Finding The Course In The Ocean Of Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll the articles from the book of Shamati are intended to attune one to the right attitude towards himself (his inner abilities, aptitudes, forces, and qualities) and towards everything outside of him (people, society, the group, the teacher, the Creator, and nature) so that one understands how he changes, through what, and how he should act to bring himself to the perfect state. Our problem is that on one hand, there is nothing we can do ourselves because we are just the desire to be fulfilled, the will to enjoy.

On the other hand, if we cannot do anything ourselves and represent only one desire created opposite to the Creator, to the Light, then how can we ask to change ourselves, to request to be changed, and to demand action on their own or through or through other systems?

In other words, we are in dual position. On one hand, I cannot do anything myself. On the other, I must bring myself to the point where my request, my desire, will cause such an influence on me that I will be changed. This particular point is very difficult for us. There, a person does not correctly understand his interaction with the upper force that created him.

That is, I have to reach a state where I feel my complete inability to correct myself, where I realize and understand that my correction can be done only under the influence of the external force. Conversely, this external force that exists outside of me is constant, and I cannot affect it any way. It is absolute. Rather, I can affect myself by bringing myself under its influence namely by my request.

My request is my action when I change my attitude towards this upper force and thereby change its influence on me, and it corrects me. Hence, essentially, the work happens inside a person and depends on his desires, on his intention, and its force and direction. A person exists in an absolute, perfect, unchanging field. But the work is done precisely by this field acting on a person. And he brings himself under the influence of this field.

From the point of view of the desire to be corrected, a person is an active element. And from the point of view of the correction of a person himself, he is passive: He is corrected by the Light that exists outside him, surrounds him, and is invariable. It is possible to talk about this state a great deal, but it has to be gradually formed in us as a defined, precise, internal state of me and the Light, the Creator.

Baal HaSulam’s articleLishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below” is one of those articles that talks about the correct alignment of a person with the Creator, with the upper Light. A person means our desire: how it can be changed if it places itself correctly under the influence of the Light.

The property of bestowal that we can reach and to which we are gradually getting closer under the influence of the Light is called “Lishma” or “for His sake.”  And its opposite property is called “Lo Lishma” or “not for His sake,” meaning for oneself.

Desires appear in us independently from us; we cannot regulate them, but we can regulate our intention: What we want in every moment of time, what we aspire to.
[45560]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson from Moscow 6/15/11, Shamati #5

Related Material:
May The Creator Hear Your Plea!
The Key To The Light
Our Entire Life Is A Play Of The Upper With The Lower

Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question




Laitman.com Comments RSS Feed