Entries in the 'Spirituality' Category

Circulation And Spiritual Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I work on connecting with the friends in the group beyond the work on Kabbalah circulation?

Answer: Circulation has absolutely nothing to do with spiritual connection between us. It is a burden we have accepted as our duty so as to serve the world on the corporeal level. Obviously, it is desirable that dissemination were done solely by our people since they can infuse it with the spiritual spark, but in principle, we can recruit outsiders for it as well.

As to spirituality, it is defined as our unity above the level of egoism or our climbing the spiritual degrees by acting above reason. There is no other possibility. This work is not related to dissemination; it is personal and available to everyone, even if the person lives in Alaska in complete isolation.

True circulation is spreading one’s desire for connection and love in the entire network of connections between the souls.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/10, “The Matter of Above Reason”

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The Spiritual Contactor

Dr. Michael LaitmanSpirituality exists not in some distance space but is concealed among our egoistic relationships. As soon as we manage to connect, at the point of contact between us, we will uncover spirituality; the entire system will start working; the Light will be revealed, and it will create a spiritual image in you.

This is exactly what we should be thinking while reading The Book of Zohar.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, The Zohar

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Freedom From The Angel Of Death

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen I develop my point in the heart into a whole spiritual vessel, within it, I begin to sense the concealed part of reality. That is when I begin to truly identify myself with this newly revealed part of the universe. I feel that I live in this new dimension and receive a greater impression from it than from the corporeal world.

I begin to perceive sensations in my spiritual body, the soul, much more strongly than corporeal sensations (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch). And even if my body dies, I do not feel it as a loss for I now sense a much more powerful reality, one that is eternal and perfect.

This is what we must come to. This is why it is said that the Torah “frees from the angel of death.” To the degree that we rise above our “undertaker” (our egoistic desire), we free ourselves from the very notion of corporeal death.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/10, Kabbalah Learning Approach

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The Binding Force Of Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When I have a connection with someone in our world, I feel either love or hate, but what happens in a spiritual connection? What does the revelation of the Creator feel like?

Answer: Spiritual phenomena are bestowal. These relationships are reciprocal connections of bonding, love, and mutual inclusion into each other. We build a connection of unity and love between us, and then we reveal the Light that was previously concealed within this connection.

This Light corrects our connections, shapes them, and builds a “place” or a “desire to bestow” out of them. Then we reveal an even greater opportunity to bestow in this “place,” and the main force of the universe, the Creator, becomes revealed in the opportunity to bestow.

But all of this happens in the same place, within our unity, and the Creator becomes clearer each time to the extent of our new property of bestowal and love.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “600,000 Souls”

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The Sum Of All Feelings

Dr. Michael LaitmanI think I feel something, but in reality I don’t have any individual feelings. Each feeling is a sum of the feelings of all souls, all of Infinity. This is called the spiritual vessel.

The spiritual vessel does not belong to me personally; it is what we reveal between us. As to what I discover within myself, it is regarded as the animate degree, and Kabbalah doesn’t talk about it. Each of us is an animal. But the way we connect with each other is exactly what is called spiritual connection. In spirituality, only the connection between us is what counts.

This connection is broken; nonetheless, it belongs in spirituality. This is why we are able to arrange a comfortable animate life for ourselves though it has nothing to do with spirituality. Spirituality starts with the discernment of our mutual connection.

It’s not just any connection, but the one that is aimed at the revelation of the Creator. I desire to know the Creator. Therefore, I discern that I need other people since from love of others we arrive at love of the Creator. This is the sole reason why the Creator broke our souls.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “600,000 Souls”

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Where Is My Soul?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the material world, everyone has a body with its fulfillments. We are separated from each other by biological bodies, and psychologically, each of us perceives themselves as an individual personality.

In spirituality, everything is constantly changing by going from one state to another; the Light and the vessel are always different. We “clothe” in a certain state and name ourselves in accordance with it as actors who change costumes for new roles. It is as if we are in a science fiction movie where we play a variety of characters.

There is no such notion as a “private, permanent soul” that exists autonomously, climbs the ladder, and preserves its individuality. It’s hard for us to understand how our "self" disappears. For example, it is said in the article “600,000 Souls” that each person who corrects his soul will uncover Malchut to the world and will be named King David.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Descent? Baloney!

Dr. Michael LaitmanAs a person climbs the spiritual ladder, he simultaneously descends into his ego. Suppose I have discerned and corrected only the thinnest, surface layer of my desire. At this level, I have connected with the group, realized the importance of the goal, and drew the Light that Reforms onto myself. However, in order to ascend to the first spiritual degree (one of 125), I need to undergo two more stages.

The second layer of desire is revealed to me finally, and here, I am much worse or “coarser.” Here, I condemn, ignore, deny, and despise. Compared to this state, I was previously as a little child; now, I am being rejected more strongly. What for? It is done to provide me with an opportunity to attain greater unity and draw stronger Upper Light.

Descent

This is how I advance time after time, disclosing greater and greater egoism. No matter how high a person may rise, the evil inclination always precedes him. He is prepared for it, of course. Yet, during the descent, nothing helps, and he falls into “minus Infinity.”

In truth, descent is not really a descent, but a state of ascent that you are not yet ready for. It is as if you are transferred into the championship team because your coach knows that you have the capacity to join the top players. The necessary conditions are provided for you. Now, you just have to exert your best effort and take your position next to them as an equal.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/22/10, “The Agenda of the Assembly”

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Finding The Most Sacred Thing In The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanAfter studying in a Kabbalistic group for a number of years, a person arrives at a realization that in order to advance further, he needs a “foreign” force. It takes a person several years to reach the feeling that alone he is incapable of attaining the revelation of the spiritual world, the Creator. At the beginning one wants to advance through learning the knowledge of the wisdom of Kabbalah and therefore he strives to study more. Later he wants to advance by participating in dissemination, thinking that he will attain what he desires through force and power.

A person associates his spiritual advancement with everything else except acquiring the desire to bestow. Nevertheless, he goes through a process of spiritual development while studying in the group and the Light influences him, causing questions to arise: “What will happen to me? Will I ever acquire the quality of bestowal?” Gradually bestowal gains more importance in his eyes.

He gradually begins to feel that bestowal is very valuable and cannot be attained through anything in this world. He sees that those who have attained bestowal have something so precious that nothing can exceed its value. And all of these realizations result from the influence of the Light. Once a person feels this, he comes to agree with all of the group’s conditions so they will become his guarantors in acquiring the quality of bestowal. That is when a person is ready to form an alliance with them.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/10, “A Transgression Does Not Put Out A Mitzva”

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Why Are We Still In The Dark?

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe spiritual world will become revealed only if you demand this revelation through the group during the study. You want to feel the Giver, the Basis, the single Root of everything. However, you should only desire this through the group, through bestowal, according to the law of equivalence of form when you are ready for it.

Even if you still don’t understand what you’re asking for, the Light gradually does its work. When you demand it, the Light acts more and more strongly until the spiritual sensation ignites inside you and becomes clearer.

Then you will see that the spiritual reality exists. The reason for the concealment is the lack of concentration and importance.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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What Lies Beyond The Horizon?

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt first Nukva does not have a desire to receive the Light because it is just a point in relation to Zeir Anpin (it is behind Zeir Anpin’s chest). But then Nukva starts to grow and to receive the Light in order to build its desires (vessels, Kli). The Light comes from Zeir Anpin to Nukva, and thus Nukva builds itself up by virtue of its connection with Zeir Anpin.

They connect “back to back,” at which time Nukva goes through its formation, the formation of its screen or the forms of bestowal that Zeir Anpin teaches it. By adopting these forms, Nukva acquires more desire and force and is then able to become befitting and similar to Zeir Anpin. Nukva becomes Zeir Anpin‘s “wife,” and they (creation and the Creator) unite “face to face” where she receives fulfillment from Him.

However, creation can never become the Creator. It has to become similar and equal to Him! One thing cannot become another; it can only become similar to it. This is sufficient, and we don’t have a need for anything more!

We don’t know what will happen afterward, after the final correction, Gmar Tikkun. Right now it’s impossible for anyone to imagine this. Possibly, when we get there we will reveal completely new possibilities, similar to how a person in our world is now suddenly beginning to reveal the spiritual world, making this entire world of ours seem like a tiny grain of sand compared to the spiritual universe that is opening up before him.

That is how enormous the spiritual world appears to a person in his impressions, sensations, fulfillments, and attainments. It’s as if a person is born anew and perceives everything that happened to him in the past as nothingness. It’s even smaller than a drop of semen compared to a grown-up person because that drop belongs to the same material world and it already contains all of the information about the future person; all it has to do is develop. In contrast, something completely new is born in the spiritual world. The spiritual world means a new perception of reality where instead of perceiving egoistically, inside oneself, a person comes out of himself and perceives on the outside.

Perhaps after the end of correction, we will break through to another dimension, which we cannot imagine right now in any way. We can’t even imagine the spiritual world even though we have all kinds of tools to perceive it, including the Torah, religion, and Kabbalistic texts. However, there is absolutely no evidence of what will happen after the end of correction. Kabbalists do not say even one word to give us a hint about this. They only tell us about the path of correction, but no one talks about what will happen after we become equal to the Creator.

The Zohar strictly confines our research to just the matter and the form clothed in matter. We cannot ask about the abstract form and the essence because we do not have the instruments with which to research them in order to receive the answer.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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