From Despair To Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat makes a person suddenly give up and no longer resist suffering? It is the result of the informational genes (Reshimot, “reminiscences”) implanted inside him. An animal will never experience this since it lives mechanically, always fighting for its life until the end and never feeling despair the same way man does throughout his journey in life.

An animal will fight tooth and nail or flee for its life but will never succumb to pain. Since man has the “human” informational genes, he will give up, let it be, and will not act as a machine that is simply programmed to enjoy, not suffer. This peak point of desperation, when a person stops fighting for his life and accepts whatever will follow, defines the entire human psychology.

In truth, all our internal Reshimot are the consequence of the breaking of the soul, and even the tiniest, smallest Reshimo has some connection with the Upper One, the Creator, who broke us from this spiritual level of bestowal. Therefore, some qualities emerge within us unconsciously as we suddenly stop thinking that we may gain something good by receiving, and we begin to think about bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/10, “Peace in the World”

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How To Break The Wall Between Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can suffering suddenly bring a person to bestowal?

Answer: Indeed, from a corporeal, "commonsense" point of view it’s impossible to attain bestowal in this way. If a person feels bad, then he only thinks about how to improve his situation, to try to fix the problem directly, to fill the void.

That’s how human psychology works: If I feel bad or something is missing, I turn to a doctor for medicine, try to make more money, steal something, or do anything to fill the void. But after all these attempts and a number of blows, I begin to ask: "When will it end?"

A person falls into despair, depression, or starts using drugs, all that only to somehow numb his pain because he sees that nothing he does can help him. So how is it possible to make the transition to bestowal? To that end we have preparations on the corporeal level as well as spiritual genes.

On the corporeal level a person starts thinking about giving because he sees that there’s no other choice. He is ready to give to others so that they will give to him as well, so we will all feel good; otherwise, we would just devour each other like wild beasts.

That’s a simple selfish calculation at the level of our world, and it’s possible specifically because we are not at the animate degree; rather, we possess dangerous weapons that enable each of us to destroy everyone. It eventually brings us to an inevitable conclusion that our salvation lies only in bestowal. Many understand that by now, and only a madman would wish for the next war.

But aside from the corporeal reason that makes us understand that giving may be useful, our Reshimot (spiritual genes, records) from the breaking are awakening within us, from the easiest ones to the increasingly coarse ones. They make us feel that we are moving in the wrong direction and bring disappointment in our development.

Those who are progressing under the pressure of corporeal and spiritual Reshimot begin to come closer. It turns out that Kabbalists who engage their own spiritual development and people leading a normal, corporeal life but are beginning to ask about life’s meaning are coming closer to each other. Although the latter have no point in the heart, they are nevertheless asking very similar questions.

The opinion of the masses is gradually approaching the opinion of Kabbalists. There’s still a wall that separates them, but ordinary people are coming closer and closer in search of an answer, although they are not yet asking how to correct themselves. There will be a time when they will come and ask: "What should we do?" And then you’ll have to be prepared to show them how to achieve perfection.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/10, "The Peace"

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Who Is The Human Within Us?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If fruit needs time to ripen, then maybe man doesn’t need to do anything at the moment but wait until he matures, just like fruit?

Answer: Humanity has already finished its evolution at the still, vegetative, and animate levels. And in the last 5770 years we have been developing the “human” level in us, starting with Adam, the first “man.”

In these 5770 years, we have also been undergoing the still, vegetative, animate, and human degrees within man. Until then, we had lived as animals, but Adam was the first to start the evolution of the human part within us, in this beast we call a “human being.”

Adam HaRishon (the First Man) was a person who discovered spirituality, that is, the “human” within himself that is similar in properties to the Creator. Since that time, all of us have existed at the human degree of development, and that’s where all the “human” problems began. Therefore, it’s not worth waiting until everything gets worked out because it won’t, and we will only continue to fall lower and lower.

The human within us is everything that goes beyond the animate level of existence. A beast needs only food, sex, family, and shelter, and so does the animate body of man. But when a person starts using his ego, instead of his natural animate instincts, this refers to the human part within us, which we have to harmonize. And this is the only part that has free will.

Where is this human within us? Right now it is only a beast.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, "The Freedom"

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