Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.14.14

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Without Further Ado

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 21: Do not be led astray by the philosophers who say that the very essence of the soul is an intellectual substance, and that it only exists through the concepts it learns, that it grows through them, and that they are its very essence.

According to philosophers, seeing only this world, we also attain something spiritual. Based on what do they think so? On the basis of reasoning. They do not know and they did not study nature, but only scholasticism of their own mind, and that is why they obviously have no real knowledge. Their sphere is fantasy, not based on any empirical study and within the confines of theorizing.

Hence, the philosophical view of the human soul is, “If we reflect and debate about the soul, then we have contact with it.”

On the other hand, Kabbalists explain that all this is one big lie. No one in our world has the soul. In order to obtain the soul, one has to obtain the property of bestowal that is above our desire, above our nature. He who has achieved this has the soul and who has not does not have it.

We still must figure out what the current existence that we call “life” is. Either way, there is no connection between our current desires and the soul. After all, the soul is the desire to bestow, and cannot relate to us. In our perception, we need to separate these two parts by a truly “iron wall.”

Either everything in a person is based on the earthly, “animal” desires, or he is on the other side and governs them. In this case, all their actions are not comparable with his desire to bestow, with the possibility of bestowal. This desire, this action, is called the soul, which grows ascending to the 125 rungs of the spiritual ladder.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Asking For Others

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What must I distinguish in my life as the main thing? What should I pay attention to first?

Answer: Your attention should be focused on the only thing: praying for others. Let people feel good in unity, good because the Creator brings them good and enjoys it.

Question: And what about the problems in other areas of my life?

Answer: It seems that your prayer is not yet complete. The Creator wants you to perfect it, and that is why He “pokes” you here and there, aiming you at the goal. If you are not sensitive enough or are thick-skinned or stubborn, then you need to have some “touches to the picture” added to give the desired vector. Indeed, the farther you advance toward the goal, the more precise the corrections should be. So, with every step, the pokings will be more sensitive to guide you precisely on course.

Question: How can I use them?

Answer: We need to accept them with love. After all, they are like the indications of the navigator that leads you along the route. How is it possible to manage without them? Would you understand or feel where your next turn is? You need these painful sensations: shakes, frustration, and rejection.

Every time, you strive to the goal with their help, through the friends, through the group, and through the world, keeping a course only at the Creator in order to bring Him this entire vessel. The vessel can make the correction and thanks to it, will be fully imbued with the pleasure of the Creator only in order to bring Him pleasure. The entire world will want to open itself so that the Creator fills it with goodness, and we will be able to turn everything into bestowal unto Him.

How can we advance toward this bestowal? How can we learn this?—above the unpleasant things. If you cannot give up what feels good to you now and reduce the degree of comfort in the desire to receive, how will you be able to give up pleasure later? How will you convert it into bestowal? That is why we must go through the stages of development.

Question: This means that troubles come to me so that it is easier to give up pleasant things?

Answer: Not at all. We use them for something else. They come in your sensation, are manifested in the desires where there is no awareness of the greatness of the Creator. If you had felt the importance of the Creator in them, you would not have felt pain. Every unpleasant sensation hides a lack of importance of the Creator and nothing else. As soon as you feel that He is important, any discomfort disappears. Similarly, her own state is not important to a mother as long as her child is well. As it is written, “Love covers all transgressions.”

So, we must pray for friends and for the entire world. However, we cannot just sit and pray. I need to work in the group to come to the necessary prayer. A prayer is the result of all my actions, all my efforts. I help friends and help society understanding that the only help I am capable of is to direct others to the single goal.

Material efforts are intended eventually to establish connection with people and bring them to the method that gives the right approach. Charity does not in itself change the world for the better, and governments are also powerless in this. That is why we must study the system of the universe and understand that there is only one really effective means: bringing people together to pray for them.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Nine Steps To Spiritual Discovery

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur goal is to reach equivalence and harmony with the Light, in other words, to reach the completion of correction, to eternal love and bestowal. This state requires our awareness and sensation of, and elevation to all the required characteristics in order to understand what we are lacking to resemble the Light, which inner changes we must go through.

That is, all of our work is to understand what I am feeling now and what I would be feeling in the corrected state. In every state I must react like the Light.

At every moment of my life, I must yearn for balance with it, meaning, to equivalence of form. For this, first of all, it is necessary to be aware of the properties of the Light. However, in the meantime, we are in concealment and don’t feel the Light as long as we have not reached equivalence of form with it, and how can I resemble the Light if I don’t feel it?

Here, a condition saves us which was created especially for us: this world. It is a wonder that doesn’t exist in any of the other worlds. Here, in this world, even though I am in the complete shattering, completely opposite to the Light, in spite of it all, I have the possibility of discovering desires that, like me, are searching for equivalence with the Light. Like me, they receive this aspiration from Above, this drop of semen, this “point in the heart,” without which this aspiration would not be awakened.

From this point, we already can begin with actions similar to the Light. That is, when we interact with one another, we can create from ourselves an example of what is called the action of the Light: bestowal, love, mutual help, mutual cooperation, and awakening. We have the opportunity of doing those actions that the Light does with us to warm each other a bit, to agitate, meaning to arouse desire and envy in a friend.

Instead of the Light, the Creator, we get the group. The Creator brings the person to the good fortune and says, “Take it!” In other words, He brings him to a laboratory, puts him into the model through which we can advance with the help of the friends in spite of our shattered, ruined state. The Creator brings you to them, and now you begin to act!

Everything else depends upon you, upon the manner in which you do the work and relate to the group as to the Creator who bestows to you. When you begin the dialog, the reciprocal work, with the group, you will clarify how the group influences you and you influence the group. Then, it is possible to rise together.

So, we must reach a state that is called Arvut (mutual guarantee) that obligates mutual help and mutual influence by everyone for every member of the group. We present ourselves before every friend as the bestowal of the Light, of the Creator upon him, and he must react to us like a creature that wants to correct himself and resemble the Light.

In other words, each one wants to identify with the group, to be connected, to adhere to it, to become one man with one heart, with one mind. That is, I must melt into the friends absolutely so that nothing will be left of me. I want to immerse into the group. That is what each one must do, and with this, everyone is helping everyone.

As a result of this, after the last drop of effort, we truly become one man with one heart. This drop is like the last bite we eat at a meal, and, after it comes the satiety, and we feel that we have filled ourselves. In this way, we complete a full HaVaYaH, ten Sefirot. You see, only the last phase, Malchut de Malchut, feels, understands, and knows with whom it is dealing, why and how it must behave, how it is constructed, how the Creator is constructed, and what must be done in response if it gets everything from Him: both the Light and the desire.

So Arvut is the first stage—connection into a single whole—and it seems that there is nothing more to do. However, we understand that, in the meantime, these are just words, as it is said, “the end of the action, is in the initial thought.” In thoughts, we already want to reach the final outcome, but you must go by a path that can be long. You see, I must build myself, and only then will I recognize the Creator.

Everything is created from Above in a perfected form, but the creature must attain this perfection, be aware of the Creator, become like Him, understand Him to His entire depth, and resemble Him in all his actions. You see, if the state of the creature is less than complete equivalence with the Creator, it is not considered that the Creator has been beneficial to him.

We must pass through all of these stages, and as long as we have not finished the previous stage, we cannot pass to the next stage. Therefore, from the beginning, we are talking about Arvut, about attaining equivalence of form with the Creator, about harmony with nature: coupling, embracing, kissing, all expressions of equivalence of form with the Creator, and in spite of it all, these are all still words, and now we begin to construct this state; that is, we enter into the second stage and beyond. Overall, it is possible to discover the nine stages on the way to spiritual discovery.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/14, Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

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A Person’s Head Controls His Body

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person’s work with the group is meant to sustain the connection with the friends even if he draws away from them physically, when he goes to work or when he goes home. I should not break away from them even when I am in difficult states, not only in fatigue or indifference, but even when I feel hate and repulsion.

The Upper Light plays with me while I have to divide myself into two parts. The first part is all I feel since all these feelings come from the Light into my desire. The second half determines what I should do, it controls me.

It is as if I have two roles. The first role is to feel the states that the Light brings me as deeply as I can. The second role is to control my feeling and to understand where it comes from, what causes it and how I should change it in order to advance to the desired state.

I have to be an expert inspector, examining, clarifying, and checking myself to direct myself to the goal. Later these two discernments merge and thus become the body (Guf) and the head (Rosh) of the spiritual Partzuf. The head determines what happens in the body and how it should function but only if this part, my expert, has control over the other part, over the desire.

In the meantime I try to exist in these two roles and to constantly see myself from the side, thus clarifying what the Light does with me, how I change, how I should change, and how I should react to each and every state.

I constantly assess myself from this control system. I change by becoming more independent of my feeling, of the discernments in my desire. I try to do my best not to identify with the desire and to rise above it. This means that my “head” is above the “body.”

This is the function of the second phase along the way of our spiritual advancement. I expect to reach a state in which I feel that all the desires and inclinations that are created in me by the Light are good, although I don’t feel them that way and don’t see that they are valuable since everything is broken. But they are good and beneficial to my advancement and are essential along the way: I have to gradually correct them one by one, to collect them to the one goal, to adhesion to the Creator, since these are parts of my soul.

So I examine myself like an assessor who sees all the corruptions in me and am glad about it since only by correcting them can I advance. If I discover greater corruptions, it’s a sign that I am advancing well since I have revealed such great deficiencies I should do something about . This means that on the one hand, this problem can occupy all my thoughts and all my heart. I find myself in a terrible situation and don’t know what to do about it. The problems are so great that my head explodes because of the horrible tension.

But on the other hand, I should know that this whole state was sent to me by the Creator so that I will solve all these problems only in the connection with Him and with the goal. The solution to the problem begins when the goal becomes more important than the problem.

If this is how I see these two approaches, then I don’t care about what happens to me: My goal is to be corrected and to resemble the Creator in bestowal, love, and adhesion which are more important to me than my personal state. Thus I solve every state. If I place myself above the state, it usually doesn’t need a solution anymore. I see that I don’t need anything else, “everything is resolved in the thought.” With regard to our state, it means that every state is less important than our mutual guarantee, since mutual guarantee is the goal that we have to reach in the connection between us.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/14, Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

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Waiting For The Crisis

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Expert): “The main development trends of the major economies of the world indicate that a new phase of the global economic crisis is inevitable. No matter how bad the situation is, it is possible to hold it for a relatively long time if sufficient political power is manifested; Japan has been heading towards the abyss for a quarter of century, and if the Japanese began to panic, Japan might have been long at the bottom of this abyss.

“Or the United States that have been inflating bubble after bubble for 20 years.

“Since everyone has learned this lesson of the importance of political will, but the world economy is not doing well, any prolonging of stagnation and escalation of problems increase the risk that the conflict will turn from economic into political.

“The old developed countries are experiencing one of the most serious crises in their history; the world economic order that was formed after WWII is collapsing. It is unclear yet today when a new order fiercely begins to shape, but it is obvious that everything is coming to that.”

My Comment: Waiting for a new order to form forcefully is unwise! It is inevitable. But there is a method for its soft absorption: the integral education of humanity, i.e. adapting people to new, gradually strengthening norms of a new integral world order. Otherwise, there will be a crisis!
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Working With The World As A Guarantee Of Spiritual Advancement

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can my work with the world change me in a way that I eventually attain the Creator?

Answer: It is very simple. I have already explained it many times.

Let’s say that we aspire to rise to the Creator, to the property of bestowal. We cannot address the Creator solely for our own sake, even if we ask for the property of bestowal to be granted to us. “Give me the quality of bestowal! Correct me!” Why? It sounds as if you are blaming the Creator for making you “bad” and now you are asking Him: “Correct what you did!”

There are very subtle nuances here. Remember, we cannot address the Creator with our personal requests. Our demand has to be general and come from all friends. Only when we try to unite in a group and create common properties between us can we address the Creator by asking Him to manifest in us. Our appeal to Him is called MAN and His answer to us is called MAD.

But even if we receive something in return, it will be only a slight sensation of spirituality called Galgalta ve Eynaim or Hafetz Hesed (one who doesn’t desire anything for one’s own sake), nothing more!

In order to truly sense spirituality and elicit the upper force, we don’t need desires of our own, but rather the desires of our neighbors. Otherwise, our demand for altruistic properties will be just an egoistic act.

“Why do you need altruistic qualities? Be happy with the way I created you!” If one wants to rise above one’s nature, one shouldn’t request to alter it.

Think about it and try to “digest” these states internally. If we justify the King, then we validate everything He does to us, even if He imprisons us. If we don’t approve of the King, it means that our egoism is screaming in us and that we judge everything through our own states.

Therefore, we should address the Creator all together in order to truly reveal the Creator instead of praying just for ourselves. If we do so, we’ll acquire a “small addition,” seven billion people, the entire humanity.

If we take care of the others as if they were our children, then we’ll start to feel them. As soon as our influence on them begins, their reaction will suddenly become clear to us. We’ll start caring about them. We’ll understand and feel them as if they were our children. We’ll realize what’s good and what’s bad for them since we’ll feel their internal pain.

We’ll sense their reaction, their demand, their MAN for salvation and unity that will be directed to us.

Working With The World As A Guarantee Of Spiritual Advancement

We are incapable of doing it on our own. Then again, can they really unite and become one whole even though they are not a Kabbalistic group? They don’t know anything nor do they want to study since they don’t have any predisposition for it.

In order to connect internally, they need the Upper Light, the Creator. MAD will transition through us to them. They will sense It because while educating them, we will become a source of energy for them. We serve as a transitional link for them.
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From the Virtual Convention in Moscow 12/15/13, Lesson 5

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The Purity Of Intention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are there external measurements or revelations that show the purity of my intention?

Answer: Your real intentions are not known, even to you, and others certainly don’t know them. Thus, the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the hidden wisdom, the inner part of the world, since it talks about that which is not revealed in our world.

How can we determine our intentions? Just try to do everything in the group with good intentions and gradually you will begin to feel as you lie to others and yourself, and you will enjoy it as a revelation of truth.

Moreover, it suggests that not only did you previously have bad intentions in action and now their real essence is revealed, but also in the future, they will remain like that. So, what is there to do? It is to ask for good intentions.

Thus, begin to perform good physical acts for the good of the group, try to work within them with the correct intention. As a result of that you reach a conclusion that all of that is done only for your sake.

This is the correct result, you reveal the truth. And even though you feel uncomfortable, you must be thankful to the Creator and ask that from now on He will give you the opportunity to do the right thing. Then, you are given the correct intention.

The next time when you do something for the group, again you will be shown that you had an incorrect intention, and again in an identical way, you go forward. In this advancement via cycles, you constantly discover within yourself the incorrectness of your intentions, but you discover them each time at a new level.

Of course, it is an unpleasant situation. However, by way of general support, by overall inspiration, by understanding that it is specifically in this way that we advance, you will see that it is a wonderful internal battle. In the end, from within all of these conflicting sensations, man begins to understand himself, the world, and the Creator.
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From the Moscow Virtual Convention 12/13/13, Lesson 2

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Valor Rather Than Humiliation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Will a group be homogeneous if it has attained some level of an integral state?

Answer: Yes, not just members of one group, but also all integral groups will look quite alike. After all, if by nature, our personal, mental, moral, and physical potential is different in all of us, we become included one into another when we study together in a group. We form one common organism, and all these properties become distributed among us. In this case, there can’t be any failures. No one corrupts the team because the common, dominant atmosphere points to the correct behavior. The most important thing here is not to stick oneself out in front, but rather to lower oneself next to the others. This is considered valor.
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From Kab TV’s “Integral World” 10/26/12

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.14.14

Preparation to the Lesson

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Workshop 

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The Book of Zohar Selected Excerpts

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the The Book of Zohar

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