Good Environment – 06.26.11

My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Advice for the Week

Nature Is Always Right. So What’s It Saying?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we explain our message of unity to people? Can we say that this is a natural, obvious phenomenon?

Answer: We can talk about unity by showing it from many angles. After all, unity is always beneficial if it is done for the sake of a proper and just goal. It is written, “An assembly of fools [meaning an assembly of evildoers] is bad for them and bad for the world.” On the other hand, the unity of people who desire goodness certainly benefits them and the world. We see this.

We all win by uniting. Unity is only repulsive to a person’s individual egoism because of its limited nature. It’s not that difficult to explain to people that in any situation unity accompanied by a good intention will not cause any harm to anyone and will always end up successful. Always. And only if you want to harm someone or profit at someone else’s expense and only in cases that you aim to cause direct or indirect harm will the unification be evil and undesirable.

In all other cases we can cite formulas, proofs, and examples from the lives of animals and plants, as well as human relationships, which demonstrate that unity is beneficial.

Question: Does that mean we can say that good unification is in accord with the law of nature and therefore it works?

Answer: That is what I say in all of my conversations and video conferences. Even if a person hates me, even if he is dead set against me and is pushing in the other direction, my goal is to place him and myself in a researcher’s position through the process of conversation. Even if we are the most irreconcilable enemies in the world, we are still inside of nature, so let’s take a look at it. Let’s listen to what it is saying. After all, we will definitely have to progress by its laws, and we can do it in a good way if we agree with it, or in a bad way if we don’t agree. In any case, there is nowhere for us to run from it.

And now let’s see which of us is right. Or perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle? This doesn’t matter. We, as researchers, should only recognize this picture, instead of remaining in our false, self-induced tranquility, no matter how pleasant it is.

We want to reveal the truth, and the truth is nature. You can curse at the laws of the universe, but that won’t help you because you are inside of them. This is the point we have to emphasize. More and more, scientific discoveries are indicating that we are opposite and against nature, and this opposition is being expressed as a crisis. Look at what is happening to us and where we are going because of our lack of understanding nature’s laws. That is why we have to study them.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in Item 42 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot”:
Indeed, you should know that the reason for our great distance from the Creator and that we are so prone to transgress His will, is for but one reason, which became the source of all the torment and the suffering that we suffer, and for all the sins and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow and pain. We will immediately be granted adhesion with Him in heart, soul, and might. And I tell you that that preliminary reason is none other than the “lack of our understanding in His Providence over His creations,” that we do not understand Him properly.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Our Meeting Place With Humanity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we explain to people the difference between the right kind of unity and the wrong kind?

Answer: We are simply saying, “Let’s get to know nature.” I do not want to divide humanity into those who unite correctly and those who do it incorrectly, and I don’t want to analyze anyone personally. That is why we are setting up contacts with scientists—in order to show everyone what nature is. And you can decide for yourselves what to do next. Just know that the degree of your similarity to nature determines how many disasters you will receive from it. The greater is the equivalence, the less troubles and the more pleasures are waiting for you.

Everyone has to have a clear understanding of what the source of their suffering is. Humanity is asking this question, and we will give it the answer. In our times it is already possible to explain things. Previously it was impossible to explain anything because we first had to reach the maximal, global, integral egoism. But today we have reached this level and therefore we can explain the general picture of what is happening to people.

From here on we will explain it in increasingly easier words, reformulating it again and again, and using this as a basis to explain the source of people’s problems in their family, with their children, with their health, at the bank, at work, on the roads, with one’s self, and so on.

After all, the general nature is essentially your entire life. Inside of this picture you will be able to find your attitude to everything, including football, work, and death….

However, you are still not expressing yourself in this picture. Newton revealed the law of gravity thanks to an apple that fell. However, the law operated before that as well. Similarly, it would be good if someone would “get it” and recognize the universal law of nature in order to tell the world about it. But if we wait for this to happen without giving a preliminary “presentation,” then we will pay too high a price.

By now I can already talk about this with anyone. The knowledge is in my hands, but let’s check it together. It belongs to everyone and if everyone learns it, we will all win. So let’s see whether or not I am right.

This is a very sound, scientific approach, pure of any personal biases. And I am willing to check myself as well. Most importantly, look at what is being revealed by a science that has reached us through many millennia. And it is especially relevant to the present moment, to whether or not we will have the means to live tomorrow, whether we will survive or fall in war.

In short, from the entire picture of nature, you cite the facts that confirm how everything aspires to unity. All of the still, vegetative, and animate nature is in balance, in homeostasis, in a fine interaction between different species. It seems to us that they simply eat each other, but in reality this is mutual existence. That is how the cells in our bodies exist as well.

Obviously, it is not simple to raise people slightly above their current level, but there is no other choice. You cannot leave them on the “animate” level and keep them on the infusion of the upper Light to change them from the inside. They have to come a bit closer to it themselves as well.

You come closer to them by trying to give them explanations that are as simple as possible, while the Creator will awaken their interest or even nudge them forward with blows so they would gain a greater awareness of the modern troubles and will be more willing to listen to the rationale. Then you will meet in some place: You with your maximally simplified explanations, and they with the attention span they are capable of having.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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All The Pleasures Of The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam “The Freedom”: It is said: “Harut (carved) on the stones”; do not pronounce it Harut (carved), but rather Herut (freedom), to show that they are liberated from the angel of death.

It is said: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.” What is the Torah? It is the tool that contains the Light that Reforms.

Thus, we can attract the upper Light, and it brings us back to the Source so that from the evil inclination we turn ourselves into the good inclination. In this way, we change from the receiving desire called “the angel of death” to the giving desire called “the angel of life.” This is freedom from the angel of death.

Indeed, in our receiving desire, we can perceive nothing but this world, that is, an animate existence. We live, suffer, and eventually die. We cannot even imagine how low and defective this life is.

Until we reach bestowal, all our life here is an escape from suffering for the sake of  such meager pleasures that they have no place in the spiritual world. The smallest spiritual degree is myriad times greater, fuller, and more whole than all the pleasures of this world at all times. It is impossible to imagine.

To sustain such a great spiritual pleasure, it is necessary to prepare the vessel with the intention to bestow. Be that as it may, we will be able to rise above the angel of death only in the property of bestowal.
[46362]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/2011, “The Freedom”

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What Is The Creator?

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words”: Question 27. Maatzil (the Creator). Any cause is regarded as the Maatzil of the effected degree. The title Maatzil contains both the Hamshacha (drawing) of the Ohr (Light) and the Kli (vessel) that receives the Ohr.

It’s clear for us that the upper degree is called the Creator with respect to the lower one that it has created. But why is it added here that the concept of “the Creator” includes not only the received Light, but also the vessel receiving this Light, meaning my vessel, desire?

I receive the Light and sense my reality inside my desire. Inside this reality, I feel the upper degree. In other words, the sensation in me is divided in two parts: myself and the upper one. And all this is called the Creator.

That is, everything is attained only inside man’s sensations, and I call a special part inside myself the Creator. Therefore, it is said: “From Your actions we will know You!”

We can talk about the Creator (Bo-reh or “come and see” in Hebrew) only to the measure of our own corrections. I call the Creator that part within myself that I correct to bestowal, to the properties that are not inherent in my nature from birth.

That is why the soul can be merely a point, a drop, or can grow bigger and bigger, but it is always part of the upper one. I sense the upper root, the Creator, inside the part in me that is corrected to bestowal and called the soul. The Creator is already in me, not in the heavens, but we are talking about the property of bestowal that is above me, above my nature. Although I have obtained it and am now working with it, I nonetheless attribute it to the upper one.

That is why the Creator is always within a human being, and not somewhere in the sky. The same applies to the upper degree: Only those who attain it and are in contact with it can talk about it. That is, the upper degree is also in me, only I consider it higher degree for me.

In my perception, there are always such degrees which I have already acquired and practically work with, as if they belong to me, and the one that is still higher and shines for me “from afar.” That is, it is in me, but in such a form that I cannot use it for the time being. Everything is perceived and sensed only within a person who attains.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Unity Day – 06.26.11

Unity Day Around the World, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)” and  “Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Man Is The Only Animal That Blushes

Dr. Michael Laitman“Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.” (Mark Twain, Following the Equator).

Question:
Is shame a kind of a sin on the spiritual path?

Answer:
Shame is a wonderful quality. Shame is what separates man from animal. There are no other differences. Only shame creates a difference, meaning that it lifts man above the animate level.It is written that all people are like animals. The difference only appears when I start feeling shame. This is a sign of a Human originating within me.

Everyone is a thief in our world, but the majority is afraid to steal. We call this fear shame. We are afraid of being seen, of being caught, exposed, beaten, incarcerated, and so on. Briefly speaking, fear keeps us from stealing. The same way a cat, after getting kicked a few times, looks at sour cream from a respectable distance. It already accepted the fact that there is nothing it can do about it.

But there is another kind of shame: without a reason, without a consequence for oneself. Do whatever your heart desires, the entire world is at your service, like in a dream, when you walk down empty streets and all the doors open before you. Stores, cars, everything is yours, everything is allowed. Enjoy. But you refuse.

Why do you refuse? I do not want this because I want to grow up by using the power of shame as intended.

This shame comes from the perception of the Giver. It is impossible to attain bestowal without perceiving the Giver. And this is why you cannot perform a single act for the sake of bestowal, you are unable to correct a single of the 613 desires of your soul without the wisdom of Kabbalah, the method of the revelation of the Creator. You will not be able to do anything on your own, without the Light that will give you this quality. And this is no longer corporeal but spiritual shame.

On the other hand, when it comes to animals who do not feel shame, it is also possible to evoke fear of punishment. Then how are we with our “shame” different from them? In reality, we do not feel shame in our world—we fear.
[46263]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Shame As The Means Of Correction

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 8: This matter is like a rich man who took a man from the market and fed him and gave him gold and silver and all desirables every day. And each day he showered him with more gifts than the day before. Finally, the rich man asked, “Do tell me, have all your wishes been fulfilled?” And he replied, “Not all of my wishes have been fulfilled, for how good and how pleasant it would be if all those possessions and precious things came to me through my own work, as they have come to you, and I would not be receiving the charity of your hand.” Then the rich man told him: “In this case, there has never been born a person who could fulfill your wishes.”

The Creator intentionally created the creature so that it feels discomfort and as a result, cannot receive any fulfillment in its desire. This discomfort is meant to encourage the creature to become corrected to such an extent that it would not calm down until it bestows upon the Creator as much as the Creator bestows upon it. The creature cannot just receive any more because in that way it seems to neglect the Giver, His love and bestowal.

The love of the Giver is absolute: His bestowal is perfect and devoid of any intention to cause shame in the creature. We feel that shame is coming from us, out of the receiving desire. In our sensation, we do not attribute this desire to the Creator, and thus we do not “blame” the shame that awakens in this desire on the Creator.

“Wait! But there is none else besides Him. The Creator governs everything.”

True, but the question of ownership arises here. If I think of myself as existing, then I ascribe the receiving desire and the shame in it to myself. If I do not think of myself as existing, I can ascribe the desire and shame to the Creator. There are no other options; I cannot feel my existence and at the same time attribute it to the Creator: “He did it!” Do I have the point of my own existence? If I don’t, we have nobody to talk about. If I do, then precisely I desire and feel shame.

Thus, shame is the lever, the device that enables us to achieve correction. What is it? Shame is the difference between the receiver and the Giver, felt in the receiver. In other words, we have to reach this shame yet.

Thus, in the chapter “Inner Reflection,” The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, Baal HaSulam cites Rabbi Elazar who said that shame was prepared only for the high souls. They attain the Creator, His attitude towards us, and hence achieve shame. The more we advance in the revelation of the Creator, the more we feel shame that becomes the tool for correction.

We cannot correct anything without shame. It is useless to reproach a cat who has eaten sour cream. Only a human can blush and feel ashamed because he has this root, but the animate level can’t. Accordingly, on the human level, it all depends on how much I understand and consider myself a thief, the one who receives for the sake of reception, regardless of the Master, the Giver.

There are some subtleties: If I want to perform bestowal, I need to sense the Giver, to feel how much He wants to give me. I cannot have shame without this, meaning a sense of how much I should give Him in return. Then, there is no similarity between us, and I will not know how to behave and what He wants from me in reality.

In other words, without revealing the Creator, the creature cannot perform a single commandment, a single action of bestowal. If I do not have the image of the Giver in front of me, I have nothing to compare myself to.

I am like the poor man from Baal HaSulam’s example, and the rich man stands in front of me. He loves me, he gives me everything and is ready to do anything for me, even to become poor by making me rich. But I have to sense him, to feel his attitude and opposite to it, myself and my attitude. I have to understand that I am unable to return his love.

The problem here is not in fulfillment or in what he gives me. Otherwise, it would be enough just to stop accepting his gifts. Moreover, even if I wanted to repay him, what can I give to the owner of infinite treasures? What can I give to the Creator?

Thus, shame is the reason why the creature acquires the vessels of bestowal, the intention to bestow.
[46266]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the first expansion of the Light (Keter) the vessel does not yet exist. So what does the Light dress itself into?

Answer: Of course, this is not yet called a vessel. That is why it is referred to as the phases of the expansion of the Direct Light and not the phases of the vessel. You can also call it the stages of the development of the vessel, but undoubtedly, until the fourth stage there is no vessel which could be called an independent creature.

It’s only after the fourth phase, expanding from Above downward, performs the Restriction and reaches this world, that it can be said that the vessel completes its development. It is only here, in this world, where the creature will desire to return back to its root, that it can be considered independent and possessing the point of free will, which it can enlarge from a point to the scale of the world of infinity.

According to the sensation of this point of free will and to the extent of its development, it is called the creature, while a simple desire to enjoy is not called the creature. It is the created being only from the side of the Creator, the Host. The real creature stands opposite to the Creator and possesses its own will.

That is why the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature are not considered to be the creature. They exist instinctively under the complete control of the Light, without any independence. In this same form, not independently, a lot of people still exist now, obeying the orders of their nature.

Choice begins where the creature feels shame due to its lack of equivalence with the Creator, which pushes it to develop itself. This state is called the creature.
[45812]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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