Envy, Honor And The Environment

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe don’t have any other means for advancement, any other leverage that helps us move forward but the influence of the environment. If I am entirely, fully focused within myself, what force can possibly direct me in the opposite direction, from within myself, outside? I don’t possess any such powers. All of my powers work “for me,” “for my benefit.” How can I fashion an opposite action “for the sake of the other”? Where can such a power of nature come from?

For this, our soul has been divided into two parts: I and the surroundings, the world. The only freedom we have is to choose what’s more important. If you want to reach spirituality, you have to organize your environment so that it takes precedence over you. In reality, it’s not the external environment, but your soul, your AHP, the “garments” and “house” of your soul’s Kli, which are only seemingly outside of you.

Envy and honor attract you to a certain environment, to the parts of your soul, so you can organize these parts artificially in order for them to influence you.

From our level, we have been given this psychological approach. Yet internally, it is a spiritual approach. I connect with the desires (Kelim) that allegedly surround me, and use my feelings of envy and honor. In doing so, I essentially draw these desires back to myself so that they become connected with me and define my system of values.

What is the source of envy and honor then? It is the breaking of the souls into two parts: I and my world. By desiring to use “help against him,” against my ego, I engage these external desires of mine so they influence me in return.

Consequently we discover that we work with ourselves, with our desires, with our properties and this is how it has been set up from the beginning. But without organizing the environment, the other force that is capable of taking me “by the ear” and directing me toward my true desires (the soul) is not present, and it will never be revealed.

There is no other force in the world but the environment. Suffering can only make us more sensitive and urge us to find the solution. Yet the solution will be the same: to put yourself under the influence of the environment.

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The Method of Spiritual Birth

Dr. Michael LaitmanHow can we achieve eternity and perfection? It’s achieved according to the law of equivalence of form. If the Light and the desire are opposite to one another, then the Light annuls the desire. However, if they’re equal, they support one another, and we feel that they both exist. That’s what we call eternal life. Achieving it is precisely the purpose of the science of Kabbalah.

In order to bring us to the state similar to that of the Creator, to the ability to live forever and perceive our true reality, we must undergo a process of corrections. All these corrections come down to making the desire to receive pleasure similar to the Light and to begin observing the law of equivalence of form.

Herein lies the entire correction. Either we are opposite to the Creator as we were originally created, or we gradually achieve equivalence with Him. We correct ourselves until the Light and the desire join together. At that moment, we are born into the spiritual world.

This method of correction is called the science of Kabbalah (in Hebrew, the word “Kabbalah” means reception). It’s the science of receiving the Light into the desire so that it won’t disappear and we would feel true, everlasting reality. Indeed, this wisdom is great and not at all simple. We really don’t understand how this can be achieved. Yet, although we don’t realize it, this is our innermost desire and the purpose of our existence. Subconsciously, we’re always searching for it.

There’s a phase when we first make contact with the Light and perceive it in our desire. The Light remains within us, and we begin to feel life as eternal, and don’t part with the Light within us. This phase or spiritual birth is called the exodus from Egypt.

Before then, we must remain in Egyptian exile, in the preparatory phase to the spiritual birth or redemption. That’s why we devote so much attention to studying the phases which we must undergo while in the Egyptian exile. We want to realize our exodus as soon as possible using all the means prepared for us by Kabbalists throughout history.

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The Law of Equivalence of Form [04:09]

Now A New King Arose Over Egypt

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter "Shemot (Exodus)," Item 250: For fear that they would mingle the tribes with the rest of the nations… He exiled them to Egypt, who were proud and despised and loathed Israel. And they were there until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and they came to their own land, for there was no longer fear of mingling with the rest of the nations.

How do we draw closer to the desired state when we build the middle line within ourselves? The middle line which is our similarity to the Light, to the One who bestows, or the Creator happens precisely due to the state called "the Egyptian Exile" that becomes revealed within us.

My egoistic desire becomes so big that I feel that I am locked in it and that it controls me. Then, I begin to discern between myself and my nature, between myself and my egoism, or between myself and my properties.

I would like to change my properties, but I’m incapable of doing that. I see that they harm me; I realize that I corrupt myself, my life, the lives of those who are close to me, and the entire world. I put myself and everyone else in danger because I exist in this endlessly growing egoism that I can’t temper. Yet I’m unable to do anything with it.

Then, there comes a state where a person begins to realize that the force acting in him is an alien force. He doesn’t identify himself with it any longer. He begins to perceive it as his bitter enemy. This is called, "Now a new king arose over Egypt” (Exodus, 1:8). A person begins to feel that a new dominion has been revealed, and that this is not him but someone else who sets up all this for him. It could be Nature or the Creator, but it’s not him. He doesn’t know how to free himself from it.

As if from the side, a person now sees his desire to receive pleasure as something alien to him. He begins to discern the Creator as the one Who organizes all of this for him. He already has the same attitude both to the Pharaoh and to the Creator.

He then experiences an internal split, the realization that there exists the Upper Force which determines everything that happens with him. However, this revelation doesn’t happen on its own, but only after multiple hours of study, uniting with friends in the group, and working in dissemination during which the person is practically engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.02.10

Preparation to the Lesson
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Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, Item 936
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 6, Part 15, Item 30
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The Book of Zohar – Selections for Passover, Chapter “Beshalach,” Item 298
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The Filter For Desires

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe can’t come into contact with the Light unless we utilize the corrected souls of the Kabbalists and the authentic books that they wrote. The Kabbalists of the past are the owners of the system which delivers the Light to us.

How can a person achieve this contact with the Light considering that it is the most important thing? The Kabbalistic group and books create the contact for him. The books connect one with the system of the corrected souls.Through the group, when one tunes himself correctly to the spiritual goal, he can annul himself and ask for the Light of Correction.

The group serves as a filter for us. If we can put our desire, our appeal through this filter, it means that our appeal is correct. It then corresponds to the Upper system of the corrected souls and it will deserve the answer from Above.

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Talk: “Perceiving the Desires”