Audio Version Of The Blog – 09.16.14

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A Group Of Ten Is A Whole Spiritual Unit

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We will be conducting work in groups of ten in the upcoming St. Petersburg convention. Should a group of ten be together all the time including mealtime, the friends’ meetings, the workshops, and the lessons?

Answer: I don’t see the point in walking around in groups of ten holding hands.

A group of ten is considered a whole spiritual unit. In Hebrew it is called a Minyan. There is a condition that you cannot pray if you don’t gather in a group of ten. This means that you cannot appeal to the Creator if you are not in a group of ten. Therefore, the groups of ten are essential in all our events.

During the friends’ meetings everyone is present: the men in an inside circle and the women on the outside. We have to constantly emphasize that we are together with all of humanity, with the whole world group.

The groups of ten don’t have to show their excessive individualism. Their main role is to cultivate the intention: We have gathered here in order to merge into one, so that units identical to ours will connect into one huge unit that is equal to the Creator.

A group of ten is what raises you to the next level; it is a derivative. Those who have studied higher mathematics know that the breaking down of a derivative is shattering and death. If a group of ten breaks down, you cannot raise yourself to the next level any more.

Therefore, we should do everything we can so that the groups of ten will remain intact even while performing different duties in the kitchen or any service. This is important.
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From the Convention Preparation Webinar, 9/9/14

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The Secret Of The Ten Tribes, Part 1

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe will not be able to understand the modern global processes if we don’t first understand the state that became the basis, the real reason and the prototype about 4,000 years ago.

Two perceptions of our evolution were formed back in ancient Babylon during a similar crisis of humanity. The king of Babylon Nimrod led the majority along the path of natural evolution while the wise Babylonian priest Abraham called people to ascend to a new qualitative level.

Question: Abraham was a major ideologist and philosopher and a very respectable man, why did he need to start a revolution?

Answer: He looked for a way out and found it in the state that was created in the nation. The circumstances forced them to unite, but people couldn’t live together anymore. On the contrary, the ego grew in them so much that they began to find fault with each other and to hate one another.

Nimrod’s solution was simple and corporeal: “We should simply disperse and live separately, under my leadership, of course.” This is how the residents of a communal apartment disperse in order to stop bickering.

But Abraham had another idea: “We mustn’t disperse because the law of nature is a law, we cannot escape it. The earth will become crowded in the future anyway. We don’t need to invent anything. Nature, evolution requires that we unite. We have to unite above the ego.”

Few, of course, listened to Abraham, several tens of thousands out of three million people. After all, it’s a tough decision and it is much easier to disperse. One way or another, Abraham’s disciples followed him, came out of Egypt and carried the idea of love thy neighbor as thyself, by fulfilling it amongst themselves.

They felt despair at first; they couldn’t live with egoism any longer and wanted to do something with it, get rid of it. This is the reason that they found the goal that Abraham set for them attractive and not the idea of simply living a normal life, not to simply stop cursing and quarreling with one another, but to ascend to something new. It is the ascent to the next level that attracted them because it didn’t require annulment of the ego, but rather using it for the ascent.

Question: What strange people. They didn’t want to live in their own homes, in separate apartments, but preferred the spiritual ascent instead. It turns out that the basis of our nation is these depressed guys that followed Abraham?

Answer: Of course, the depression actually pushed them upwards. They understood the crisis in a totally different way, and they counted on it to help them find a meaning in life, in their existence.

The others examined the crisis practically: “Let’s solve it and carry on with our normal life.”

Eventually people divided very sharply into two groups and their ways were extremely different.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14

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A Circle Is The Form Of Existence Of the Corrected Society

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is required for the practical realization of the method of connection?

Answer: You need to study and  have practical connection exercises, workshops, and roundtables that lead to the unification of the people. We must feel that it is possible to discover the force between us that connects us.

The essence of the method is simple: You need to sit in circles and talk about connection, about the reasons for it, about the goal of the existence of our people, about who we are. The connection raises us above our present state. During a discussion like this, we suddenly discover that within our circle some kind of force, warmth, and shared feeling appears that connects us together.

We suddenly feel that we are close to each other and depend on each other, like in a family and even more. There is some kind of thread inside that connects me with you and you with me. And threads like these are stretched between everyone. The inner network that makes this connection gives us exceptional experiences and a sensation of a new life in which we are connected into a single whole.

This connection raises us to a unique elevated state. We want to remain in that, to protect this spirit that makes it possible for us to rise above this life. All this life acquires a new shape. The wisdom of Kabbalah explains to us how to attain this unity in order to feel, in our power of unification, the higher component that is ready to change everything in our world.

If we try to discover this force of unification between us, then we discover the higher force that is ready to heal all of the unpleasantness and the problems in our individual lives and in society, in the economy, in politics, and to put order in the whole world.

We begin to radiate this force of unification to the whole world and it will change its attitude towards us. This is because all the nations of the world have been specifically waiting for this from the Jewish people. As proof, it is possible to bring a multitude of statements: both those of the Jewish sages and those of the anti-Semites.

It follows that nothing more is needed besides unification. And the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the wisdom of connection and unification, must help us with this. So it has been revealed in our day.

So come, let’s learn how to attain the unification of the whole society. And in practice this is summed up in work in circles and with the study of essential questions like these: “Who is a man?  What is connection? How do we advance? What is the goal of creation? What is the mission of the people of Israel in relation to the rest of the peoples? What is the reason for anti-Semitism? How does one heal the entire common collective ego and that which is in each one personally, how is all the evil in the world corrected?”

People will learn all of this in those circles; they will clarify together and discover the power of unification that will heal all of the evil. This must become the permanent work of the people of Israel, our international mission, until we reach complete connection.

Every day, even several times per day, as much as possible, a person must participate in a discussion like this in a circle. There are plenty of unemployed people who have free time, and it is possible to arrange discussions of this type in workplaces, in schools, and on television for those who remain at home.

A circle in which people discuss all of their relationships will become the form of existence of the corrected society: In kindergartens, at school, at work, among retirees. All of the people will learn how to carry out their obligations in relation to the rest of the people: to correct, to unite themselves into one people, and to show an example to all of humanity.

Then all of the people will immediately change their attitude towards Israel and towards the Jewish people and we will truly become a “Light to the nations,” a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” We will become teachers for the whole world.
[143326]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/2/14

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The Sabbath

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why does the issue of the Sabbath come up again in Parashat HaShavua (weekly Torah portion), “After the Death,” after the description of the ram that is sent to the desert and the other ram that is offered as sacrifice? After all, it was already mentioned in the exodus from Egypt.

Answer: At first glance the reference to the Sabbath seems redundant and unnecessary. But the point is that all the actions that we perform are only in order to bring us to the state of the end of correction that is called Sabbath. The Sabbath symbolizes the end of all the work when everything is corrected and there is no need to do anything anymore. Thus, the states that are gradually corrected are added to the previously corrected states and are accumulated in a general account, which is eventually expressed in the state of Sabbath.

But after every action, every level also ends in the same state since if I am given 20 kilos of desires in order to correct them to love and bestowal and I reach the end of correction of this part, I enter a temporary state of Sabbath. When I fully correct my soul I reach the final state of the Great Sabbath.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/6/14

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Israel In A Period Of Post-Traumatic Complications

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It is possible to say that Israel is now in a “post-traumatic period” after the last military conflict in Gaza. In connection to this, I would want to understand what is happening with us, and what to expect later. How can we attain some kind of certainty, stability, and hope for a good future?

The war apparently ended and the nation returned to “normal life.” However, it is not understood what kind of a normal life it is possible to speak about at all. After all, the threat has not disappeared and the sensation is quite alarming. All that is left is to wait for the next round of violence and new missile bombardments.

Answer: Returning to normal life is like returning to your mother’s good, comfortable, and peaceful home. However, Israelis are returning to their normal life that is impossible to call normal, and during the latest conflict, additional traumas have been added to them.

It seems to me that the situation today is more stable than at the time of the military operations. At least, everything was clear then. They shoot; we shoot. Now, we are returning to a much more uncertain situation.

During the war, the Israeli society consolidated strongly. The newspapers behaved respectfully and didn’t upset the people with sensational articles. Everything was relaxed. The commotion quieted down because while facing a common threat, we didn’t continue with idle chatter. However, the moment that the military situation ended, everything immediately returned to the previous competition, to everyone’s struggle with their personal interests, to political quarrels.

So, the war ended, but life is felt as less stable than during the war. We hope that we are returning to a secure and normal life, yet this doesn’t exist. However, if the people of Israel will get together and attain some kind of unity, then it will succeed. Specifically then, we will reach stability and security. Many people remember warmly that sensation of unity that appears in times of danger. As long as the missiles fell on us, we felt that we needed each other. We had one desire, one concern. Even though we were frightened, we were together, and some kind of sweetness was felt in this. However, the moment the threat disappeared, we returned again to the previous separation and were ready to “devour” each other.

What gives hope is that, for the first time, people were sorry that we lost the unity that was attained and returned to the previous indifference, returned to building their profitable life at someone else’s expense.

This is not a post-traumatic situation from the last war. Rather, these are new traumas. However, this time, the situation finally began to become clear, and many people understood that the usual situation, when we are found without an external threat, is unacceptable.

The war let us feel what it means to be one people, consolidated, living with concern for each other and not in competition. It is understood that no one wants the reason for this unity to be war, but at least now we have discovered and felt what we are missing.

The problem is only in this: that this unity is attained only under the pressure of an external threat. Baal HaSulam compares our people to a sack of nuts that don’t want to connect and brush up against each other with their shells with a lot of noise, but the sack holds us together. At least from this, a feeling of mutual support with the neighbor, with acquaintances, with every person—every Israeli and citizen of this nation—appears with us.

The moment that the sack tears, all the nuts scatter in different directions, and, again, we have no feeling of belonging to one people. So, again and again, we require new external threats. We see that the higher power will not leave us in peace. We see this according to the anti-Semitism that has grown so much in the world.

I get letters with an identical question from Jewish acquaintances in South America, Texas, and Europe: “Where do you suggest that we go? What are we to do?” I am talking about South American and European Jews who were born in these nations, in these cultures. They are educated, they have good professions, and now they are forced to look where to hide, but there isn’t a place anywhere. They already are thinking, “Perhaps, there is another planet besides planet Earth?” This is how much they feel that there is no place for them anywhere.

I hope that faced with anti-Semitism like this, we will be forced to connect and unite, and then we will survive. If we will become linked more strongly, then we will succeed in everything, and we will win every struggle. No one can do anything to us. It is enough for the people of Israel to unite, and no one will pressure us anymore. The higher management works like this: that, if we yearn for unity, then the external threat and pressure will disappear immediately.

So, everything depends only upon our inner balance and connection, and all the economic, social and political problems and security depend only upon relationships between people, whether the people of Israel live in the land of Israel as a united people. This way, we tilt the entire world’s scale toward the side of merit or the side of condemnation.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/2/14

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The Decline Of Babylon, Part 3

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is not that most of the Babylonians disagreed with Abraham; rather, they didn’t feel that this was for them. Only five thousand people felt that he was the bearer of Light for their lives drawing them forward, that he could be their shepherd, their leader, their guide, and that they would follow him. They felt that they were going towards that small ray of light, without worshipping their idol, but they followed him as their leader.

He let them “taste” a little of the positive force. And they understood that in following him they could realize, attain, reach, and discover it. Subsequently this force would be called the “Creator.”

And whereas others “sorted themselves out,” they cut themselves off from Abraham and followed Nimrod, Terah, etc. Only one thing was left for them, the same bad situation, quarrels, and fights between neighbors, that in fact they had nowhere to flee from each other, but they still didn’t understand it. “We have terrible taxes. It is necessary to go somewhere; it is necessary to do something. We are going there, and where are you going? Well, that’s your business! Between you and me, I would not want to go that way at all, but they are going there so I will also go there… or should we go in a different direction?”

As it is said, “Change your place, change everything.” In the pursuit of a better life and on the run from confrontations, people scattered, went in different directions, gradually settling all over the face of the earth. But how long could that go on? They spread out to the degree of the growth of the ego, to the degree of their multiplication and their physical reproduction. They continually developed like this, searching for a better place.

Here it is necessary to understand that a person searches for a better place according to his inner feeling, according to the root of his soul. Ultimately, they spread to those places where their soul was inclined to go, wherever it led them.

In principle, animals operate in a similar manner. They roam the forest, wandering from place to place, and with them everything is measured: Here it is better, here it is worse, here there is lots of sun, here is little sun, here the ground is not suitable, and here there are lots of trees.

In other words, they were searching all the time, they constantly presumed where it would be better for them, where nourishment would be more accessible, where it would be more secure, where to find a mate, where to raise offspring, and so forth. A huge amount of internal information was processed and directed all of their movements.

The same thing happened with the three million Babylonians who followed Nimrod’s concept. The developing ego gave them similar sensations, and a person suddenly understood that the ego was attracting and moving him, one to the beach of the Black Sea, another to Alaska. In this manner they spread over the face of the world.

And then there was a great migration of peoples. And again people moved from place to place, but not just that, rather an eruption of a great egoistic desire moved them, for example, to subdue someone, to impose taxes, etc. But these were only external signs, essentially what was driving them forward was a feeling of the imperative to be nourished somewhere else, nourished internally, spiritually, and mentally.

Conversely, for example the Chinese, for thousands of years didn’t venture from their “corner”; the Japanese didn’t let anyone leave or enter. Such was the static state of the soul. And on the other hand, what culture, what civilization! Everything developed only within, with their unique problems and conclusions.

And so the Babylonian tribes dispersed and settled, each one found his place according to his soul. Josephus Flavius writes about this in detail: Some of them went to the land of Ashkenazi, others went to England, France, Spain, to the East, to Africa, etc.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14, Part 4

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The Benefits And Dangers Of Scientific Achievement

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is so bad about science if searching for the secret of life is a natural inclination that evolves in a person naturally?

Answer: We have an inclination to discover the secret of life because our higher source illuminates us. The question is only where, how, and by what means do I search for it? In regular science I search for it through my beastly mind and senses.

Do I mean to find the higher source by physical means? Don’t I understand that He is so high, influential, and detached from the desire to receive, from its loathsome lowness, from its limitations?

The desire to receive, the ego, that wants to receive for itself all the time, cannot be complete because it always feels a deficiency. So it cannot be adapted to the higher source. The more that it wants for itself and discovers its limitations, the lower it falls.

For this reason the ancient people thought that the sun was divine, since for them it was the origin of life.

Question: How did Abraham search for the secret of life?

Answer: Abraham went to look at the stars, the moon, and the sun, searching for the force that could be said to be universal and supreme. But this was an inner search.

Question: Didn’t he search for this with his physical mind and senses, as in every science?

Answer: Abraham didn’t rely on his mind. He was searching for something higher, detached from it, and universal. He attained everything, thanks to his soul, like the first Adam (man). So essentially he succeeded in attaining everything without a teacher.

With us that cannot be because nobody in our generation is able to discover the Creator by himself. There are many people who are sure that they feel the higher power, but in fact, none of them are even close. That is how our generation is, and this is a result of the growth of egoism that causes the decline of the generations.

Our ancestors were in a unique situation called the “merit of the forefathers” because their Shevirah (shattering) was from above in their source and was derived from the system itself. But after our fall, we corrected our own partition, and we have no merit.The ancestral merit existed only until the discovery of the evil inclination, which was called Pharaoh.

After Jacob died in Egypt, no ancestral merit remained. Indeed, we could use it, but only through adhesion to the same level, and actually not by ourselves.

Question: Wasn’t Abraham a scientist like every Kabbalist? So why is science harmful?

Answer: Science is like snake venom that can be used as a poison or a remedy depending on how it is used. It is necessary to use it to discover the higher power, where we understand that our ego is lower, and that it is impossible to attain anything of the truth with it. We are limited by our physical senses and the egoistic desire that stands behind these Kelim (desires).

We cannot depart from this desire that obligates us to think, see,  understand, and feel only what is for its own good or what can harm it. This means that all perception is directed only towards the desire to receive and we don’t see anything more. Around us there could be whole worlds and forces, but we don’t have the senses to perceive them.

If this is how we are organized, we have no means for searching within us and not with the science which we developed. In this way we will never reach the truth, divinity, or universality.

So in science, there is only what the person discovers in his egoistic Kelim, and so science is also egoistic. That is the way we discovered it and that is how we use it. We cannot use it with any other intent or inclination because all of its development is derived for our egoistic benefit.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Unlimited Access To The Computer Of The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The physical forces, electromagnetic, gravity, and subatomic, influence inanimate matter. Is it possible to say that the upper force of the Creator acts similarly and moves people?

Answer: Certainly, the entire still, vegetative, and animate nature also moves under the management of the Creator who holds all the parts of creation in a single system. But the main thing is His influence in regard to us, in regard to the higher human level of nature.

It is important that our “speaking” level, the mind and heart, human thoughts and desires, should be compatible with the thoughts and desires of the Creator. This is because the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate act instinctively in coordination with the higher force. We have no control over them and we cannot manage the systems that are functioning within our body. But we want our thoughts and desires to be similar to the Creator. Then everything will be okay.

We are always working only with forces; they surround us in our lives on all sides. And the Creator is simply the collective force that manages and activates everything. Instead of some humans, governments, and nations, it is necessary to see the force that influence all these movements. There is nothing besides the upper force.

We see that we don’t determine anything by ourselves. Everything is developed according to some higher plan and we must be aware of it and be integrated into its realization.

Question: Is our brain prepared to absorb this higher knowledge?

Answer: We must absolutely attain the higher force. Abilities like these are latent within us. Our mind and heart will be joined to the general system and can be used within it to an infinite degree.

It doesn’t matter that I have a small computer. Rather it is connected through a cable to the computer of the Creator and I get all of His resources, while in my computer I use only a keyboard.

The wisdom of Kabbalah can carry out changes like this in a person. It explains to him, teaches, and educates by way of the teachers, the Kabbalists.

Question: What will help a person change his opinion of the higher power, to be freed from the stereotypes, and to open himself to cooperation with it?

Answer: There are two contributing factors here: On one hand, there is the pressure of troubles and suffering, and on the other hand, there is the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah. We hope that the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah will expand so much that there will be no need to be pushed from behind through troubles and suffering.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write: Preparing the People of Israel for Light” 8/20/14

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 09.16.14

Workshop

[media 1] [media 2]

Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

[media 3] [media 4]

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts “Introduction” “Two Points,” Item 121

[media 5] [media 6]

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Peace,” “Necessity to Practice Caution with the Laws of Nature”

[media 7] [media 8]