Good Environment – 06.27.11

My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Advice for the Week

Worlds That Move Toward One Another

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe spiritual reality is above time, motion, and space, in a state that we are unable to imagine. We perceive everything with relation to time, in which we imagine motion, or with respect to motion that we imagine in time. And all of this happens in a certain place to us.

On one hand, these three parameters in which we perceive the world limit us very much. But on the other hand, for now precisely they give us the only opportunity to feel our reality inside of them. If we were not limited by time, motion, and space, then we would not perceive the world at all.

Our entire reality lies inside of the boundaries of time, motion, and space, even though these notions do not exist in reality! Therefore, the world we now perceive inside of these three limitations is called an imaginary world.

But when we begin to develop spiritually, we reveal the true reality in which there is no time, motion, or space. We attain it from our level and higher, meaning by advancing upwards, toward an increasingly greater quality of bestowal, revealing the root that moves toward us from above downward: from the absolute quality of bestowal to greater restrictions in order to be able to reveal itself to us.

But in this reality, there are obviously no changes, not from below upwards nor from above downwards. The entire expansion of the worlds form the world of Infinity, various Partzufim, Sefirot, and breakings, until our state in this world, and our attainment where we ascend up along the spiritual levels, all of this exists only in relation to the person attaining them.

Inside of him, in his attainment, he reveals a reality that seems to have been organized for him before from above downwards, until the level he now reveals. And he ascended to that level from below upwards. However, all of this exists inside a person and is felt in relation to his revelation and self-correction.

In reality, before him there were no actions from the Creator’s end. Everything was completed in one initial act of creation. And it is also something we cannot understand: What does it mean that creation did not exist and then it emerged? After all, that already presupposes the existence of some sort of time, a beginning and end? But that’s just how we describe it using our human language.

These two notions: the expansion of the worlds from above downwards and the attainment of reality from below upwards, create the perception of the world that allows us to exist for now. And the higher a person rises up the spiritual ladder, the greater the gap he perceives between these two meeting points, understanding how relative his perception and he, himself, are.

In essence, this is talking about the will to enjoy that attains itself or its creation by the Creator. All the levels of revelation that are contained inside one, single act of the Creator are revealed to us gradually, one after the other, in order to build the right perception of reality in us.

Therefore, we now need two levels of attainment until they finish developing in us by virtue of our efforts and the desire to connect them together. But in the end they will merge and the entire expansion of the worlds from above downwards and our ascent from below upwards will unite in one point of total unity, which is called Malchut of the world of Infinity.
[46601]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/11, Shamati

Related Material:
Two Paradigms, Two Worlds
Matter Woven From Desire By Light
The Program Of Development Coded “HaVaYaH”

The Message Of Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanPeople’s desires are not sufficiently developed yet to grasp the altruistic message. And they couldn’t bear it either. They would immediately run away. That is why there is a concealment preventing us from perceiving the idea of love. People start hearing its reverberations and changing little by little.

Everything happens by means of the upper Light. However, under its influence people do not get smarter because we are not talking about regular wisdom. Spiritual ideas can only be grasped with the help of the Light. When it pours upon me, I start understanding something, and that’s how it happens again and again. After a period of despair and pressure, I suddenly feel that the time did not go by in waste. It turns out that this was a transition to a new phase of inner development.

Everyone experiences these transitions. We are still unable to prepare for them or to control them, to regulate their ascents and descents, the fillings and revelations. However, the time will come when you will control them, as it is written, “I awaken the dawn instead of the dawn awakening me.”
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Rising High In Order To Justify It All
Preparing To Receive The Light
All The Pleasures Of The World

“Call Upon Him While He Is Near”

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are created with egoistic nature and can only think about filling ourselves with pleasures. That is why if a thought about bestowal occurs in our minds, slightly raising us above our egoism, and we start thinking in the opposite direction, it certainly does not come from our inner nature, but from the Light, from the Creator.

There are only two forces in the universe: the force of the Creator, the desire to bestow, and the force of the creature, the will to enjoy. Thus, if the desire to reflect on what is higher than one’s earthly existence, that is, about the meaning of one’s life, suddenly awakens in a person, this means that the upper Light started acting upon him.

Then, a person is brought to the group, or he comes across a book about Kabbalah, or all of a sudden he hears an interview—everybody encounters Kabbalah as if completely “by chance.” However, we should understand that there is nothing accidental here. And when a person is brought to the right place and given an opportunity to connect with the teacher, the books, and the group, he should not miss this.

Not everything depends on us, and everybody will have to go through a process, but there is some part in it that we have to organize ourselves. And if the Creator has called us to spiritual development, from the moment when we recognize this invitation from Above, we should not miss it.

That is why we get together in groups, come to the lessons every day, inspire each other with the importance of the goal, and organize various events. All this should convince me of the importance of the process of spiritual development. If the group is constantly thinking about how to reach the goal, this affects each of us and forces us to be empathetic.

Then, if I am given any opportunity with thoughts about advancement and the greatness of the spiritual goal awakened in me, I immediately react to this. These are very important moments. Everything depends on how a person responds to the Creator’s call.

In reality, every day we get several such invitations. And if we react correctly, then tomorrow, we will get even more of them, and the day after tomorrow, even more!  This way, you can reach the state when all the time you will feel that you are in a dialogue with the Creator, until in all these opportunities, thoughts, and desires changing in you, you feel a constant connection with the Creator.

There are several levels of this connection that should increase more and more and acquire different types. It comes and goes to awaken a greater desire in us. It is like a game, a flirtation, with which the Creator inflames a desire in us so that we chase Him. As it is said: “’My Beloved is like a deer” that always looks back, running away, disappearing and getting closer. Thus, the Creator is playing with us.

The key is not to miss the opportunities as they arise and to react properly. In those moments when you feel an awakening, you should not forget that it comes from Above, and you have to answer this call. As it said: “Call upon Him while He Is Near!”
[46333]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah World 6/24/2011, Shamati #241

Related Material:
Listen To The Creator’s Hints
A Time For Reflection
Learning To See The Good

Preparing To Receive The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Freedom”: Prior to the giving of the method of Kabbalah, the children of Israel had assumed the relinquishment of any private property to the extent expressed in the words, “a Kingdom of Priests,” and the purpose of the whole of Creation—to cleave unto Him in equivalence of form with Him: as He bestows and does not receive, they, too, will bestow and not receive. This is the last degree of Dvekut (adhesion), expressed in the words, “Holy nation”….

How do we exit this world? We enter the period of preparation. After that we cross the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality) and rise to the level called “Hafez Hesed,” that is, bestow for the sake of bestowal. This is the degree of Bina.

Then, we rise to the degree of Keter, to reception for the sake of bestowal, and receive the Light of Hochma (Wisdom), while on the level below, we received only the Light of Hassadim (Mercy).

On the degree of Bina, we cancel “private property,” meaning arrive at the state of Hafez Hesed and are not supposed to use our receiving desire. This is also preparation, the phase of the correction of the vessels. The reception of the Light takes place on the next degree.

[46359]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah World 6/24/2011, “The Freedom”

Related Material:
All The Pleasures Of The World
Dress Yourself In Bestowal
Bestowal: To Live In The Other

What Is A Spiritual Vessel (Desire)?

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words“: Question 25. [What is a spiritual vessel] Kli. The will to receive in the emanated being is the Kli.

However, the will to receive alone is not enough: We know that it requires the intention to bestow. In other words, this desire needs to be corrected, supplemented.

The spiritual vessel is initially created as desire: the place for receiving fulfillment. But later on, it changes and builds a new vessel above itself, which is regarded as the “screen” and the “Reflected Light.”

Before the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), the emanated being’s will to receive served as the vessel for the Light. But afterwards, by the decision of the lower ones and with the approval of the upper one, the vessel for the Light can only be the screen and the Reflected Light created by the emanated being, instead of its primordial desire to receive pleasure that it has rejected as defective for receiving the Light.

Desire is a raw material that is handed to us from Above through the informational genes (Reshimot), the influence of the upper Light. It isn’t up to the creature. But the latter says: “I reject this vessel given to me to receive the treats, and I refuse to work in this way! I don’t wish this egoistic desire to control me as a blind instinct!” I don’t want to forget who I am and thoughtlessly do only whatever pleases me. I want to make every move with an understanding, consciously, upon my own examination and according to my decision.”

“This is the way I wish to be now, from now on and forever! Please help me to become it, I am begging you! I don’t wish to remain a beast; I wish to become a human! To be human means to know who you are and make your own decisions. Please give me this chance! From now on, let us agree that the vessel (desire) that You created in me is unfit. Give me a chance to choose on my own how to use if first. And then, the screen and the Reflected Light become the vessel.

I plead with You so that You build this vessel for me, which I don’t naturally possess. I hate my selfish nature that makes me act unconsciously. I don’t want it. I want to be aware of what is going on with me from the beginning to the end and to choose on my own.”

In that case, I receive an opportunity to make clear, precise, and allegedly final choices regarding everything that concerns my nature: about reception and our relationship with Him, which will be regarded as my spiritual vessel. It is a device that I created to be able to receive the treats from the Host.

The primordial desire remains since without it, it’s impossible to do anything. But where I am concerned, I don’t wish to use it to act. The new desire requires of me to learn how the Host feels about me and how I can become similar to Him, and I reveal my primordial desire only in accordance with it.

This means that we do not reject the natural desire as it is, but only its “traditional” use.
[46142]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
The Screen Is Your Contribution To The Spiritual Reality
And Then You Will Steal No More
How To Receive In Order To Bestow

A Global “World-Country”

Opinion: Martin Wolf (chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, an honorary fellow of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy): Consider the biggest obstacle to a more even spread of global prosperity and the provision of essential global public goods: not global economic integration or transnational companies, as critics allege, but the multiplicity of independent sovereigns. It is not just the failure of states, but their existence, that creates the problems we now confront.

Inequality among individuals has exploded over much of the past two centuries, not because of increased inequality within countries, but because of the divergent growth of different societies. …If so, not only the absolute, but even proportionate, gaps in average living standards between the richest and the poorest countries in the world will continue to grow.

What then lies behind such massive divergences in performance? A large part of the answer, as we have seen, is cumulative historical forces causing divergence. As countries grow richer, they are better able to afford high standards of education, health and public services. …Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the spectrum from success to failure, societies seem stuck in an equally powerful vicious cycle. Very low standards of living mean correspondingly limited ability to provide any of the necessary public goods that underpin economic growth.

Consider then a world in which the US was not one of the world’s countries, but a global federation with equal voting rights for all. Far greater resources would then flow to the poorer regions of this imaginary “world-country,” to finance infrastructure, education, health and the machinery of law and order. …While everybody should be better off if countries combined to provide global public goods, it is normally in the interests of individual countries to let others bear the cost.
[45731]

Related Material:
Kabbalists, Come To The Board!
We Cannot Make Predictions of Future Crises
Everyone Needs To Learn The Natural Law Of Balance

Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 9

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Superiority of Man to the Beast

After all the research, we find no advantage of man’s form over the beast except for the awakening towards Godly Dvekut (adhesion). It follows that the whole meaning of humanity’s existence is evaluated by the strength of man’s aspiration to the Creator, and in that, he is superior to the beast.

This is why it is written, “a wild ass’ colt is born a man.” And as the beastly desires necessary for his sustenance arise in man, so do the human desires need to awaken in him necessary for the fulfillment of his purpose. And the type of desires helps us discern who stands before us: still a beast or already a human, meaning he who craves similarity to the Creator.
– Baal HaSulam, “This Is for Judah
[45670]

Related Material:
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 8
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 7
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 6

Weekly Torah Portion – 06.27.11

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Parashat Ha-Shavua,” Selected Excerpts
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

A Deficiency Deriving From Excessive Perfection

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Does the Creator really need the created beings? It would be more reasonable to say that only we need Him, wouldn’t it?

Answer: If the Creator didn’t need the creatures, why would He create them in the first place? And yet, due to the fact that He is good who does good, He made the created beings in order to please them since that is what pleases Him! That is, the upper one has a “deficiency” as well, but it is not egoistic: The Creator desires to bestow.

It is written: “More than the calf wants to suckle the cow wants to feed.” Otherwise, whom would I bestow to if He doesn’t need anything from me? He has an enormous desire: He desires for me to be pleased! This is indeed a deficiency but a good, positive one.

The creature’s desire to please itself didn’t initially exist and was created “from absence.” But desire and the need to bestow existed all along. This need pertains to the Creator rather than to the created being. And this is the type of lack we have to inherit from Him so that we would strive to bestow and feel obligated to compensate for this deficiency; and if we don’t bestow, we suffer.

The upper one suffers if the lower one doesn’t ascend to and receive from Him. This is regarded as the suffering of Shechina which cannot bestow and bring the souls closer to itself. We only think that deficiency is always something negative, when in fact, if what I lack is bestowal to others, is it really bad?

But if the upper one has a lack, does it mean that He is imperfect? Yes, He is incomplete in terms of being dependent on the lower ones, but only because of His love for them. Until the very end of correction, this deficiency will remain, both in the upper one and the lower one.

As for us, we judge according to our own flaws and think that since He needs us, He isn’t perfect either. But where the Creator is concerned, His need to bestow derives from excessive perfection.

The Creator’s need and the need of the created being don’t disappear, but rather grow and in the end of correction become enormous! It is not as in our world when you satiate your need for love and it disappears. We were so eager to be together that now that we are—the desire vanished. I am full and don’t want anything anymore; I don’t have room for another meal.

Thus, we build a vessel within, a kind of desire that will never disappear! On the contrary, I feel greater deficiency—and greater fulfillment. But the lack compensated by bestowal to others is not a defect. It is highly valuable, honorable, and exalted! It is similar to a mother who desires to give all she can to her baby. And she definitely has a deficiency since from dawn to dusk she thinks solely of him, from the moment he was conceived inside her. But does it mean she has a defect? On the contrary, they both can delight in each other, and this is an opportunity to get fulfilled, to evolve, and to love.

The Creator is similar to the mother who suffers if she cannot give to her child as much as she can. It is a tremendous deficiency the Light contains, and it is it in particular that created desire instilled in us. When this desire unfolds in full, it will be as exalted as the Creator’s desire to bestow to us. Yet, it doesn’t demean; it exalts since it derives from love.
[46145]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
Why Does The Creator Need Me?
Who Is Steering The Wheel Of Creation
You Are A Shadow And I Am The Light