Change Yourself And Everything Will Change

Dr. Michael Laitman A question I received: If I am surrounded by parts of my own soul, why can’t I force them to awaken to spirituality?

My Answer: There can be no coercion of this sort; there is no coercion in spirituality. Those surrounding you are not parts of your soul yet. If you already felt them as your own, then you would become connected to them and awaken them.

The awakening would come from your love. Currently, you want to awaken them due to your egoism, by force, using your power. This is forbidden to do! When you correct yourself and begin to love your neighbor like yourself, your view will change. You will see that everyone else is corrected, and you will not want to change anything by force at all.

Evening Zohar Lesson – 03.25.10

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shmot,” Item 246
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Everything Is Pictured In Our Qualities

Dr. Michael Laitman The Zohar, Chapter “VaYaera (And the Lord Appeared),” Item 94: Of course he [Abraham] saw them, since they came down to earth in the form of people. They were certainly holy spirits, but when they come down to the world, they clothe in air and in elements of cover and wrapping and seem to people precisely in their form.

There are different ways to interpret this. We perceive reality in the desire to receive pleasure. Everything that we perceive as existing is the desire to receive pleasure that is manifested in matter. What does it mean that it’s “manifested in matter”? It means that reality is perceived in those senses in which I exist on my level.

To perceive beyond this level requires changing one’s properties. I perceive the Light in my desire to the extent of my similarity to the Light. It depicts various images and forms for me. What does it mean that, now, I exist in this world? It means that the Light shines in my properties and what I observe in them is my reality.

If the Light shines for me more and my properties change, I will rise to a higher level which is higher in quality and closer to the Light. By shining in my more corrected and improved properties, the Light will give me the perception of the upper rung or the Upper World. Everything is pictured in a person’s properties.

The Rules Of “The Game”

Dr. Michael Laitman A question I received: What are the rules of the “game” the Creator “plays” with a person to advance one to spirituality?

My Answer: The only rule of the “game” is that the Creator has a singular intention: to bring us closer to Him. In this “game,” the Creator presents us with different circumstances all with the aim of drawing us closer to Him.

The Creator purposefully grows our egoistic desires. At this point, we start to feel “merciless,” confused, and hard-hearted. We feel that the whole world is against us, that everybody around us hates us, and wants to get in our way. We feel tired, bewildered, and even sick. In other words, we sense a lot of “obstacles” that are both inner and outer in nature. Yet, in fact, these obstacles are the additions of egoistic desires; we’re simply receiving additional desires to receive pleasure for ourselves through which we obtain further opportunities to become closer to the Creator.

Usually, these opportunities come to us along with unexpected complications and problems. Typically, they are accompanied by inexplicable fears. We become scared of the people around us and/or of the authorities. The Creator is clothed in these situations and images that look like the realms of our world. People interpret these situations like children who are afraid of the whole world around them. In these circumstances, it is crucial to use the books, lessons, and our environment and group to strengthen ourselves.

We have to always keep one thought in mind: “There is none else besides Him” and “He is good that does good.” It is challenging to maintain this thought. The Creator’s game is far too artful and skillful for us to “out play” Him. He knows how to confuse us at our level to such an extent that we need to apply a lot of effort in order to stay on our Path and to rid ourselves of any thought that there is any other force beside Him in this world.

Building Our Spiritual Incubator

Dr. Michael Laitman We cannot abide without the wisdom of Kabbalah that puts us directly across from the Creator. It explains how to study Him, how to build an incubator for our development, and how to employ the data from nature. We need this wisdom because we can’t create something from nothing; rather, we have to organize the forces given to us by nature.

If we don’t do it on our own the Creator helps us. If we don’t build the environment (the incubator for our development) using certain forces as we need to, the Creator shows us, but He does so from the opposite side. In this way, He demonstrates to us that our relationships with these forces are deceptive and false.

The Creator builds an incubator for us, but from our perspective, it looks broken. As we start to reveal its structure, we see that it is our attitude that is broken, not the incubator. The incubator is fine. As soon as we change our attitude, it begins to work; it takes good care of us and provides us the chance to become future “nestlings.” Its operation depends on our participation. This state is opposite to prior inanimate, vegetative and animate stages during which nature worked, not us.

At this time, we have to make our own investigations and research and voluntarily launch this system. In other words, we build a mechanism that replaces the Creator! If we succeed, we become similar to Him! We continue the work that He purposefully left unfinished for us to finish. I construct this machine with the help of the forces He gave us; I am the one who builds the Creator and thus becomes more knowledgeable and understanding, similar to Him.

The Creator (the Light that Reforms), the surroundings, the teacher, and the Kabbalah books (anything that enhances our spiritual development) become our spiritual incubator. It should be optimally organized to let the Creator take care of us and bring us to the perfect state, which means that He alters us to become similar to Him. This process becomes an incubator for spiritual nestlings; this is how we should treat our souls.

Why Was The City Of Sodom Destroyed?

Dr. Michael Laitman A question I received: Why was Sodom destroyed? Its laws seemed to be just. Everybody received what they were due.

My Answer: In Sodom, everybody stayed to himself. “Leave me alone, stay away! I give you nothing, you give me nothing. Then we won’t have any conflicts. Everybody is by himself. Everything is fair and just. You got a problem? Take it up with the Creator. But leave me alone!” The citizens of Sodom had turned this into religion. But, in and of themselves, the laws were not bad.

In contrast, the state of the world today is far worse than Sodom was. Now, not only is everyone separate unto themselves, everybody wants to destroy, steal from, and use everybody else. This was not the case in Sodom. The city’s laws stated, “Don’t be good to others, but don’t cause harm either. You’re forbidden to even wish harm to others in your thoughts!”

Sodom’s only flaw was that its laws prevented people from uniting, “Do whatever you want, but don’t get close to others.” This means don’t connect with others. It also prohibits waging war; however, war, too, is a kind of connection or, as in a breaking, a kind of interpenetration.

A breaking is no longer a state of “Sodom” but rather “Jerusalem.” When the broken parts of Bina and Malchut connect to one another, they can be corrected. However, Sodom cannot be corrected because there is no mutual connection. It can’t receive the qualities of Bina, and therefore, it simply must be destroyed. It is forbidden to touch these parts of the desire to enjoy that can’t mix with others, which as result cannot be corrected.

Sodom’s ideology is incredibly strong. In today’s world, we can bring it out, explain it to people, and they would understand and wish to follow it; however, it’s flawed in that it doesn’t allow the mixing of the parts of the broken soul, the qualities of Bina and Malchut, which is necessary for the next phase of correction.

Gaining Access To The Main Source Of Energy

truemiracle Every person in this world is governed from within by two forces: egoism and altruism. The egoistic force pulls everything inside a person, making him the center of the universe, while the altruistic force enables him to give to the outside, to other people.

However, even though this force is called altruistic, it’s clear that with the boundaries of this world, it, too, can only act egoistically. Thus, even if I give to another person, it is not a selfless act; I still expect to receive something in return. I don’t have any possibility of giving without compensation being the motivation or “fuel” for my act.

This is how man is built: he’s a machine that can only work on egoistic fuel, the benefit he expects to receive. I cannot work as an eternal engine, Perpetuum Mobile, without receiving any energy and satisfaction from outside. I have to receive energy from outside because I’m not the sun that shines with its own light.

Only the Creator possesses the true quality of bestowal since this is His nature. In order for creation to be able to bestow selflessly, it has to receive fuel from the Creator in the form of the sensation of the Creator’s greatness. This is the only opportunity to attain bestowal – to use the Creator as the source of the driving energy.

This constitutes the whole problem of the communists, socialists, kibbutzniks, and altruists of all kinds who desire to correct the world: they don’t understand that man does not have the energy to bestow. He does not have the fuel to implement this idea. Not one person will object to the fact that life will be better if everyone becomes altruists. But the problem is, no one knows how to make this happen; no one besides Kabbalists, that is, because they have access to the Source of energy!

The Spiritual Liver, Heart, And Brain

Dr. Michael Laitman A question I received: Why does a liver in spirituality correspond to the state of an embryo when there are more important organs, such as the brain and the heart?

My Answer: An embryo represents the smallest desires, which are just beginning to develop. They are also called “liver.”

When these desires develop further and become bigger, they are called “the heart.” When they develop even more, they are called “the brain.”

This is always the same ten Sefirot, which become revealed in a more developed, deeper, richer, and more complex form, following the sequence: liver -> heart -> brain.

Their material branches in our world also possess the same qualities. For example, you might sever a liver, but even if a part of it remains, the liver will always be restored and grow. Doctors say that it is similar to a snake: You can cut off its tail and it will grow back. That’s because a liver corresponds to the first level, called “inanimate” or Nefesh.

You can’t do the same thing with the heart because it already corresponds to a completely different level – Ruach. This organ is already independent; while a liver, on the other hand, nullifies itself and carries out its work mechanically. In contrast, the heart works autonomously, participating on its own, and therefore it belongs to the level of Ruach.

The brain is even more advanced and belongs to the degree of Neshama (soul); it is connected to spirituality. The brain does not act by simply submitting to its nature, like the liver or the heart. Rather, it is connected to the Upper Level. In other words, it receives instructions and nourishment from spirituality, working as a receptor for spiritual information.

This is also evident from looking at the activity of the organs. The liver cleanses the blood, and blood belongs to the inanimate level. That is the liver’s function: to cleanse the body of waste, or to function as a “janitor.”

The heart already provides the whole body with the force of life and movement. That is why it’s called Ruach – the spirit of life. However, this is still not life itself, but only its spirit. Life itself comes from the soul – Neshama.

The First And Second Restrictions

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: How does a person feel the transition from the state of the Second restriction (Tzimtzum Bet) to the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph)?

My answer: We tend to think that the Second Restriction with its work in the three lines is more complicated. However, in the state of the Second Restriction, it’s crystal clear to what extent one can or cannot use a desire, and how much one needs to annul himself.

In contrast, the First Restriction seems deceivingly simplistic. It seemingly involves only the desire, the Light, and a screen, that is, me and the Creator, where I am a guest and He is the host. But this holds only if one comes from above downward and has the strength. It’s similar to a situation when you have plenty of money (strength), come to a restaurant, and order without checking the price. This is called the First Restriction.

However, we are not in such a corrected state yet. Our desires are not corrected to the extent where everything is laid open in front of us. Being under the conditions set forth by the Second Restriction, we weigh constantly how much to take, what to take, and why. It’s similar to a situation when you come to a supermarket with 20 dollars in your pocket and you have to get groceries to feed the family. So you go around checking the prices and evaluating what you need most.

This is how we act while, on our path of correction from below upward. We don’t have the strength, and we welcome any opportunity to move toward bestowal. In this way, we gradually expand the forces of bestowal.

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 03.25.10

Preparation to the Lesson – Shamati #71 “My Soul Shall Weep in Secret”
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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “VaYaera (And The Lord Appeared),” Item 307
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“Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Item 56, Lesson 18
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Article – “The Individual And The Nation,” Lesson 8
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