Concert From Symphony Space Centre – 03.29.11

Concert from Secrets of the Sages
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A Human Territory

Dr. Michael LaitmanTwo opposing forces act in nature, but it compels them to reach mutual balance at all levels. Everything strives for balance.

The only exception is the human degree. In some odd way, nature has left us a “free territory”: the human society. As it develops, it doesn’t come to balance, but on the opposite, it gets out of hand: People only wish destruction to each other.

Today we face enormous challenges. We are welded together, depend on each other, and thus everyone can trigger a catastrophic imbalance that will befall the entire human race.

But unlike during the previous levels of development, today we can create balance ourselves. Now, “the ball is in our court” so that we can reach balance with nature on “our territory,” independently. Nature gives you the opportunity to become a free, sound, sensitive person that is independent from their innate nature. If you still want to remain subject to your innate nature, you remain a beast.

You have a choice: either be ruled by nature or work yourself and fill the void. This is precisely where a person needs to fulfill his or her predestination and create an equilibrium that will complete all other imbalances.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/2011, The Principles of Global Education

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Eureka! It Does Exist!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Does the desire to bestow develop with the help of the desire to receive? Will it change and unite us back into the collective soul?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah states that the entire path of our correction amounts to our uniting together and reaching the property of bestowal (the Creator) in our connection because this property brings us together.

Development occurs by virtue of unification. And when the desire to bestow enters the desire to receive, it supplies it with the force of development by facilitating various connections. And since it is the desire to bestow, it fuses various parts.

Contrary to it, the desire to receive remains there in the capacity of the still level and does not bond with anything. Hence, if we want to draw closer to the desire to bestow and develop, we need to facilitate ties between us and our mutual inclusion.

And it does not matter that we are separated by distance, differences in character, opinions, and education. We will later see that our previous development (as various distant nations that hate and disregard one another) is needed so that above it, we could start forming our mutual inter-relations. And between these connections we are destined to reveal the property of bestowal (the Creator).

It exists but is hidden inside. This is precisely what we wish to reveal at our conventions.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/2011, Writings of Rabash

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“I Want To Live!”

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe AHP of the upper one is intended to transfer the pleas (MAN) of the lower one upwards. The upper one is more internal than the lower one, but when depicted on a graph it appears as if the lower one is bigger. Yet it only seems that way to us, as if the lower one encompasses the upper one, clothing over him. The fact is, however, that he clothes on the outside precisely because he is uncorrected.

The AHP of the upper one is more internal, more concealed and intangible, but much more powerful and infinitely bigger than the lower one. That is why the only thing that AHP of the upper one feels and takes from the Galgalta Eynaim of the lower one is the plea, MAN that is contained there.

The Galgalta Eynaim of the lower one cannot ask for anything on their own because they are desires of bestowal. But the AHP of the lower one conveys its plea to them, the desire to be born from the informational data (Reshimot). This desire influences the AHP of the upper one and the latter feels this request, which is called MAN, and raises it upwards, into its Galgalta Eynaim.

In response to the prayer, Galgalta Eynaim of the upper one attract the Light that comes through them into the AHP of the upper one, then into Galgalta Eynaim of the lower one, and finally into the AHP of the lower one in order to correct its Reshimot and revive this AHP, bringing it to life.

The only thing we lack is the plea for correction, a MAN. Nothing can be attained without it.

A MAN is raised by someone who intends to receive for the sake of bestowal. This request is raised at every moment and is constantly renewed. One action immediately follows another. In spirituality there is no emptiness or gap between actions. If any period of time has gone by in waste, without a plea for correction, then it is a transgression, Klipa.

In the spiritual world there is no physical notion of time that moves by itself. If I perceive every moment of my life as an expression of the AHP of the upper one and desire to adhere to Him in order to reveal the Creator, who is good and does only good, that means I look for contact between my bestowing desires (Galgalta Eynaim) and the AHP of the upper one.

The moment I start relating to Him correctly, I will see that He is not concealed, but is revealed to me and shines upon me!
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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A Person Who Has Strayed From The Path

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If in spirituality a person is born anew every moment and starts everything from the beginning each time, how can it be that once he strays from the path once, he then diverts from it more and more?

Answer: This is how Baal HaSulam depicted it, I’m simply repeating his diagram. If at the beginning of the path you divert from it just a little bit (say, by 1 cm), then by continuing to advance on the same way, you eventually divert from the correct path by, say, 5 cm.

A Person Who Has Strayed From The Path

It seems to you that you have made progress: received knowledge, realized and went through many things. You become increasingly confident that you are on the right track, while in reality you have already strayed from the path and are advancing beside the mark.

Nobody took away your freedom from you or the opportunity to make an adjustment. But if you do not suspect that your have veered from the path, if you do not feel it, you think you can continue like that.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/2011, Preparation for the WE! Convention

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By Definition, We Cannot Understand Each Other

Dr. Michael LaitmanWithout correct definitions there is no common language. We seemingly use the same words, but each word has a completely different meaning for us. Let’s say that we started to teach a foreign language to someone, but gave arbitrary definitions for the words. Our student would begin speaking with someone, and neither would understand the other. As regular people, scientists and philosophers do not understand Kabbalists.

In general, this is the problem with all human relationships because each of us has our own particular definitions for the words. Usually, these differences are not significant, but, nevertheless, this is why it’s so difficult for us to communicate with each other.

Regarding the differences between the usual definitions accepted in science and philosophy and the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is absolutely no comprehension at all. It seems to people that they already know what the spiritual world and the Creator are. People feel that they do not need to change themselves to attain Him in their sensations. They do not understand that they perceive the whole world in their egoistic desire and that spiritual perception requires reaching similarity with that which is being studied.

Until we arrive at a common denominator here, it is impossible to talk. By definition, we do not understand each other. Scientists are smart people, but unfortunately, they use different definitions.

Kabbalah states that the perception of reality depends on the person, on his qualities, egoistic or altruistic. We perceive the whole of reality inside ourselves; nothing exists outside. Everything is relative.

It is difficult for scientists to agree with this. They do not have such prior assumptions before their studies; they do not need them. Science studies everything inside of the egoistic desire and does not come outside of that boundary. That is why they are not sensitive to such subtleties, being inside the desire, according to its size and qualities.

Furthermore, for them, everything is already apparent. They are inside one, small room and study things only inside of it. You might say, “But, I am studying things in the next room. One could come out of that room into another one, and study things there.” But they are perplexed: “Is there another room?” There is no need, understanding, or perception that such a thing could exist. That is why they consider Kabbalah a philosophy which is allegedly detached from reality. For them, science, studies, and facts are only here in our world.

In other words, in his development, a person has not yet come to perceive that there exists a reality higher than the one we perceive with our limited organs of perception. For this, the respective internal qualities are needed, the revelation within the person of the spiritual gene (Reshimo, reminiscence) so that he begins to agree, accept, and feel such definitions.

In reality, only blows are of help here. The Light hits the desire again and again, letting the person feel how he is thrown up and down. Thus, little by little, he begins to grasp that such a thing really can exist.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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The Revelation Of The Light Or A Stretch Of Imagination?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the difference between revealing the Light through one of the eastern methodologies or the method of Kabbalah?

Answer: The revelation of Light can only be reached if one has a big Aviut (coarseness, thickness of desire) which he can correct only with the help of Kabbalah and thereby reveal the Light, the Creator. After all, with a smaller Aviut, a person will not be able to reveal anything but more or less pleasant sensations that give him or her the illusion that he or she is already “soaring” in the spiritual world.

Everything except for Kabbalah—all the eastern methodologies, New Age teachings, different beliefs and religions—are its modified forms born out of the desire to receive pleasure which has not reached its last degree, that of Dalet (four), and is not perfect on all of its levels of Aviut, not as egoistic.

Besides, what did they take from Kabbalah? One preaches moral norms, another advocates meditations, a third recommends food limitations, a fourth prompts to believe in drawn images or spoken tales, a fifth commends ceremonial observances that are considered to be sacred, and so forth.

All of these are the results of the desire to receive pleasure which has not yet reached its final development. It thus expresses the wisdom of Kabbalah in an equally light form instead of correcting itself.

After all, a person like this does not feel the need to correct himself. He does not understand what he needs to correct. He believes that if he were to kiss a “sacred” object or donate something, he would be all right. A small desire to receive pleasure does not push man toward anything greater. All of this flows out of the desire that has not yet been developed to the level of the last degree, that of Dalet.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Getting Rid Of Delusions

Dr. Michael LaitmanPhilosophy and the majority of people in general believe that the material world was born out of the spiritual one. Indeed, Kabbalah states the same: After the breaking of the worlds and the collective soul, desires lost their screens, became egoistic, and descended lower and lower until they fell into “this world.” This defined our existence in this world and all our senses, organs of perception.

It follows that we “came” here from the spiritual world and no other place. One way or another, corporeality is the consequence of spirituality. The only question is whether the corporeal world completely separated from the spiritual world or does it still have some indirect connection to it?

Neither the philosophy nor natural sciences of this world are able to examine the force of bestowal, being only inside the egoistic desire. For this reason, they have no contact with the spiritual world and can only fantasize about it.

There are “scientific” experiments of whatever is considered to be the “soul,” or an alleged connection to it that can be grasped, which are based on incorrect definitions of the spiritual world. These also are philosophic arguments of people who lack any research instruments and a real connection to the spiritual world, meaning a scientific approach, and they simply assume things.

People can imagine anything. There are no limits to human fantasy. For example, there were observations in the changes of the human body’s weight before and after death. Supposedly, the difference determined the weight of the soul. This is how they weighed the soul. They also registered electrical impulses in the brain at the moment of death, and they considered this to be the manifestation of the soul leaving the body.

What about the different hallucinations in the brain at the moment of a clinical death, the nature of which is similar to dreams? These were considered to be sensations of the spiritual world where the person “rises” and then “returns” back to us as they regain consciousness.

All these fabrications are caused by the absence of a correct definition of the spiritual world. This is why people become confused and think that they can touch the spiritual world and examine it.

However, the spiritual world is a reality that is above our egoistic desire, above our matter. Here is where the problem of the perception of reality arises because people are confused about what matter is. A famous definition states that matter is an objective reality given to us by our sensations. What do I perceive? It’s my desire.

This is confusing to people. They think that matter is solid bodies, liquid, the four foundations:  fire, water, air, and earth, or the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature. However, Kabbalists say that matter is desire, and we examine the desire which is, in fact, our own!

This is completely confusing to us. I see a metal pipe in front of me which I am completely unable to move, and I am being told that it is mine and exists within me. Here, people become totally bewildered, and it becomes very difficult to speak with them from that point on.

In other words, it is necessary to overcome many obstacles, until we attain a point of view and definition of all the phenomena which will enable us to view reality together with scientists and philosophers. So far, everyone is in his own niche, which leads to a huge confusion.

The main problem is in the different definitions of “spirituality” and “corporeality.” Most frequently, people assume that culture and different human activities fall under spiritual life. In this sense, dancing is also spiritual.

These incorrect definitions really confuse people and prevent serious conversation. For this reason, first of all, the world needs to be given correct definitions of spirituality and corporeality, life and death, and the upper reality.

This way, we will solve all the problems. The correct definitions need to be firmly engrained in your head, and you should view reality only through them. Then, you will not make mistakes for sure.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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A Scientific Method: “We Will Do And We Will Hear”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How does the need for a scientific approach go with the principle of “We will do and we will hear?”

Answer: These goes together very well. “We will do and we will hear” is a pure scientific approach which exists in true science. This is because science constantly reveals phenomena that were previously concealed from us. We had no factual knowledge nor connection to them. All we had was our desire to reveal, develop our perception and abilities, in order to grasp new, additional phenomena, test them on us, on our own flesh, on our senses, and register them. Relying on this data, we gathered a more robust image of reality where we exist.

The same approach operates in Kabbalah. It is a science just like a regular science as it is our aspiration to reveal a new reality. There is no difference.

However, in the regular natural sciences of this world, we are not required to change our senses. We only need to expand them. The research instrument already exists: It is our desire to receive pleasure. We simply must expand it through different microscopes, telescopes, and other tools that raise our sensitivity toward previously concealed phenomena.

The entirety of reality divides into two halves: reception and bestowal. In order to check, examine, and study the reality that is based on bestowal instead of reception, we primarily need to arm ourselves with the corresponding instruments of perception (Kelim, vessels).

It is no longer enough to simply expand our senses. We need to build new organs based on bestowal from scratch. This is called birth in the spiritual world.

In the spiritual world, a different nature where we study the force of bestowal, our ability to test, examine, and register data depends on the expansion and development of our senses. It happens the same way as with our egoistic organs of perception when we build different auxiliary tools.

This is how a higher science called Kabbalah appears. It is referred to as “higher” because it works with the force of bestowal in nature, while the sciences of our world examine the egoistic force of reception.

However, in the end, we discover that there is only one source for both the force of reception and that of bestowal. This is because this division only exists in relation to us; we divide reality this way. However, in truth, they both come from one source: the upper force.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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