Evening Zohar Lesson – 04.21.10

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 346
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Revealing The Creator’s Goodness

Dr. Michael Laitman A question I received: It is written that the Creator, the Upper Light, is good and merciful. Where does this idea come from?

My Answer: In order to reveal the Creator’s kind attitude, a person has to make efforts and carry out great work to correct himself. Then the quality of bestowal (Bina) comes to him. However, this does not mean that if you cry for a while, then the Creator will act like a loving mother and have pity on you, pleasing you in some way. There is a strict law operating here: “One is rewarded in accordance with one’s efforts.”

If we so desire, we will advance along the good path, and if we don’t desire it, then we will face a Third and Fourth nuclear world wars. Our entire program of development depends on how much we oscillate between two paths: Beito (naturally, in due time), and Ahishena (accelerating time). To the extent we follow the program of development, we sweeten our state, and to the extent we don’t, it catches up to us with suffering.

In truth, we don’t understand the meaning of life without suffering. We are used to suffering, disease, and hard work, and we don’t understand what it means to exist in the spiritual world, like an angel, where everything is good, perfect, and harmonious. We have never tasted this, as it is written, “Taste and see how good the Creator is!”

Therefore, we consider life with a bit less suffering than usual to be good. But is it really good if we always have to labor and struggle for our existence? We don’t know what it means to be in the spiritual field, inside the perfect Light. That is why it seems merciful to us when the troubles afflicting us are slightly reduced and we get a short break.

Yet, we have to understand that there is a strict law operating in the world: “I did not change my HaVaYaH.” We will have to work and carry out our entire program, whether in a good way or a bad one. This is entirely up to you; there won’t be any leniency from Above.

It is idol worship to think that the Creator changes. The Creator never changes; He is Absolute. He is perfect, and something that is perfect cannot change either for the better or the worse.

He is good and does good unto the wicked and the righteous, where the latter are those who want to attain Him. It doesn’t matter what state they are in now, good or bad. They will reveal that the Creator is good and kind.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/10, “Peace in the World”

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World Zohar Convention: Bringing The Light To America

World Zohar ConventionA question I received: We have the World Zohar Convention that’s going to be meeting the second weekend of May. What makes this convention so different from the past conventions considering both the time we are in now and what we are being taught this time?

My Answer: We have already had many conventions.  This time it is very unique because first of all we’ve grown a lot; many people are beginning to hear about us. We’ve reached a point where people realize that they’re not really capable of exiting this global crisis. We reached a global crisis in every human engagement. Now we see that everything is broken: Family, education, the relationships between people, the way we relate to nature, to the ecology and our economy, the industry and what it does, even a person himself. This crisis is really global.

This state is actually a good state which we had to reach because only from this point of crisis can we find the point from which we can ascend to a really good life. Not just a good life here in this world but eternal life, a life of feeling and sensing the Upper World where we even transcend the point of life and death in our current perception and feeling of life. We actually rise above this feeling of life within the body.

It is not just getting out of the crises, it is acquiring a life that is essentially, fundamentally different then what we experience now. All of this is done by a very unique Upper Force that is hidden in The Zohar.

Everyone has heard about The Zohar. People have heard that it is some sort of special, unique book, a hidden book, or a book that contains secrets. People have heard about The Book, but in general, people are still just talking about it; they don’t really know what it is.

Today, we have the opportunity to actually use The Zohar; to use the power that it gives us; to raise ourselves above this crisis, to raise all the people from the situation they’re in whether it’s depression, or problems with children, problems with health, education, ecology, or the economy- everything that happens.

All of this can be corrected only by this Upper Force that is within The Zohar. This is why I am very happy that soon there will be a great  World Zohar Convention in America.

You know, “Zohar” literally translated means Light. And I hope that as a result of this meeting, of this conference, we can really bring the Light to all of America.

From an Interview with the Learning Center Director 4/5/10

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Your Spiritual "Account" Is Always Growing

Building the Third TempleA question I received: What is the meaning of the law, “Nothing disappears in spirituality?” Does it mean that no matter how far away we move from the impure desires, Klipot, they still remain with us?

My Answer: We must discern: In what regard is it written that nothing disappears in spirituality? This law means that all the corrections we perform are saved. Thus, they accumulate, even though they disappear from our field of vision. It seems like I don’t have anything left from what I did yesterday. I went inside a treasure trove and left with a cupful of gold, but it was taken away from me. I was left with nothing! But now I’m told, “Come back in and start filling it anew!”

However, in spirituality, nothing disappears. Later on I will reveal that everything I went through was accumulated in my “account.” Thus, “nothing disappears” means that corrections or actions of bestowal do not disappear.

We talk about this because people think that everything they attained, disappears. Yesterday I was successful and felt wonderful. I felt a force driving me forward and felt love for my friends, but today I am empty and feeble. Yet, I have to believe that nothing disappears in spirituality; everything remains!

On the other hand, this entire world and all our successes in it do not really exist. They only appear to exist in order to enable us to find out what bestowal and love are, starting from the opposite quality.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Life On A Blazing Volcano

Laitman_188A question I received: First there was an earthquake in China, then a plane crash, and now everyone is talking about the volcano erupting in Iceland which left all of Europe covered in volcanic ash. There’s a feeling that we’ve entered a streak of global catastrophes.

My Answer:
Tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions are natural phenomena. However, everything that happens depends on human beings or, rather, on our alignment with the Creator, on our balance with nature. Since we’re becoming more and more egoistic, we’re interrupting the balance of nature’s forces more and more. This is why we feel the negative influence of nature in us and on us.

The consequences of the spiritual imbalance of forces that we create are unknown. Our opposition to nature, the Creator, is revealed on all levels (inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking) of nature. An eruption can occur anywhere since we’re living on a burning volcano. Our entire planet is a fire ball covered by a thin layer of the Earth’s crust; there’s a blazing volcano within.

These occurrences are a slight hint at the fact that we’re not taking care of our home, the Earth. Human beings need to bring the forces of nature into balance. The science of Kabbalah discloses to us how to do this.

However, at the present time, humanity doesn’t want to realize that everything that’s happening is a consequence of our own qualities and that everything depends on us. If our imbalance with nature intensifies, more serious problems will occur.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, Article “The Freedom”

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Efforts Yield Revelation

Laitman_041_02Revelation is a result of efforts. When we read The Zohar, we only need to exert effort. By trying to discern the properties The Zohar is talking about within ourselves, we penetrate toward a more inner screen within us, toward a deeper picture of the world. This is where the revelation of the Creator occurs.

Personal interpretation and commentaries of the text do not bring revelation. To feel a new world within, to interpret The Zohar internally, in sensations, a person needs to direct himself toward an increasingly inner state when reading the text.

A more internal state means that a person connects the text with his internal properties to a greater degree. He sees them in himself; he discovers that every word points to a property or action within him such as the “twelve tribes,” “Jacob,” a “desert,” and a “well.” As a result of his efforts, he reveals their true meaning.

This is why Kabbalah is called “Torah Emet” or the true Torah. Such understanding of the text cannot be conveyed in words. Rather, it can be revealed only within a person, in his new properties which appear as a result of efforts.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, The Zohar

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"Six Thousand Souls" Is The Required Measure For Spiritual Revelation

measure No one knows how much more work we will have to do in order to realistically see the new, corrected world. But the results of our work can already be seen by the awakening of the nation of Israel. As a result of this awakening, there will be great, qualitative changes and people will begin to feel the spiritual reality. But to achieve this, we will have to attain a common might called “six thousand souls.”

We have to achieve this might in quantity and in force, meaning according to the amount of people aspiring to the spiritual goal, as well as the might of their undertsanding, the connection between them, and the importance they attribute to this. As soon as we achieve this might of “six thousand souls,” the spiritual world will be revealed to us. This constitutes the goal of disseminating Kabbalah: to have as many people join this movement as necessary to reach “the first stop” in the spiritual world, which is the spiritual revelation.

When we unite together with this force and this quantity, where the quantity multiplied by the quality will give us the necessary might (P=UxI – power equals pressure times the force of electricity), then a spiritual vessel emerges, in which the Creator becomes revealed. Then, everyone who participates in this common vessel will feel the revelation of spirituality. This is called the revelation of the Creator to the creatures.

It depends only in the importance that we attribute to spirituality in relation to corporeality. We are already building this common vessel of revealing the Creator, but until we complete it, we won’t be able to discover it. It will become expressed in our sensations, along with the Creator inside it.

From the Independence Day lecture 04/20/10, “Preface to the Book of Zohar”

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"Isra-El" Is Responsible For The Whole World

determine A question I received: What does it practically mean “To value the inner part of me more than the external part?” Baal HaSulam writes that this is necessary in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar.”

My Answer: To value the inner part of you means to respect your mission and responsibility to attain mutual bestowal and to unite together “as one man with one heart” through brotherly love, for the sake of revealing the Creator, the general force of bestowal and love that rules in nature. This has to be the most important thing to a person. We are talking about the Upper Force of bestowal, which fills everything, but which we don’t feel because we nullify its manifestation with our egoism. The right intention for us to have is for this force to become revealed within us to the fullest extent.

I make a simple calculation: that this is the only thing that is important to me in this life. This is why I was born and what I live for. This is what I have to achieve as long as I live in this world. In addition, all of humanity depends on the work I do in this regard, because we are all connected together inside one net.

Baal HaSulam writes that “a person from the nation of Israel,” meaning a person who has a point in the heart (Isra-El means the aspiration to the Creator) determines the direction and state of the whole world with his intention. He can say, “I don’t want anything right now. I’m in a state of descent so leave me alone. I don’t want to hear about spiritual work. I’m going to rest!” In that case, where is his responsibility and the understanding that there are millions and billions of people who depend on him? He is now determining their fate and how they will advance toward correction – whether through painful blows or through realization and goodness.

If these people depend on you, then you have a very strict responsibility to make the right choice because you are leading everyone, be it in a good direction or a bad one. You have no choice about the matter; this is how the worldwide network is built and this is the place you have been allotted in it. Therefore, you must always be in a state of upper fear and remember that you decide what will happen to the whole world.

Later you will reveal that all the people are your children, the closest thing to you! But you have to think this way even now, by faith above reason. Everything that you do is not being done to you, but to the whole world!

How important we deem spirituality directly determines the fate of all humanity. What’s important for us will be important for everyone else. That is the structure of this entire system, in which we are connected with strict connections. A person without a point in the heart does not have the ability to change anything. Only you do, who are called “Isra-El,” or “Li-Rosh” (I am the head).

From the Independence Day lecture 04/20/10, “Preface to the Book of Zohar”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.21.10

Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #29 “When Thoughts Come to a Person
A person has to continuously elevate the importance of the spiritual goal above the ever-arising thoughts and desires.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 324
The disturbances appear only for the purpose of keeping me from being content with my current situation.
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Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 85, Lesson 30
All of my desires will be realized when I learn to use them in accordance with the laws of nature; that is with an altruistic intention.
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Peace in the World,” Lesson 1 
The correction process occurs in stages: With each step I reveal only what I’m able to attach to unity.
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The Light Of The Future

Laitman_039I read The Zohar and wish to penetrate into its inner picture. What desires and qualities are these? I want to erase this material, dreamed-up world, this imaginary picture completely. I want to imagine the true picture instead. What would I see if there were this revelation right now? I want to aspire to it like a child that wants to be a grown-up. Then, I will see the connection of qualities and desires within me, rather than these corporeal images.

With this aspiration, I rouse the Light that Reforms that equalizes me to the Creator. I don’t need to think about this Light; the aspiration to see the true picture awakens it. Really, there is no "Light that Reforms;" there is only an advanced picture of the world in the next, higher degree, which in comparison to me right now, is called the Light. If I am impressed by a more inner picture, this is called the Light in relation to the present picture.

We perceive the Light as a special stimulation in the desire. We record the Light with letters in the same manner that we record desires. "I aspire to the Light," means that I aspire to a more advanced state of bestowal. This is what the Light is for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, The Zohar

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