greater concealments of this state] until it clothed in a filthy [concealing reception completely] body [egoistic desire].

Only [yet specifically] thanks to it, the soul returns to its source where it existed before the restriction along with the reward from the horrible path that she had traveled. All in all, the reward is complete adhesion. In other words, the soul gets rid of “shame” [undeserved reception] since its vessel of reception [egoistic desires] turn into the vessel of bestowal [altruistic desires], and it becomes similar to the Creator in its properties. [And hence is able to feel the entire Light that initially filled it.]
– Baal HaSulam, Pri Hacham, Igrot (Letters), Letter 25, pg. 81

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From The Garden Of Eden And Back Again

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Creator created the will to receive as “existence from absence” and developed it through 4 phases by exposure to the Direct Light. When the will to receive arrived at the last phase of development and had become as great as the Light filling it, the Light had passed along all of its properties to the will to receive. Then in the very last layer (Dalet de-Dalet, the 4th part of the 4th phase), the creature discerned itself as receiving.

This aroused burning shame in the creature for it saw to what extent it was opposite to the Creator, the Bestowing One. As a result, it restricted itself and refused to receive. This horrific sensation of shame is called “the shining of Malchut.” It is the darkness which is impossible to bear, the “void” where no Light can shine. At this last point, the 4th part of the 4th phase, the restriction (Tzimtzum) occurs. All the previous phases can achieve similarity with the Light for they are not completely opposite to it.

The question is what to do with this fourth part? It cannot be canceled out or discarded because in doing so the creature would cease to exist. The creature that is not “plugged into” the Creator and is opposite to Him in its properties cannot exist. The 4th phase, the point of independence, must be preserved within the creature as its foundation. In fact, it if were not for the shame, the creature (the guest) would become fully subordinate to the Creator (Host) and would do whatever the Creator wished him to do just as it happens on the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, just like a pet is loyal to its owner.

So when does the creature become a “guest”? When does that person feel himself as foreign and opposite to the host? And when does he feel as a guest that the host is happy and excited to have as a guest and that the host is constantly asking what else to offer him in order to please him? When does the guest hear the host saying: “Help yourself! It’s all yours!” And when does the guest reply, “Not mine but Yours!”? The guest cannot help but feel this shame in phase “Dalet de-Dalet”; the creature must keep the sensation of shame in order to preserve itself as a creature.

So, if we reside in the Garden of Eden, meaning in pure bestowal (Bina), it is still the level of angels but not that of true humans. Until we come to sense this gaping void that cannot be filled, man is not ready for his mission. The void cannot be filled until all the shame is revealed which makes us feel the need to cover ourselves with “garments,” which means we feel the need for correction.

Hence, in order to assist the “man,” a “woman” derives and detaches from him. This is his “wife” (Nukva) who is “made from his rib.” It is she who imparts this void to him and together, they, (Zeir Anpin and Malchut, Adam and Eve, feel the need for “garments” (the Reflected Light, the intention to bestow). They feel like the guest in relation to the Host. In this way they can achieve correction, meaning they act solely in order to bestow to the Host and to turn shame into dignity and honor.

This path is long and complicated. Everybody knows the story of Adam and Eve, although nobody understands what it conceals.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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The System Of The Future, Part 3

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: There are Internet systems where one comes to download the information they need. Maybe that is how we should attract people’s attention to the method of correction?

My Answer: Let’s say a person visits our site and downloads the information. Then what? We want him to visit the site for the sake of communication! Of course, we can display a certain pool of information about the necessity to communicate with each other. But then what will happen? Suppose we provided our user with additional information about what we learn at the lessons. What’s next?

What is the best way of providing people with information about Kabbalah? We have to involve them in the system and offer them an example of, the need for, and the possibility of communication. People should see that our way of solving worldly problems is all about making the right connections between us. We have to show our users that we trigger confidence, safety, and love into our lives; they have to see the way we advance and find new properties within ourselves that further allow our perception to rise to a new dimension, up to the level of sensing the Creator.

Where else can these properties be found? They are found only within the right communication among us.

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 07.15.10

Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “And Jacob Went Out
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Lech-Lecha (Go Forth), Item 20
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 2, Part 7, Item 3, Lesson 11
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Baal HaSulam, Pri Hacham, Igrot, Letter 39
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