Entries in the 'correction' Category

What Is Salvation For Me?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is written that a person who opens up a Kabbalistic book desires to save his life, his soul. He asks the question about the meaning of life and looks for this meaning, wishing to be saved from the emptiness that is worse than death itself. We see that all of humanity is gradually coming closer to this state.

When a person cries out for correction from the bottom of his heart, then what is correction for him? This is the entire problem: Does he correctly imagine the salvation for which he asks? Is the meaning of it for him to ascend above egoism, to unite with others and with all of reality into one whole? Does he understand that he can no longer use the receiving desires, Kelim? Does he ask himself: What is the point of living by reception, by absorbing inside?

If a person really wants something more, it is possible only in the bestowing desires, in the Kelim that are aimed toward the outside. Then his cry for help means, “Save me from the desire that pulls everything to itself and gives nothing!”

If a person’s heart is already aimed to the outside, if he desires to come out of himself, to establish his connection with everyone and to find the sensation of life there, then his intention is correct, and then the Light that comes to him returns him to the Source.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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When The Impossible Becomes Possible

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is there a connection between the World of Atzilut after the breaking of the World of Nikudim and the World of Adam Kadmon?

Answer: We do not have any connection to the World of Adam Kadmon because it belongs to the First Restriction. We cannot feel it and are unable to understand the principle by which it exists and operates. It is reason, sensations, and a calculation that we cannot attain. We will attain it only after our full correction.

Suppose that your cat is looking at you. It does not understand what you are thinking about. It slightly senses your mood and state because an animal that depends on you has some sort of notion of you as its master. However, it can never understand your thoughts, calculations, and desires.

Similarly, we cannot understand the World of Adam Kadmon. The five Partzufim of Adam Kadmon are above our attainment. Also GAR (the first three Partzufim) or the World of Atzilut are called unattainable and we do not attain them.

Only starting from the full correction (Gmar Tikkun) and onwards, when all the Kelim or desires unite, will it be possible to attain it. First we will correct AHP de Aliyah (AHP on the ascent), we will correct ELE, which will ascend and connect inside the name ELOKIM, the full Bina.

After that in the concluding action of the process of correction, called "Rav Paalim UMekabtziel," when the Light that comes from Above into the World of Atzilut descends until the Parsa and all the broken desires join Atzilut, then the World of Atzilut will expand beneath the Parsa as well, until the conclusion of the World of Adam Kadmon (Sium Galgalta), as it is written, "And his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives." Then we will be able to unite with the ten, full, original Sefirot of Adam Kadmon.

The entire process of the expansion of the worlds and our correction is intended to fill the first Partzuf Galgalta. Only then will we attain the five Partzufim of Adam Kadmon and will we enter the circle of Infinity together with them. Then the line (Yosher) and the circles (Igulim) will become equal. Everything that was inside the circle will take on the form of the line and there will be no difference between the line and the circle.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/7/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Are You Anticipating The Light’s Arrival?

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe studying of the wisdom of Kabbalah is founded on Segula, meaning the drawing of the Light that Reforms. The entire Torah, the method of correction, is designated for this. This is why it says: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.”

The Torah is regarded as a “spice” for a reason. It never replaces desire but “spices” it up with intention thereby readying it for consumption. In the same fashion, a dish is spiced; otherwise, it wouldn’t be edible. A dab of spices finishes it off.

Therefore, regardless of what text we are studying, our intentions must not change. Kabbalists wrote their books while being in spiritual attainment. However, we haven’t entered the spiritual world yet and cannot directly use their instructions as a guide in the Upper reality. At this stage, while reading, we are expected to hope, to anticipate a “miracle.” Let my eyes open so I may see what I am reading about for myself.

It will occur only if my aspiration is correct. Everything depends on what I demand from the studies and how closely my expectations match the force lain in the Kabbalistic texts. It will respond only if I keep aiming at it and wish for it to arrive and endow me with the property of bestowal. Then, I will rise above my egoism and experience true closeness with the other souls, together with whom we will reveal the Creator.

Such an intention is, indeed, aimed at the realization of the method. Thereby, I do utilize it as prescribed, which is regarded as “studying the Torah.” After all, I anticipate the arrival of the Light that Reforms like a rooster that is preparing to greet the dawn. If, however, I am contemplating egoistic rewards, I resemble a bat that doesn’t need light at all.

This work needn’t be despised either. It isn’t desirable, of course, but it still leads to the goal, only through the dark, by making a loop, through jungles of problems, until after numerous incarnations a person arrives at the question of purpose.

Therefore, darkness radiated by the Torah also helps somewhat. Baal HaSulam writes that we don’t always move ahead in the correct intentions and sometimes act like bats.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/10, The Zohar, Introduction, Article “The Buds”

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True Lie

Dr. Michael LaitmanI must “force” myself to unify with the friends and constantly keep in mind that success lies solely in unity. This is what our common, collective aim should be: unified desires turned to the Creator. Unified, they become one shared desire aimed at the Creator, the property of bestowal, so that it would unfold and dwell within us.

We have to act as if that is what we yearn and beg for. This “as if,” bubbling all around me, saturates me with true desire. This is the rule of how the environment affects an individual.

As a result, having gotten inspired by the environment, everyone begins to cry out. It may not be an authentic action yet, but it is enough to draw the Light that Reforms. We cannot cry naturally. If we could, we would already be in the spiritual world and have the correct desire. Hence, our crying is insincere, but the Surrounding Light still illuminates us and brings us what we pretend to be asking for.

That’s the kind of game we are voluntarily playing, “If you plead as if you desire it, I will do as you ask.” Yet, I have to try to the best of my ability to imagine our corrected state as close to reality as I can. Thus, from Lo Lishma (not for Her Name) I transition to Lishma (for Her Name).

On the spiritual degrees, the Light responds even to an insincere plea. It is called the plea for correction. I am corrupted, and I ask the Creator to fix me. I ask reluctantly, specifically because I am flawed.

Herein lies the bridge from the corporeal to the spiritual world. While below the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality), I am unable to beg naturally, but I am willing to exert effort to unite with the others.

Thereby, I carry out the agreement: I perform an action in response to which the Light comes in. In the corporeal world, I arrange a situation, a link, which allows me to trigger a reciprocal action in the spiritual world.

The same rule applies when we ascend a ladder in the corporeal world. However, the key lies in the qualitative transformation of my nature when the property of bestowal descends and starts governing me.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/19/10, “All Who Suffer for the Public”

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The Work Of Uriah And The Work Of David

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar tells us about the correction of Malchut. Malchut is the collective Kli, the will to receive pleasure (the desire) made by the Creator. On the other hand, He created it through a series of special actions in order to give this desire a special form which will later allow it to prepare itself to receive the entire Light of Infinity.

This is why we talk solely about the correction of Malchut or desire. The process is divided into several stages: conception (Ibur), nurturing (Yenika), and adulthood (Mochin). All these states become corrected by way of unification of Malchut and Bina. Their correct combination is regarded as “Malchut of David.” The correct approach lies in our correction of Malchut only in the degree that we are able to include it into Bina.

In the article “The Night of the Bride,” The Zohar colorfully describes how King David fell in love with Bat Sheva. She was once the wife of Uriah, David’s commander, and David intentionally sent him to die in the battlefield so that he could marry Bat Sheva, not even waiting for the news of her husband.

This story narrated by the prophet Samuel seems surprisingly appalling, although today such behavior is quite common. How could that happen?

Obviously, the story is allegorical. “David” is Malchut that is able to be corrected, but in the male aspect, by means of a screen and the Reflected Light, that is, intention. “Bat Sheva” is the part of the collective Malchut that at the moment is fit for correction. If she is corrected by means of the Light of Hassidim (Mercy), it may belong to David.

The sequence of actions is as follows: First, the Light of AB-SAG exposes a given part of Malchut, and then the Light of Hassidim fills it. The preliminary stages where Malchut is analyzed and filled with the Light of Hassidim is the work of Uriah. His name (אוריה) expands into: אורי"ה, which signifies the Light of the first half of HaVaYaH that has no relation to the second half, to the receiving Kelim of David.

Only after this can Malchut be corrected to receiving in order to bestow, and at that point it becomes “David’s work.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride)”

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Don’t Be Afraid

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How does the science of Kabbalah say I should relate to the things that threaten my life, such as war, a terrorist attack, falling rockets, or just a regular criminal attack?

Answer: While we are still uncorrected, we have to live in this corresponding, uncorrected world of ours while correcting ourselves and thereby correcting the world. In the meantime every person should behave according to what is accepted in society and the world.

At the same time, each of us must correct himself and thereby reveal the Upper Force, the quality of bestowal and love inside him and in the world. To the degree he makes this revelation, our enemies will gradually become our friends and all the bad things will disappear.

However, for now we have to behave in accordance with our uncorrected qualities. All my haters and enemies are the evil that’s inside me, which becomes revealed on the outside in this manner. I project them to the outside and that is why they exist.

However, if instead of them I see the Creator standing behind them, then they suddenly become inseparable parts of me. Therefore, we shouldn’t be afraid. What we have to do is perform corrections.

I am certain that nothing bad can happen to a person if he is always aimed at “there is none else besides Him.”
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From Lesson 7, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/11/10

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Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, “Introduction to The Zohar,” “BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride),” Item 128: …Zeir Anpin unites with Malchut, and she sees her husband…For she will not be able to see her husband until they all gather. And they depend on one another.

Malchut incorporates all the souls. Without them she is merely a point in the World of Atzilut, a point of Keter that has nothing of her own.

The broken souls, in other words, I and the group are found beneath in the Worlds of BYA. I want to unite with my friends, and my desire rises towards Malchut. From there it rises towards Zeir Anpin, and from there even higher toward Infinity (Ein Sof). Then as a response from her, I receive the strength to ascend. This way, the only thing that goes to Malchut is my desire to become part of the group, when I force myself into it.

I want it even stronger, and only this kind of pressure rises above to become incorporated in Malchut de Atzilut. Only it constitutes MAN, the actual appeal for correction.

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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/10, “Hakdama, Laila de Kale (The Night of the Bride)”

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Preparing The Ground For David’s Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How does the story of David and Bat-Sheva become expressed in group work?

Answer: The question is correct. We don’t work just on a person’s individual desire, but on the desire that is between us. That is precisely what was broken and it is what has to be corrected.

In the general desire for correction every person is present with his own particular egoism, which is not taken into account at all. Inside of me there are desires of the animate, vegetative, and still levels, which are not subject to correction directly. They will be corrected to the degree I work on the human level.

What needs to be corrected is the relationships between us, the threads of connection between us. This general desire is evil in relation to you – the intention for the sake of bestowal.

Leave everything else alone and work only on the human being in you, Adam, the one who has to be similar (Dommeh) to the Creator. All the other desires will automatically follow him.

That is why all of our work is done in the group. Malchut, Bat-Sheva, is the common broken Kli for which we have to find correction, unity. The discerning Upper Light AB-SAG comes and takes a part of the Light from us. That is how Uriah passes away, the Light Yod-Hey. Only Vav-Hey remain with which we can work.

Then David takes a part of Zeir Anpin, which is intended for correcting Malchut, and starts to work. Being a screen (Masach) with the intention “for the sake of bestowal,” he corrects Bat-Sheva and reaches the right Zivug, unity with her, in order to give pleasure to the Creator.


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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, The Zohar

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Higher, Higher, and Higher…

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat is the end of correction? Let us say that I need to fix my car to go somewhere. I take it to a shop, and the mechanic fixes it. Once the car is fixed, this means that I have completed the correction. Now, in a fixed car (or, if it is us we are correcting, then with a corrected common soul) we begin our trip upwards.

However, we do not speak about this. We only speak about the way to attain correction. Kabbalists do not say what happens to the corrected soul. They only hint about the things that await us there, but this is an even higher reality, above all the worlds, above the World of Infinity.
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From Lesson 8, World Kabbalah Congress 2010, 11/11/10

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Wanting Is Not Enough

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to ask the Light for correction, to turn to the Light?

Answer: We need to understand that the actual correction does not depend on us. We are the desire for pleasure, and if we are able to do anything, it is only to evoke the action from Above.

Our entire work is the raising of MAN, the request for correction, but the Creator does all the work. This is why our path is called “the Creator’s work.” We exert efforts in the group and studying only to convince each other of the need to develop a single aspiration described as: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.”

We should not forget for even a second that we must ask for correction. Everything is only given through a prayer, an appeal, the uncovering of the need. I do not just want something abstract: I want to correct the Kelim (vessels), I want to be like You, I want to be big.

A child looks at those who are older and instinctively wants to grow up. So I also want the same, but I do not just want, I demand it. After all, the force of development comes from the Creator. We will not grow up without asking Him for help.

The problem is that we consider ourselves to be actual participants. We think that we can make things happen on our own. But in reality, nothing depends on us except for the revelation of the desire.

So how do I reveal it? Through uniting with others. They, too, don’t have the strength, but they have desires, and this is all I need.

The desire I receive from my friends is far greater than the one I had initially. Imbued with this desire, I strive to unite with them, and I do not succeed. Now I can finally turn to the Creator.

Through our collective action at the Convention, we have discovered that we are unable to unite. It has never been this clear before. A wall appeared clearly before us, and our efforts broke against it. Now all that we need to do is turn to the power of the Light for it to break this wall. And we really can appeal to it.

We must demand correction while studying, especially when reading The Zohar. You can ask and receive an answer right now, right this moment.

Your ego is in the way; you have frozen like a rock: “Who else should I ask? I don’t see a Creator around here.” That’s true, so demand to Him to reveal Himself and make it clear for you to whom and how to ask.

We are egoists and we will not break the Machsom on our own. When egoism becomes an unbreakable wall, we ask the Creator for strength to rise over it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/10, The Zohar, “Introduction to The Zohar

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