My Spiritual Simulator – 09.29.10

Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

Husband And Wife: Where Is The Creator Between Them?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Please elaborate on the type of connection in a family of which it is written: “Husband and wife, and the Creator (Shechina) between them.”

My Answer: This means that I want any connection between the two of us to be actualized through the Upper force, that I wish to regard my spouse as a partner given to me by the Creator. It’s just like Adam asked after his transgression: “Was it not You who had given me this woman?” Therefore, in a man’s attitude toward his wife dwells the Creator, and this is something we will yet reveal.

If a husband and wife are interconnected, this becomes a powerful means for revealing the Creator. It is a great fortune if a person is provided this field of work. And one doesn’t need a lot of time to realize it, only a few minutes a day. The rest of the time he has to devote to the group and the study.

Every connection transpires on its own level, but they are all united in that their sole purpose is to reveal the Creator. With respect to the friends in the group, we want the Creator to dwell among us. Herein lies the purpose in unifying into a group as well as a family. These are the different levels of connection with the same Shechina, and everybody who exists on the other side of Her (my wife, the group, the friends, and the whole world) are, in fact, parts of my own soul.

Regarding a wife, it is written that the Creator took a part of the man’s soul and made a helper against him. Similarly, the entire world is set against me as a result of the breaking as “help against me.” All this is part of my soul as well. Presently, I feel all this as external and separate from me, but thanks to the Shechina and the Creator’s presence, it all merges for me into a single whole. If I draw the Upper Light, the Creator, the middle line, He will unite all of it into one.

If we examine where the deepest and soundest connection is made – between a husband and wife, the friends in the group, all of humanity, or the entire universe – the innermost connection is found between a husband and wife.
[22126]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/28/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Were You Awaiting Salvation?

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter VeYechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 462: Happy are the righteous who are rewarded with that upper light, the illuminating mirror that shines to all sides, to the right and to the left. Each of those righteous receives in his share what he should, meaning receives according to his actions in this world. And there are some who are ashamed by that light of which their friend received more to illuminate.

We want to know all of these details, to understand where they are situated, where the root and the branch of every word and its spiritual quality is. We look for all these gradations of qualities that The Zohar speaks of within ourselves.

Obviously, they are all found only within us, at the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of our desires. We perceive only the reality that exists inside our soul. Even now, we remain inside our soul, inside this Kli (desire); all the phenomena occur in it.

However, alongside this inner search, we must always remain hopeful that the Surrounding Light will influence us and open our eyes. It is not with our reason that we wish to reveal the Upper World, to find all the gradations of its qualities, and to get our bearings in the common soul. Rather, what we want is for the Light of correction to shine upon us. This is referred to as “awaiting salvation.”

It is said that after death the soul “in the heavens” is asked only two questions. “Did you study the Torah (did you draw upon yourself the Light that Reforms)? Were you awaiting salvation (for when this Light will correct you)?” We must always remain in this intention.
[22115]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, The Zohar

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Sustenance During The Time Of Preparation: Tasteless But Nutritious

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I come to a state when I ask and concern myself with one thing only? How do I worry only about finding the place of the Creator’s revelation so as to delight Him and to yearn for it, both in the heart and mind?

Answer: Such a state is superhuman; it is above my nature. I am unable to achieve it, and I want nothing to do with it. I do not foretaste anything I would feel if I were to reveal the Creator. When speaking of preparing a place for Him, of bestowing to Him, I, as if, chase away all possible pleasures, leaving behind only a stale aftertaste.

So how do I change my attitude? After all, the place of the Creator’s revelation needs to exist in my desire. I need to wish for it in my very bones; I need to want to feel the Creator’s delight.

In order to make the object of my concern something opposite to myself, I have to change myself. And the Kabbalists say that there is a force in the world that can do that. But first I must prepare and make the request; I must perform the work that truly depends on me, not something superhuman, but work that is within my reach.

And so I begin the preparation with others like me, via the correct study and environment. Here, every action is within my power. The sensations may not be entirely pleasant, and I may be constantly searching, but I still find the fuel to advance.

I fuel myself with false states, primarily working off envy. When I look at the friends, I get jealous. They are better and smarter than I am. Perhaps some of them are already sensing the spiritual reality. Who knows, I may be sitting next to somebody who’s already there, while I am still mired in ignorance.

If we gather the means that the Kabbalists speak of,  try to apply them to our environment, and rise above reason with the help of envy, then we truly begin to correct the Shechina, the very place in which we will receive the Creator’s revelation for His benefit.

This feat is possible. I must merely carry out as many mechanical, tasteless actions as I can by lowering my head before the environment. In this “submission” to the friends lies the key to success.
[22041]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, “What in the Work, is Israel Who Exiled Divinity, is with Them”

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Not All Means Are Good

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I soften my heart?

My Answer: You can do it by working in the group, through the examples we show one another, and by the Light that we want to draw during the study. There are no other means. Don’t look for means of spiritual advancement where there aren’t any: in psychology, other methods, or sciences. The entire work is done in the group.

There are the friends, and there is the study. The more we realize the advice of the Kabbalists, the more “assets” we will accumulate. There is nowhere to run from the place of the breaking, the place of our interconnection. By locating it, we will reveal the full depth of the spiritual system’s breaking that exists only between us. It is also here, between us, that we must discover unity, the spirit of life, joy, and aspiration toward the goal.

There are no other places to look. The key lies in our mutual aid. I must learn from the examples of others and show them examples in return. We must read about it together. By distracting ourselves in searching for recipes other than what the Kabbalists have left for us, we will only increase our confusion. There are no other means than the books, the teacher, and the friends.

Together, we have to look for the opportunity to reveal our connection or lack thereof, to reveal the need, the mutual guarantee, the energy, mutual support, and the Creator among us. If we focus all our work and fixate ourselves only on this place, we will achieve the result very quickly. Either we surrender and retreat, or we finally make it through this narrow pass and reach the goal.
[21952]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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Correct Yourself, Correct The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”: And when a single soul is purified from all its filth, it will draw onto itself the whole of the soul of Atzilut, and through it, all the souls of its generation will be completed. This is the meaning of one being dependent on the other.

This is the result of complete mutual connection of all souls. Hence, no soul can ascend without taking all souls along with it; its ascent depends on them. It is an integral system where all parts are mutually linked. By correcting itself, every soul corrects its connection with the other souls, thereby bringing them closer to correction as well.

To correct oneself amounts to mending one’s connection with the others. Their individual state remains unchanged; I am only preparing them for corrections that they will later undergo. In fact, I precede them as a previous generation. I establish a connection with them without their awareness or understanding of what I am doing.

I employ the entire system of souls so as to correct the connections within it to the best of my ability. However, the souls who are not yet ready for it cannot understand and feel my actions. They haven’t arrived at correction yet, but I use them in it, and that is called the preparation of sons by the fathers. It is similar to how in our world where we improve the world for the future generation, and our children who come after take advantage of everything that we have prepared for them.

We correct the connection between us, our “layer,” until the differences between the souls get erased, and from our side, the entire humanity is corrected. But they themselves don’t feel it. When their time of correction arrives, they will receive all the necessary tools for it.

Why are they entitled to this? I, too, received assistance from the previous generations, from the "older" souls, some time ago. Each new generation is born with even greater egoism, and without such preparation, they cannot accomplish the work. We are all doing relatively the same work: Those who must correct greater egoism receive greater assistance.
[21988]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Love And Hatred Of "600,000 Souls"

Dr. Michael Laitman600,000 souls are parts of a single soul created by the Creator. This single created being was divided into parts which we call "600,000" souls. However, this number does not indicate quantity, but rather the quality of the connection between them.

When the Creator gives rise to the desire to receive pleasure, everything is a single whole; the Creator, the vessel, and the Light are like one. But in this state, both the desire and the Light sense neither separation nor connection; they don’t feel whether the creature exists or not. There is a complete absence of any sensation because any sensation in the creature can be detected only through the opposition between the creature itself and what it feels.

For that, it is necessary to distinguish between the Light and the vessel and to feel their complete oppositeness and connection. However, when the vessel and Light connect, their difference doesn’t vanish since love emerges above hatred.

Both qualities have to emerge. The distance between hatred and love, darkness and light (hatred is revealed as darkness and love as light), gives the creature the sensation of its existence and understanding of where it exists and with whom it is connected. This is the reason why the World of Infinity is not enough to outline the creature and make it independent.

Only after the creature goes through the entire process of its development, meaning that it starts at the first stage, descends to the second, and then rises back to the third, does it begin to understand what the first state was about. The created being becomes independent and similar to the Creator. That’s why it is called Adam.

In the beginning (Stage 1), the creature was just a drop of semen. Then, it realizes that the breaking has occurred and corrects it. By doing so, the creature attains perfection. It is not considered a drop of semen any more, but rather, it has the power of 600,000 souls and represents one, big, autonomous soul.

“Six hundred thousand” stands for six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin multiplied by ten Sefirot in each of them and then by ten thousand, the power of the ascent of Zeir Anpin to Arich Anpin which governs all corrections. 60 x 10,000 = 600,000. Hence, the common soul (the general, final, corrected state) is called 600,000 souls.
[21991]
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.
[21985]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Hoshana Rabbah Night Lesson – 09.29.10

Shamati #2 “Examining the Shade on the Night of Hoshana Rabbah”
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Shamati #8 “What is the Difference Between A Shade of Kedusha and A Shade of Sitra Achra”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter, “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 114
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