Audio Version Of The Blog – 07.05.15

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Careful: Words Can Kill

laitman_546_01Question: For a long time, humanity dreamt about democracy and freedom of speech. A lot of blood was shed fighting for this right. Freedom of speech is one of the most significant achievements of modern man.

When dictators come to power, the first thing they do is limit the freedom of speech. Why is it so important to us to freely express our thoughts and opinions?

Answer: The desire for the freedom of speech stems from human egoism and our desire to be “important.” Freedom of speech adds social “weight” when we proudly stand up and express our opinion. This is how we state our presence in this life and world.

The desire to express oneself derives from our egoism; everybody has it. When our egoism grows, it becomes more and more complicated and demanding. So, it requires a broader range of self-expression.

Thousands of years ago people didn’t have a need to speak openly. Living in a small village, they didn’t lack freedom of speech: What were they supposed to talk about anyway?

Modern man appreciates his freedom of speech, but do we know what it is?. If this is the freedom to say whatever we want, then how are we sure of the correctness of our views? Do we really understand that we are responsible for the words, which can hurt someone?

The same can be said for government elections. Do we understand that we are responsible for the future of our countries and even for the entire world when we submit our ballot?

Freedom of speech depends on a person’s developmental level, education, and understanding of what they talk about and what influence they produce by saying what they say. These are not the speeches in Hyde Park, London that entertain tourists.

Before we take advantage of the freedom of speech, we have to be properly educated because it imposes a great responsibility. Not only are uttered words strong weapons, but even our thoughts. Our thoughts soar around the world and collide with each other, creating a field of thoughts that impact us and the whole world.

Therefore, freedom of speech obligates us to be at a certain level and to accept a huge responsibility. When saying something out loud, we have to make sure that our words spreading around the world will enhance correction instead of just proving my truth as it appears to me in my egoism.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/21/15

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Where Is Our Freedom Of Choice Hidden

Laitman_167Question: Do we have freedom of choice?

Answer: Every person who feels a need for freedom of choice can attain it. And with the Jews, as the carriers of two lines, this need is always always there because they initially received it in ancient Babylon.

Even today every person who feels the imperative of freedom of choice can join the method of Abraham as followers joined him in his time, left ancient Babylon, and received guidance from him about the correct spiritual development. In our time anyone can join in studying Kabbalah because it speaks about souls and about how to develop them.

Entry into Judaism is very simple: someone who wants to, please; nationality doesn’t matter. Jews don’t judge other people according to their nationality because they themselves don’t have one. The only criterion is self-development with the help of the method of ascending and connecting all for the sake of mutual love. And all humanity can join in this without any limitation.

Comment: According to your words, the process of conversion is very simple.

Answer: Was there some process of conversion for ancient peoples? When a foreigner came to Hillel the Elder and asked him, “What is your Torah, Judaism?” Hillel the Elder answered him: “What is hateful to you, don’t do to your friend.” That’s it; it’s not necessary to say anything more!

Question: What is the freedom of choice of the Jews?

Answer: The choice is only to be linked and connected between them in spite of their ego, and to create the characteristic of bestowal and love within them. All of those who are involved with this are called Jews, they rise above the ego and unite to bring a positive force into the world. If a person has this imperative, this is a sign that hidden within him is a spiritual gene. And so he is absolutely equal to the Jewish people regarding the question of freedom of choice.

Question: Does this mean he can pass this gene on to his children?

Answer: This doesn’t pass as an inheritance, but is the result of education. Someone is called a Jew not because he is born to a Jewish mother as everyone is accustomed to think, rather someone who prepares himself for a transition (Ever) from the egoistic paradigm to the altruistic.

Comment: But most of the current Jewish people have no idea about this..

Answer: They have an inner inclination which is called a Reshimo (Remembrance), an informational record about this, that they can develop the spiritual gene that has been in them from the start since the days of Abraham. Every person who joins the Jewish people searching for love of others and ready to engage in this method, conveys to his progeny the same spiritual inclination.
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From KabTV’s “About Our Life” 6/04/15

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A Devil With Horns Or Our Own Egoism?

laitman_961Question: You say that the world is ruled by Satan, the evil inclination. What does that mean?

Answer: It is our egoism, which has many different names: the evil desire, Satan, devil, Azazel, etc. It turns out that our world is ruled by our uncorrected, egoistic desires. If I say that Satan is inside me, it means the egoistic property exists in me.

Question: If Satan is an attribute, why is it drawn with horns and hooves?

Answer: Horns, hooves, and a tail are all people’s fantasy. By the way, these elements can also be found in Kabbalah, in the corporeal language that expresses certain spiritual attributes. Therefore it is absolutely forbidden to depict such pictures and imagine that there are forces and spiritual attributes that have such forms. There is nothing evil in nature except our egoism.

Question: So why have people described Satan in such a frightening way?

Answer: These pictures appeared during the last 500 years. On the one hand, Satan is drawn in the image of a man, but on the other hand, as a frightening beast. This is how a person subconsciously relates to his evil inclination, egoism, which constantly incites us. The word “Satan” stems from the Hebrew word “Leastin,” which means to snitch, to provoke, to incite.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 6/10/15

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The Menorah – A Symbol Of The Unity Of The Lights

Laitman_509The Torah, “Numbers” 8:1 – 8:2: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah.

Question: Why does the weekly section of the Torah, BeHaalotcha begin with the description of the Menorah (lamp)?

Answer: It is because the Menorah (lamp) is the embodiment of the Light that descends from above unto the human souls. It is a Menorah of seven candles that is the embodiment of the six Lights that descend from Above: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. All the six Lights belong to Zeir Anpin, a structure that we call the Creator.

The Creator is a relative concept that symbolizes the one who is above us. Because Zeir Anpin is above Malchut it is revealed as the Creator with regard to us. If we ascend to His level, it rises above us once again and so there is a different Creator each time: we change and ascend and He changes and ascends. It is all relative.

The Creator operates and influences us by the seven Lights and so the Menorah is called the lamp of the seven candles (three candles on the right, three on the left and one in the middle), which symbolizes our connection with the Creator. Thus, we change our properties into the opposite attributes, the attributes of receiving into attributes of bestowal, and can illuminate like Him.

Three candles on the right and three on the left symbolize the right and the left lines and we who are in the middle are the middle line in the spiritual work. Of all the items that symbolize different attributes of the connection between the Creator and the created beings, the lamp is the brightest and most prominent symbol of this connection.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/4/15

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Being Filled With Love

laitman_569_01Egoistic desires run the world. We try to absorb into ourselves as much as we can, and we see that these desires cannot be fulfilled. All attempts to satisfy them lead us towards death.

No matter how much we fill ourselves with all kinds of: food, sex, family joys, discoveries, knowledge, and so on, we still come to the fact that from them nothing remains. On the contrary, even greater emptiness comes and adds to the disappointment.

We think that the pleasure we will get is equal to the desire for it, but when the pleasure enters the desire, it grows twice as much and we are left doubly empty. This is because Light and desire cancel each other out leaving us with twice as much emptiness.

To this day this was how life has been for all of us. A person enters the world naked, and leaves life doubly naked. We go through a lot of incarnations until we begin to understand that it is not worthwhile for us to pursue anything; it gives nothing.

Gradually humanity is becoming aware of this, and we are beginning to search for the truth. It brings us to a method with whose help it is truly possible to be fulfilled. But this fulfillment doesn’t enter directly into the desire to receive; rather, it is realized through the fulfillment of others. So here love for others is vital, and so we have an infinite possibility for enjoying, while they enjoy themselves, we enjoy fulfilling those we love.

In our world there are examples of how this works on the instinctive animal level of nature, when we fulfill our children and those that we love. And in the spiritual world everything is much more powerful, because there we fulfill each other, not because we love someone from the start, but we give birth to love within us for absolute strangers and even people who repulse us. This love doesn’t just appear that way; rather, it comes with the help of the Upper Light. When a person obligates himself to serve others, he begins to give birth within himself to a feeling of love for them, because they become dear to him, like an adopted child in a family, because of their investment in him, the parents begin to love him even more than their biological children.

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to bestow to others and be fulfilled with this. But we are not talking about bestowing in order to receive. The main thing is receiving for the purpose of bestowal.

Then I fulfill myself and simultaneously fulfill others. My goal is to fulfill them! But ultimately the fulfillment remains within me. Here appears the “branching out” that is incomprehensible to us today, which a person gradually begins to attain when he is involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 6/10/15

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Spiritual Teachers

laitman_933Question: Do the Jews have to become teachers for all people who want the wisdom of connection?

Answer: Certainly, it is said that Israel will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and through them all the nations of the world will be blessed. In other words, the Jews will become teachers for the nations of the world in the wisdom of connection and the unification of all of humanity so that, with this unity, the higher power will be revealed. But this will happen only after they first reconstruct this method for themselves. Only then can they transmit it to everyone else.

Above all, they must discover the spiritual consciousness latent in them, reaching a permanent state of connection between them and becoming a single whole, and then they can explain, teach and transmit this characteristic to their students. But even if the Jews were to reach unity and not be involved with others, the 70 nations would be drawn into agreement with them. The essence of the method is not in sitting and studying it. It is the unity of mutual penetration, adhesion, connection, closeness with each other, and internal reciprocity when they begin to feel themselves as a single, unified whole. Their egoistic desires will begin to melt just like pieces of iron or gold, becoming a single mass.

Question: But for any modern person this seems frightening because this signifies the loss of his “self.”

Answer: On the contrary, the person acquires his self because he is united with all of humanity. His self grows eight billion times, and this will be his eternal and perfected self.
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From KabTV’s “Last Generation” 6/4/15

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 07.05.15

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 40

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Good and Evil,” “The Next World”

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Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 52

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”

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