Training Under The Creator’s Supervision

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are always inner disturbances present by our side, the Pharaoh that makes us forget about the Creator. How can we fight him?

Answer: We have to love the disturbances! That is, we have to hate them, but with love! It’s as if you have revealed an illness and on one hand, you are happy that you have discovered it, while on the other hand you hate it.

Any disturbance is the Creator’s messenger, intended to direct you, to “mold” you, to set you in order, and to give you a specific form. Everything comes from the One who is Good and Does Good. Therefore, if I now receive any kind of bad response, reaction, or burdening of the heart, then even if I don’t love it, I should at least welcome it with joy.

Yet, we also shouldn’t delve inside all of these disturbances, but ascend above them. We have to accept all of them as help.

How else can we act? Imagine that you are an athlete and there is a coach standing next to you who tells you that you have to jump ten times. But you start to object and argue that you don’t want to jump.

Then he gives you more exercises and you once again refuse to do them. Do you think that this kind of athlete will ever achieve any results? But that is exactly how we behave.
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From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s Letter on 12/10/10

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Kabbalah For Beginners “Souls And Worlds” – 12.15.10

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

What Is Salvation For Me?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is written that a person who opens up a Kabbalistic book desires to save his life, his soul. He asks the question about the meaning of life and looks for this meaning, wishing to be saved from the emptiness that is worse than death itself. We see that all of humanity is gradually coming closer to this state.

When a person cries out for correction from the bottom of his heart, then what is correction for him? This is the entire problem: Does he correctly imagine the salvation for which he asks? Is the meaning of it for him to ascend above egoism, to unite with others and with all of reality into one whole? Does he understand that he can no longer use the receiving desires, Kelim? Does he ask himself: What is the point of living by reception, by absorbing inside?

If a person really wants something more, it is possible only in the bestowing desires, in the Kelim that are aimed toward the outside. Then his cry for help means, “Save me from the desire that pulls everything to itself and gives nothing!”

If a person’s heart is already aimed to the outside, if he desires to come out of himself, to establish his connection with everyone and to find the sensation of life there, then his intention is correct, and then the Light that comes to him returns him to the Source.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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I Bestow: What More Can There Be?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What are “letters” in the spiritual sense?

Answer: Letters are forces, attributes of the upper influence on Malchut. Malchut, per se, is the assembly of all souls. Their unity has to absorb all the 22 letters and five of their final forms (MaNTzePaCh), including their multiple forms in the Torah: starting with the first word “in the beginning (Beresheet) and ending with the last word “Israel.”

The question is: What is the basic letter, basic “signal,” upon reception of which a person will definitely reach correction? Even the properties integrated into the structure of Bina, which manages all corrections, and even the forms of communication with the Creator and connection with Him that are included in Bina, such as Samech (ס) and Mem (מ), do not guarantee us success.

The letter Samech signifies the upper part of Bina. At the first glance, what could be more exalted than that? It doesn’t wish anything for itself and needs only bestowal, wants only to be included in the Giver, exist above its desire, no matter its eruption within.

The letter Mem contains Samech in it; moreover, it is filled with the desires of others to be able to bestow to them. What more can there be if I already don’t wish anything and, above all, I take care of all the others like a mother?

The properties of Samech and Mem meet all demands of bestowal: They correspond to repentance from fear and repentance from love accordingly. Why then can’t we get reformed by them? What is missing here?

What is missing is the letter Bet (ב) symbolizing blessing, that is, the magic property, a special force from Above. It shows us that nothing matters: neither mind, nor heart, nor time you spent studying matters, nor, frankly speaking, anything that we may want to consider. None of this leads us out into the spiritual world.

This is the main idea of the article on letters from “Introduction from The Book of Zohar”: We need only a blessing.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/10, “Introduction from The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Letters by Rabbi Amnon Saba”

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A Common Superstition

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Sages said that Kabbalah cannot be taught to anyone who hasn’t abandoned “idolatry and superstitions.” What do they mean?

Answer: "Superstition" is to think that our life depends on chance rather than the singular upper force of “Good who does good,” beside which there is nothing else. Everything else is regarded as superstition: faith in government, one’s own power, forces of nature, luck, demons and spirits, or whatever that may be, except the one Creator who brings us only good.

Thus, superstition is any condition of man when he doesn’t see himself living in a mutually connected, closed world, one integral system, where the only governing power is the force of love and bestowal. If he doesn’t possess such clear perception, it means that he doesn’t have faith. Any other kind of perception and lack of desire to achieve faith is called superstition or believing in various, alien forces.

Yet, clearly, we set expectations of each person according to his development, just like we expect more and more from the child with each year according to its age. Therefore, don’t blame a layman for not being in the world of Infinity and sensing one Creator. However, everyone has to find a way to somehow envision it at his own level if he is a human being.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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The Universal Law Of Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanMost people understand that only one force acts in the world; let’s call it the force of Nature. They give it different names: one force or one God. However, it isn’t some person but the law, the universal equation of all of nature that Einstein was looking for in order to connect all other laws and equations acting on all levels of existence into one.

Kabbalah found such universal equation eons ago: On one side of it, there is the Light (Y), on the other, the will to receive (X), and in the middle, function (F) that mutually connects, equalizes them: an anti-egoistic screen. This is the formula, and it is very simple!

Our desire is “multiplied” by the screen and gets equalized with the Light that we, to the extent of our following this formula, are able to accept. There is nothing else, except these three components!

But the Light is a constant value; it doesn’t change. Meanwhile, desire constantly changes; however, it happens irrespective of us. Our job is to keep maintaining the screen: the balance between the Light and desire.

It is the only equation that exists in nature. All other laws derive from it: the laws of chemistry, physics (at the still level of desire), botany and biology (at the vegetative level), zoology and medicine (at the animate level), psychology (at the level of human perception), and, finally, the laws of the speaking level (at the level of upper worlds).

Everything is governed by one and the same simple equation. It’s a shame Einstein is not here today; he would finally put his mind to rest. But, truth be told, he was moving in the right direction by trying to connect light (life) with mass (matter, desire).
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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The World Through Distorted Lenses

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I believe when you say that all problems are mere effects of my distorted perception. But what should I do if for now, all of this is just philosophizing to me, whereas the problems are real?

Answer: If you connected to the group and became able to receive a sense of security, a guarantee, from them, you would feel as safe as in a mother’s arms. What would you worry about if you knew that you were surrounded by 600,000 souls that will take care of you? Nothing bad can happen with you since Shechina (divinity), the Creator, dwells among them. Therefore, you can worry about only one thing: how to learn to treat others as you treat yourself, and get to see that, in reality, they are you.

We need to stop believing our eyes and egoistic senses, which tell us that outside of us there are other people. It will free you from all your problems! Gradually, by using this method, you will uncover the correct perception of reality; the world will become transparent and behind each object, you will see the force that moves it.

You will suddenly see how everything falls together and will marvel at how blind you used to be! What awfully distorted lenses you were wearing! Truth be told, it all depends on your vision and perception. Nothing changes; I only attune my sight a bit, align the axes of vision, and a whole new picture suddenly emerges.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, ““A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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If You’re A Hero…

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Lately I feel very tired and fall asleep at the lesson. Does this mean that my desire for the goal is not strong enough?

Answer: First of all we must accept every state as coming from Above, from the Creator because “There is none else besides Him.” If I relate to every state as being constructive and coming from the Creator, and therefore advancing me toward the goal, then it is already a useful state that really does build me. In this regard everything depends not on the state itself, but on my attitude to it: Who is it from?

It doesn’t matter what state I am in – good, bad, intermediate, or one that lacks any motion, even if I remain in it for several months. If I always relate to it as the right state for making discernments, corrections, and advancement, then I do not worry about what is actually happening.

I always raise MAN, remain in the intention, and in response, from Above I receive MAD, the state that comes to me. The intention comes from me, while the state comes from the Upper One.

Therefore, we must look at everything that comes to us from the Upper One as a blessing. Whatever came to us is what came because it undoubtedly comes from the One who is Good and Does Good, and there is none else besides Him. I have to treat every state as being necessary on the path.

If I constantly change and delve deeper into the study, the group, and the intention, then I am not worried by what I receive from Him. On the contrary, it’s possible that each time I will receive a harsh treatment (Gevurot) from Him, but I understand that precisely this treatment is what advances me. After all, that is how a serious person is treated, one who is expected to make progress, in contrast to a baby who is treated tenderly and nothing is expected of him. Thus, everything depends on whether or not you’re a hero….

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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What Is The Formula Of Inspiration?

Dr. Michael LaitmanAny kind of art form, including painting, music, and dance, and all means of self-expression are also considered “science” because they come from the same ego, the desire to enjoy. Just like I research this world, meaning I study my egoistic qualities in relation to the Light, in the same way through dance, art, or music I study my own expressions on the background of white Light.

Both reflect the existing regularities. However, in the arts I study my specific, individual qualities, whereas in science I research my desire on the level of our common egoistic nature. That is why we all discover the same phenomena, calling it science.

What is physics, for example? It is research of how I see my own nature on the background of the white Light. We all receive the same results, calling them “facts” because we research them on a level where we all have the same qualities (on the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature).

However, there is also a higher level of egoistic nature called “human or speaking,” and it is not the same in all of us because it contains a unique spiritual root for every person and our own freedom of will. Therefore, when using it we dance, sing, draw, or play musical instruments, and every person’s result is very unique. However, it all comes from the same will to enjoy.

Kabbalah provides a general approach to the perception of reality. It only seems to us that the strict scientific laws are completey unrelated to free art, while in fact, both are products of our egoistic desire. When we all do something the same way, we consider this form to be constantly existent in nature, declaring it a law and building our sciences upon it.

However, when we compose music, then one person composes one melody and another person composes a different one, whereas a third will compose a different one yet. We end up with thousands of different melodies, which is why we say that it is not a science because every person does it however he wishes.

On the “human” level we no longer observe the precise “scientific” regularities. This level includes psychology and all forms of art: painting, music, and dance. However, they are also “science,” meaning forms of my desire’s expression on the background of white Light, which we can see and study. Yet we can only do so practically.

It’s just that now, on the human level we are unable to understand these forms. But when we develop this “human” layer with the help of the science of Kabbalah, we will be able to research it completely scientifically and precisely. We will then understand why we draw, dance, or sing the way we do, and where it comes from. Then it will turn into a precise science that studies the expression of our desires on the background of white Light.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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