Everything Depends On Every One Of Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhy don’t we gather only those around the world who belong to the most active part called “600,000 souls” and work on their spiritual correction? Why worry about the rest? It is because today we must be in the general, integral flow from the very beginning.

We see that global cataclysms are affecting the whole world and there is a general awakening. All the phenomena are starting to be so connected and related to everyone that it forces us to worry about the general organism.

The general, full, spiritual redemption (Geula) is the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah among all the nations, and for this reason all parts of the common soul must help the other. Some of them do it by attaining mutual guarantee, another part supports them, and there are many other circles.

The active part called “Israel” must be the first to complete its correction in order for this wisdom to then spill over to the whole world. However, the rest of the world must also help this part accomplish this because we thereby accelerate our path. The choice between the path of Light and the path of suffering does not depend only on those who have a point in the heart. We see in practice how mutual help influences everyone and strengthens all of us.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/11/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Kabbalah Moments: Sharpening The Intention

The Prayer Before The Prayer

Dr. Michael LaitmanDon’t blame the Creator if your spiritual progress is very slow and unnoticeable! We must first and foremost reveal the desire inside ourselves. Without it we will not be able to feel a change in our states.

If I don’t feel the spiritual world yet, it means I still don’t want it! It is here, right next to me, but I don’t want to see it and that is why I don’t reveal it. There are no presents from Above. How I reveal the spiritual world depends only on me and my desire. As soon as my desire grows and reaches the level of the next, higher spiritual world, I immediately reveal it. But if I don’t feel a need for it, then I can’t reveal it.

Everything is up to a person. Our only task is to influence each other in order to discern our desire correctly. We may be yelling and burning with desire, but it’s a desire for the wrong thing, both in quantity and quality.

What we need is a clearly discerned desire where the most important thing is the quality of the desire: What exactly do I want, rather than how much I want it. In spirituality the quantity is not important, only the quality is. We call the quality of a spiritual desire, “force.“ The force of a desire in spirituality is defined by how sharp and precise it is and what exactly it is aimed at. This requires constant worry to make sure that your desire has the right direction.

If you ask people how they imagine spirituality and what they desire, you will get a different answer from every person. This can only be discerned by working in the group and using help from the Light which we all attract together during the study because we understand that for now we don’t have the right desire for bestowal and faith. Therefore, we want the Light to come and explain it to us, to show us examples and create a desire in us! This is called a necessity without a necessity, the prayer before the prayer.

However, once a person is brought to the group, from then on everything is up to him.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/11/10, “You Should Always Discern Between Torah and Work”

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Kabbalah For Beginners “Nation” – 08.11.10

Kabbalah TV Channel 66’s Kabbalah for Beginners, “Nation”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Kabbalah Channel: What Are ESP And Psychic Powers?

A Sandstorm Of Our Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are you saying that the fact that I egoistically use my neighbor right now causes a sandstorm in India?

Answer: Yes! We need to understand that all problems occur due to a lack of connection among us. And this does not mean that by drawing away from you I immediately cause some hurricane that brings sand. However, by being in opposition to you, I bring disparity into the balance of forces in nature.

All the forces of nature exist in unity, interconnection, balance, and universal harmony. That is, except for the human being whose growing egoism and unwillingness to consider others turns us into an active negative element which disrupts the balance of all the forces (of still, vegetative, and animate nature). The solution to the problem is to become an integral part of nature, like all its other parts.

We reveal that the world is in unity and complete interconnection; it exists as a locked system where everyone is connected to each other. This means that we are obliged to unite as “one man with one heart.”

You could object to this and say that we are incapable of this. However, there is the science of Kabbalah and by utilizing it we rouse the force of unification. Humanity will inevitably reach this conclusion, and we are already close to it. If we have already entered this period, from now on everything will occur very quickly.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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A Guide To The Book Of Zohar: Savor The Taste Of Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanExcerpts from my upcoming book, A Guide to The Book of Zohar

In order to feel what is described here, let’s look at the following example: Suppose I visit the home of a very distinguished person. The hospitable host offers me the finest delicacies, invites me to play a round of golf, and to listen to some classical music. However, I am a simple man and have no interest in doing any of that since I have no connection to any of these pleasures. I have never experienced them in my life, and that is why I don’t desire them.

I look at the host in surprise and say, “What do you want from me? I didn’t come here to take pleasure in the things you love. I want to enjoy the things I love!” The host replies, “My dear friend, I want to bestow onto you such awesome pleasures. You cannot even imagine how amazing they are. Try to get accustomed to them a little bit and you will reveal infinite, higher pleasures which are incomparable to the ones you’re used to.”

So, what am I to do? I can trust the host and try to let him teach me new tastes even though I’m not used to them and for that reason am not drawn to them. Gradually, however, I will learn to feel in them a special, heavenly flavor. Or, I can tell the hospitable host, “You know what? It’s hard for me to get used to these new tastes and such difficult conditions and forget all my past habits. I cannot do it. Leave me alone and let me get back to my simple life.” What would the host tell me then? “Sure, go on.”

However, when I get back to my regular life, I begin to experience unpleasant states. That is when I remember the host’s words describing other, higher tastes, so I come back to him. This process may repeat itself several times as I return to my former life and then back to the host.

Ultimately, I will realize that there is no other way: I simply must return to the host so that he could help me replace my tastes with his for good. I know now that I will savor the taste of life in them.

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Faith Above Reason

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat is “faith above reason?” “Faith” is bestowal, and "above reason" means that it is more important than reception. In our state, this property only manifests through my attitude toward the group because only in a group can I clearly see that I prefer the group’s well-being to my own, both in my actions and thoughts.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, “The Importance of Faith that Always Takes Place”

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Before The ARI, The Gates Of Wisdom Were Closed For Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe ARI is a great soul which descended into our world in order to open the gates of wisdom for us. Therefore, as Baal HaSulam writes, from the time of the ARI and onward, everything depends on a person: He has to correct himself and thereby reveal the Creator, come to adhesion with Him, and achieve the purpose of creation. Before the ARI, this door was closed altogether because the souls were not yet ready. They still needed to undergo a certain path of development and to mix together.

The ARI symbolizes the period of the Messiah which is why he is called Messiah son of Joseph. From his time forward, the science of Kabbalah began to acquire the form of a method of correction. Before then, it was intended only for a chosen few and was presented in a special form.

We ought to respect the Kabbalists who were living in Safed at the same time as the ARI as they recognized his greatness and appreciated him. The Ramak was already old, famous, and esteemed, but he went to the ARI’s lessons. He sat there as a student despite the fact that he was twice the ARI’s age and recognized as a great Kabbalist.

Thanks to the Ramak and several other Kabbalists who recognized the ARI’s attainment, the ARI was protected from the opponents of Kabbalah. After all, he had several young (26 year old) students, and the attitude toward Kabbalah at the time was far from positive. We may think that everything was allowed as some people tend to write nowadays, but this was not the case.

In this sense, the ARI’s life is similar to that of the Ramchal who was persecuted for studying Kabbalah and exiled from the ghetto of Padua, Italy where he lived. However, the Gaon of Vilna (Agra) testified to his greatness, and the Ramchal was left alone.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Kabbalists On The Essence Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 20

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and the System of Mussar (Ethics)

Many are mistaken and compare our holy Torah to ethics. But that has come to them because they have never tasted religion in their lives. I call upon them: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

It is true that both ethics and religion aim at one thing—to raise man above the filth of the narrow self-love and bring him to the heights of love-of-others. But still, they are as remote one from the other as the distance between the Thought of the Creator and the thought of people.

For religion extends from the Thoughts of the Creator, and ethics comes from thoughts of flesh and blood and from the experiences of their lives. Hence, there is an evident difference between them, both in practical aspects and in the final aim.
– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose

For the recognition of good and evil that develops in us through ethics, as we use it, is relative to the success of the society.With religion, however, the recognition of good and evil that develops in us, as we use it, is relative to the Creator alone, that is, from the disparity of form from the Maker, to equivalence of form with Him, which is called Dvekut [adhesion].
– Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose

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