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Introductory Lecture “Human Nature And The Nature Of The Creator” – 10.16.12

Kabbalah for the Nation Introductory Series,” ” Human Nature and the Nature of the Creator”

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Internal Changes: High Frequency Range

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we fulfill the rule “Love thy friend as thyself?”

Answer: It is when I stop feeling the difference between me and the friend. This is the first rule, to which we have to add fear and faith.

A mother, for example, has an instinctive love for her child. Is that enough? No. Love operates her and it is expressed in caring for the child and in constantly worrying about him.

So love is not enough, there must also be fear, worry about the loved one, and incorporation with him, worrying about his desires and a true concern about their fulfillment. So when I feel the fear, I express my love and this expression is called “faith.”

Love is the right attitude to others, but the goal of creation isn’t only about that.

We incorporate with others, fill them, and create one vessel and from the love of others reach the love of the Creator.

Question: How can the love of others give us power and provide the fuel that we need? How can a person who is submerged in self-love feel the desires of others?

Answer: With the help of the Light that Reforms. Of course only with it.

Question: Does that mean that we have to constantly create a desire aimed at this direction so that the Light will reform us?

Answer: Yes. Our work is only in creating the deficiency for love, for mutual connection, for incorporation, to want to be within the other and to take on his desire instead of mine.

In these kinds of actions you summon the Light upon yourself.

First you have to know how you can resemble the Light, its nature. It is one, infinite, and simple; it bestows and it wants to do good to everyone. If you can acquire this inclination in some way, then to the extent that you do so, you will approach the Light and it will operate on you. The Light doesn’t change, but by your attraction to it you increase its impact—both on your evil inclination and on the good inclination.

In the laws of this world, it is reflected by the fact that the influence of the general field is inversely proportional to the distance squared. So if you decrease the distance by half, the Light operates on you four times more strongly.

Question: We draw the Light during the study. So what do I have to do during the day? How should I work with the friends in order to build the right desire for the next lesson?

Answer: During the day you also draw the Light since you are still in contact with the most important thing. Besides, you are connected to the world group that never ceases its efforts. For example, there are friends from Australia or from South America studying with us who are getting the same message. We are one vessel and it isn’t only about your individual study. Of course, you draw more Light during the lesson, but on the whole we work 24 hours a day all over the world.

Question: How can we draw the Light most efficiently? What should each friend do, no matter where he is?

Answer: We should want to correct love of others, to unite with them and thus create a place for the revelation of the Creator. By that, we bring Him great contentment, by that all our pleasure is the pleasure He wants to bring to His created beings.

Question: Can we check our efforts and get a response from the general system?

Answer: If each of us makes some efforts, he will begin to feel daily internal changes, whereas now he experiences something new once or twice a month. Later the changes will become an endless chain: entrance – exit, entrance – exit, every few seconds.

Of course, your attitude will also change and you will have a stable path and be able to sort out the ascents and descents along two lines, evaluating them from within the middle line.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/12, Writings of Rabash

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A Radar To The Upper Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You spoke about the fact that we are constantly awoken from Above, but that we don’t feel it because we lack equivalence of form. What happens Above when we read The Zohar, are we awoken more strongly or do we become more sensitive?

Answer: If you just read The Book nothing happens. You can either read it or not. It all depends on your intention. If your intention evokes an equivalence of form, then to the level that you are equal to a higher level, you are impressed by it. But if you are not inclined to be equivalent in form, if you don’t approach it, it doesn’t illuminate on you.

The upper level is in a fixed state and it is called Hafetz Hesed (which doesn’t want anything for itself). You can evoke it so that it will impress you if you exert yourself and increase your desire. Then it illuminates upon you. It isn’t that it illuminates especially for you, but you are impressed by it according to your vessels, your renewed desires.

But where can you get new vessels and desires? If you are connected to other friends then among you, you give birth to the spiritual vessel. None of us is a vessel that can absorb the Light. There must be at least several people who want to connect in order to nullify themselves before one another, and that is already becoming equal to the upper. According to such an equivalence of form, they can feel a more powerful illumination from the upper among them.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/12, The Zohar

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Overcoming The Feeling Of Emptiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I have a friend who grew up in Caucasus where there is a tradition of family connections that are very warm. She went to Moscow and built a career for herself there, but she completely lost the connection with her family and is not able to re-establish the previous relationships. Is it worthwhile for a person who bases himself on the principles of integral education to build integral environments around him: to attract the family, relatives, and friends? Or is it possible to be satisfied with friends outside of the family circle, those who are correctly structured?

Answer: I think that a person needs to introduce integral education at home, in the family. Does one need to act similarly in a mutual way with the rest of the relatives? It is hard to say, since relationships with relatives vary, and it is impossible to give definite advice here.

There are people who connect with relatives once a year and that might even be virtually, by phone. And there are those who meet only at weddings or funerals. Everyone is completely different.

There are relatives with close kinship, like your friend, and of course in Moscow she wouldn’t find anything like that. You cannot exchange that for anything else.

You need to help her get rid of the emptiness, from the feeling of lack of attention, worry, understanding, and everything else. But the big problem is being in Russia with Caucasian roots. That is not simple at all. It is a completely different mentality.

But if she finds a group that really has the tendency for mutual help, mutual connection, then that will help her in many ways. I think, that at least she won’t suffer. She will be an object of attention toward her and a topic of her attention.
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From KabTV’s “Building a Social Environment” 9/ 24/12

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A Spark Of Light In A Virtual World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 3: “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment:” Since the will to receive is called “creature” and a “new discernment,” the utterance begins precisely from the place where the will to receive begins to receive impressions. The speech is discernments, parts of impressions. For here there is already a correlation between the Light and the will to receive.

Question: What is Light?

Answer: Something special is evoked in you, an exceptional phenomenon, and you call it Light. When it comes, you know that that’s what you call it.

At the moment, however, you don’t have the right vessel to feel this phenomenon. Unless you acquire the spiritual attainment, all your desires are aimed only at your self-benefit: “everything for myself, for my own good, to use others, everything for my own good and against others.” This is more or less the way things work today, and so being in these desires you cannot feel the phenomenon of bestowal, love, cooperation, connection and an aspiration outwards—all the things that are called “Light.” For you it isn’t Light but darkness.

Sometimes it gets dark and bad: You feel helpless and you don’t feel like doing anything; you don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. This is how your desires appear to you without the typical illumination in our world, without the slightest illumination that will light up the darkness in the vessel.

After all, in our meager desires only a tiny glow can show, giving a little bit of life and enjoyment. This spark is so small that it can penetrate even egoistic vessels of receiving. I live in them on the levels of the still, vegetative, animate nature; the whole human level is above this and I am not part of it.

There are desires to receive and desires to bestow on that level that will be revealed in me one opposite the other. The left line is the evil inclination, the true ego that is revealed to the extent that I want to connect with others and I do so. Then I draw the Light that Reforms and try to acquire the good force and work between the two inclinations in the middle line, which is called Adam (human).

A Spark Of Light In A Virtual World

In the meantime I am on the level of the animate, under the domination of my small ego, receiving only a ” thin candle” in the vessel that is made of the first three levels. From a spiritual point of view, this is not considered life or an existence. So our world is called a virtual world, it is as if it exists below the level of consciousness.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/12, Shamati #3

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Men Do Not Like To Feel Somebody Else’s Sadness

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from the American Psychological Association): “Men like to know when their wife or girlfriend is happy while women really want the man in their life to know when they are upset, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. …

“’It could be that for women, seeing that their male partner is upset reflects some degree of the man’s investment and emotional engagement in the relationship, even during difficult times. This is consistent with what is known about the dissatisfaction women often experience when their male partner becomes emotionally withdrawn and disengaged in response to conflict,’ said the study’s lead author, Shiri Cohen, PhD, of Harvard Medical School. …

“Relationship satisfaction was directly related to men’s ability to read their female partner’s positive emotions correctly. However, contrary to the researchers’ expectations, women who correctly understood that their partners were upset during the videotaped incident were much more likely to be satisfied with their relationship than if they correctly understood that their partner was happy. Also, when men understood that their female partner was angry or upset, the women reported being happier, though the men were not. The authors suggest that being empathetic to a partner’s negative emotions may feel threatening to the relationship for men but not for women.

“The findings also show that the more men and women try to be empathetic to their partner’s feelings, the happier they are. The authors suggest that this research should encourage couples to better appreciate and communicate one another’s efforts to be empathetic.”

My Comment: It is proven that the comparison between the sexes is not possible. They are not even opposite, meaning equal and opposite, but are not on comparative levels. This is still to be discovered by science. Therefore, we must treat them as incomparable entities.
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Collecting The Splinters Of Perception

Dr. Michael LaitmanPresently, I am in a fragmented reality that is divided into two parts: my “I” and the external world. This separation explains exactly what Kabbalists wanted to tell us: “You have a chance to connect these two parts, internal and external, together into one entity. You have to do it; this is the program of creation. If you participate in reconnecting them, you’ll perceive the internal reality in which you were before the shattering occurred.”

Kabbalists tell us about the group, dissemination, and the significance of bowing our heads before our friends. The group is nothing but “externality” to us, but it’s already at the human (Adam) level. Those who have a point in the heart, the urge to become similar to the Creator, belong to this level. So, the Kabbalists tell us: “In your reality, there are people who are similar to you and who also strive to unite. They are special selected parts of your soul. One way or the other, everything is a part of your soul. So, you should use these parts, since they are designed to help you; they come to meet you.”

From there, I begin to understand what’s written in the articles that speak of the group, unity, the need to bow one’s head before the group, and of the relationships among friends. All of the above describes the auxiliary force, which stands out from this world, the one that is detached from our other parts that are spread throughout the Universe. The whole Universe is just me; it’s my current sensation. Even things that I can’t feel at this time are still me. It simply means that I haven’t collected the whole range of sensations within myself yet and that my perception of reality is not deep enough as of now.

So, at the highest (speaking) level, there are certain parts that really are helping me, since they encompass the same aspiration as I do. As a result if I happen to unite with them, I correct all other parts of my soul.

Where do I start? I begin with the most sensitive and developed part that is next to me, humankind. It’s still about one’s integrated soul, which we lead towards correction. If one regards everything from this angle, looks deeper, and realizes what Kabbalists write about, then one begins to better understand their texts, their world outlook, and the way they perceived reality and the whole process.

The main thing is to break the “ice” and “dissolve” the common routine self-perception as well as the way we regard the world. We should keep in mind that everything that exists is only our “I”, and that any externality in fact is still inside us. Everything is a picture that we imagine at a certain point in time. Although, we are also given a chance to realize and sense that another approach to this issue is also possible. In his  “Preface to The Book of Zohar” (Item 34), Baal HaSulam writes: …Even though we see everything as actually being in front of us, every reasonable person knows for certain that all that we see is only within our own brains. So are the souls: Although they see all the images in the Giver, they still have no doubt that all these are only in their own interior, and not at all in the Giver.

Another question is what level of “common sense” do we need for that? Of course, it’s not that easy and is not available to everybody. However, if we get ourselves acquainted with psychologists’ and quantum physicists’ opinion, we would discover that their understanding of reality is very similar. Baal HaSulam very much respected materialistic psychology since it’s built on common empiric sense: “A person can be governed only by what one sees.” Psychologists are still partially confused with their hypothesis, whereas physicists talk about these things very seriously: everything is within a person.

So, we have to overcome a gap in our perception. If we constantly apply effort, not physically but rather internally, in order to connect these two parts, internal and external, together, we’ll elicit the Reforming Light and correct our corrupt vessels. The vessel is damaged only inside of our perception, nowhere else. It splits the entire picture and shows some of my vessels as being outside, and the other part as inside. All this is only in our perception.

In order get a correct understanding of the above, we read the articles and letters written by Kabbalists. If we try to understand them from this point of view, they are not what they appear to us in the ordinary psychological approach. They open up much greater depth and clarity, and we’ll feel what Kabbalists had in mind. Because they see the world as a complete entity, united, for them it is concentrated in the point of unity that a person has to attain. They have no question about the need to unite into one group, nor why the “drop of unity” has to be everybody’s goal.

So, together with us now in selected parts of humanity are those who aspire to unite together. If we all think about it and wish to reveal unity, it will happen. In principle, it is sufficient for it to be ten people, and we are much more.

And again, our unity has to be built on the basis of equality. It’s said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Equality will allow us to form a center of unity, the central point of Malchut.
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From the North Convention of Unity 9/20/12, Lesson 2

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The Practice Of Love

Dr. Michael LaitmanEstablishing the right mutual relations in the group is the most important thing we need to implement, since the wisdom of Kabbalah is a very practical wisdom. We can use other wisdoms even without understanding them. For example, I sit in the car and I am shown what is around me, which buttons to press and go. This is what actually happens in everything that we do. It is enough to know a few things in order to use different scientific developments. Sometimes all we need is some basic knowledge: For example, get in and sit down and the train or the bus will take you to your destination, although you have no idea how it is done. I move from place to place, eat, drink, and participate in different events knowing nothing about the technical basis of things, just like a newborn baby who is carried in the adults’ arms or pushed in a stroller.

In spirituality, however, it is different. There I can use certain things only if I know and understand them. I have no control over things that I have not attained and have not discovered. I cannot just sit in some “spiritual carriage” and go somewhere. No, I have to know who I am, what this “carriage” is, how it moves, how to operate it, from where to where I should ride it, what is the place I started from like and what is the nature of my final destination, etc. I have to know what is going on, to be in control of the situation and not just “press the buttons.” Only if I can really implement this fully, having mastered everything, can I perform a certain spiritual act. Otherwise, I simply don’t exist in the spiritual world.

Therefore, we have to immediately ask ourselves: Which means enable us to discover, to know and to understand the spiritual reality and to learn how to manage it? Kabbalists explain that everything in our world is prepared for that. It is fully ready only for this mission, so that from here I will learn how to work with the spiritual world, live in it, and fully control it.

From this world I learn about the upper world. The main tool here is to practice love. We can call it the practice of connection, concession, but on the whole it is about love.

Why? Because that’s what it’s all about. Now I love myself, my desire to receive. I enjoy by filling and satisfying it. This I how the Creator made me, He connected the filling with the pleasure. Love of others means that I don’t absorb the pleasure but rather feel it in Him and by that enjoy. This is how a mother also enjoys every spoonful she can put into her baby’s mouth…
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/12, Writings of Rabash

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Acquaintance With The Evil Inclination

Dr. Michael LaitmanEverything we see in this reality is a desire to receive. It was created in its original form and we can sense it. We, in fact, are a desire to receive.

However, besides being a desire to receive, we also have an ability to think, our intellect allows us to ascertain if we are within the desire, if we feel the desire. Animals are not able to tell such things. It is solely a human’s privilege.

This is where the difference lies. With the help of my mind, I can detach myself from my desires, analyze, and measure them, and even look at them from the side. So, I am given a chance to be a “psychologist” for others and for myself.

There is life inside my desires, and there is an ability to analyze this life. What do I feel within one particular desire? What’s inside the other desires that I have? How do I transition from one wish to another? What do I do with them?

As I live inside my desire, I can scrutinize my life with the help of my intellect, memory, and ability to analyze. However, do I have a chance to change anything in my life? No, I only can “flow” together with the desires.

That’s what we do in this world, although we think that it’s we who act and make changes by choosing “good” and avoiding “evil” by using our brain. In fact, we are incapable of doing anything with our nature or with our desires.

There is a general interconnection among desires that is called “humankind.” On the other hand, there is a unity among the points in the heart (a system of upper worlds, Malchut of the world of Atzilut, Shechina).

This unity represents something of a completely different nature. If I happen to receive its spark (a point in the heart), I become able to build up another type of attitude toward my desires.

The system of interconnection among people in this world is meant only to bring troubles and problems to them. As a result, people continually advance. They wish they could change the system and achieve more success in economics, security, life conditions, health, and so forth. Each time, by rising one step higher, people achieve an opposite result. They figure out that their current situation brings them more harm than benefit.

On the other hand, people who reveal unity among points in the heart can enter into a new system, a system of broken worlds and shattered connections. Here, separation and animosity (that is, the evil inclination) manifest themselves to full capacity.

Desires and relationships among people in this realm are not a part of the evil inclination. They are still at an “animate” developmental stage. The evil inclination is something that prevents us from the revelation of the Creator, of the property of bestowal and love.

So, people who reveal the force that confronts the unity of the points in the heart (friends in the group) get to disclose the evil inclination. It shows up only among friends to the degree of their intent to improve their connection. It’s already a revelation of the spiritual force, the first spiritual attainment.

Through enhancing their unity, the friends in the group begin realizing that we know what the evil inclination is. It mandates us to necessitate the correcting force that is inside us and to which we must refer.

All together, we must direct our prayers and requests to the core place of our unity, to the center of the group. Then, due to the “Prayer of Many,” we will receive the force, and It will correct the connection among us. This is how our advancement is being implemented.

The evil force that shows up among us is Pharaoh, the Egyptian king. Depending on the specifics of our perception, it is also called Bilam, Balak, Aman, and so forth. In any case, our only task is to unite. It is said that the commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” is the great rule of the Torah.

Unity is the only remedy that allows us to go through the various kinds of connections and attain its greatest and most perfect enactment, to reach the level of love. How do we love others? It is “as ourselves.”

This criterion allows us to constantly monitor ourselves. Do I strive to go outside of myself? Kabbalists explain that “as thyself” means more than thyself. I naturally place myself above everyone else. Now, I must favor and elevate others above me. This is how I grow.

In general, everything is being revealed according to the principle, “That which you hate, do not do to your friend,” and, then, transition to “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” This is the entire Torah. So, this explains why we should work in the group, study, and do everything we do for the sake of unity. Otherwise, we won’t advance at all. This is the wisdom of Kabbalah.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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