Let Everyone Into Your Heart

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe only thing we need to do is to constantly clear up space inside of our hearts for everyone. My heart is a piece of meat. And I have to find a point inside of it that I could turn into emptiness, that I could create a place from. This is the point from which our universe seems to have developed.

In reality, our universe does not exist and there are no worlds. All of this exists only in our sensation.

Thus, if this emptiness starts expanding inside our heart, that will be the emergence of a new world, similar to how our universe was created in the desire. This is what we have to do.

Let every person feel this point inside of him, inside of his heart, and try to create emptiness around it so everyone would enter there.
From the closing ceremony at the Moscow Convention 6/12/11

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The Need For Unity Is Drawing To A Head

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe theme of our Convention is “Unity – the Future of the World.” I am very moved because after many years of studying Kabbalah, the unity of the world and the need for it are finally starting to become apparent.

Over the course of billions of years of our world’s development, as well as in the process of many events before its conception, everything progressed precisely towards this point—the point of realizing the need for unity. It is only now starting to awaken, to be expressed, and to show its necessity. And you and I are at the center of this realization.

Everything began when the single force of nature, the force of bestowal, or the Creator, which is the same thing, began acting, emanating, and creating matter. First it made the spiritual matter, meaning desire: the desire to be filled, the desire to develop, the desire to feel oneself and everything around.

This desire develops under the influence of the initial force, the force of nature. The phases of its development are called “the four phases of the expansion of the Direct Light.”
The entire purpose of developing creation, or desire, lies in making it similar to all of nature, in having it reach wholesome harmony, or in other words, reaching equivalence and adhesion with the Creator because adhesion is attained through equivalence of form. It is necessary for matter, meaning the desire that’s opposite to the Light, opposite to the quality of bestowal, to eventually go through all the phases of its development and to realize that the highest, best state is similarity to the Light, similarity to the perfect nature, harmony with it, and unity with it.

However, in order to achieve this state, it is necessary to first feel that you are totally opposite to it, meaning to experience yourself in a quality that is completely opposite to the Light, to experience egoism, cruelty, the desire to think only about yourself, the sensation of just yourself, the inability to feel someone else or to think about someone else unless it is for your own sake, unless it brings you personal benefit, unless it means using others. That is how qualities that are the most opposite to the Light have to be expressed in creation.

In our world this creation is man, who goes through an enormous number of developmental phases throughout the course of history until he attains the sensation, and most importantly, the realization that he is completely opposite to the force of nature. This is a very difficult and lengthy process. Over hundreds of thousands of years we moved forward, and egoism gradually grew stronger inside of us. Externally we see how man has developed in his social formation until he attained the current state. As a whole, this egoism, this desire, constantly pushed us forward until the present moment.

And now, as of late, we are starting to be convinced that this egoism, this nature we have is actually our enemy, and our only enemy. By separating us from one another, it literally deprives us of the opportunity to exist normally, even on the level of this material world.

We are becoming more and more closed in, cruel, separated, and frightened, and are taking on a defensive stance, thus depriving ourselves of a normal life and losing the meaning of existence. And indeed: Why should we live? Only in order to defend and protect ourselves? Only in order to place ourselves in some kind of boundaries and exist in them for a certain amount of time with a certain level of comfort and safety? And that’s all?

That is how man in this world feels as he becomes crueler and crueler by nature with time. We make him that way. Our egoism pushes us to this.

In the end, all of this is being expressed as a huge crisis. In some countries the crisis is felt more, and in others, less, but it is drawing to a head. No matter how much we conceal it, we cannot do anything about it. It is becoming expressed in the economy, in social structure, in the decrease of the family’s role, and in all of the problems that emerge in our society, such as the crisis of upbringing, drugs, terrorism, and so on.

In all areas of man’s activity he is coming up against numerous crises, but in the end it is all a crisis of our opposition to nature. And naturally, it can only be corrected at this essence.

We cannot correct it in any other way. We see how government leaders are trying, how the authorities are unable to do anything, and even tyrants, who use the money and armies that are at their disposal, are unable to change anything. The world is unrelentlessly moving towards a great rupture. Force and power are still trying to hold the world in the previous boundaries, but are no longer able to do that.
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From the 1st lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

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Game Over

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We suggest that people should be sent to school to study the laws of the integral system of the world. Who will finance this kind of education and provide the masses with basic necessities at the same time?

Answer: Measure the output of modern industry’s production. Essentially, it doesn’t have much use and only ruins the world. We just keep wasting resources, while we don’t produce anything good and really useful. People exchange meaningless things, nothing more.

Industry was previously based on the rule of “money-commodity-money,” but today this model has lost the commodity element: We sell money for money. That is what our “trade” is: We pass paper to one another.

The only commodities that still matter are related to the sphere of basic necessity. A person needs basic shelter and sustenance as well as a certainty that they won’t be gone today or tomorrow. The only thing they need to understand is that luxuries are cancelled. Instead, you will receive ideal fulfillment, but not the one you used to imagine. And we will teach you how to obtain it.

We help a person to understand that in the integral society, he or she will find perfect fulfillment in everything that exceeds basic necessity only by unifying with others. After all, they can no longer be fulfilled by all sorts of meaningless things found in this world.

Question: What will the economic paradigm supporting such a society be?

Answer: A very simple one since all modern industry, legislative agencies, and financial institutions are driven by illusion and trade nothing but useless paper. In the meantime, they are sustained by the natural resources that are being successfully drained.

Take them out of business and just give them food as it will be much less costly because in reality, they produce nothing instead of something, air instead of goods. Exchanging meaningless things leads only to waste. Except for a few staples we need, all the rest are merely toys for which we are willing to ruin the Earth.

The consumer society is a game we play:

“The TV said: Buy it.”
“So buy it.”

Wide-eyed, you run to the store and start up a chain that engages you in return. So we are building a heap that will eventually bury us.

For thousands of years humanity has developed grounded on the basic necessities. The majority lived without luxuries; even the clothes used to be passed down from generation to generation. However, a century old feast of the modern era has ruined the planet. Like it or not, we will have to put an end to it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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The Screen To Reveal The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In the upcoming conventions, if we wish the Creator to be revealed, what should we be asking for?

Answer: The Creator’s revelation is love and bestowal that unfold between human beings. Within this property, we find its source, the upper force that created us, and feel it inside ourselves.

Hence, the Creator’s name is “Boreh,” meaning “Bo uh Reh” or “come and see,” discover. You discover Him within yourself, in your reformed properties. They serve as a screen, a monitor, where you can find your world.
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From the Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah 5/29/2011

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Be A Total Success

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What do I need to do in order to be one hundred percent successful at the convention?

Answer: You can be totally successful only by way of thought! “I am a part of this along with the others. I want to unite with them all. I realize that in my bond with the others, within this connection, I will discover all spiritual degrees, worlds, and my spiritual states. If I unify with the others completely, I will come to the total correction or, at least, a partial one on the path (if I haven’t fully connected with others yet).”

But all that has to do with spirituality unfolds in the connection between people. Moreover, this bond must be based on bestowal. This means that it appears in a person only when he or she is tuned into it correctly: myself, the group, and the studies of our properties described in a Kabbalistic book.
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From the Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah 5/29/2011

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What Desire Is Speaking In Me?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I clarify whose desire I am serving?

Answer: If you do not internalize the desire of the group intentionally and consciously, you undoubtedly live by the orders of alien desires. You follow the orders of fashion, the directives set by the media, and everything else that reaches you from the four corners of the world: “Go there, think this way, buy this,” and so forth.

Only one desire is your own: It is when you appeal to the group and want to receive the desire from your friends. In this case, you are the one who chooses their desire, and it leads you to the revelation of your soul.

Apart from this, you never have your own desire. Only the Creator has an authentic desire that has originated in itself and has never been in anybody else. Our desires always come from outside.

Therefore, my choice is in deciding what desire I give the right of voice: a vain trend or a particular desire of a particular group, which is aimed at a particular direction. I put forth my efforts in order to become permeated with this desire and to work according to it. This is my only choice. The desire itself is never mine originally: It is either brought by the winds of the world or acquired from the group, from the correct environment.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/2011, Writings of Rabash

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The Formula Of Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is bestowal?

Answer: Bestowal is called the state when I accept your desires as mine and begin to fulfill them. In other words, my desire exists solely to generate fulfillment for your desire. This means that in relation to you, I perform the action of bestowal, that I love you.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we study that in the entire reality there are only two components: desire and fulfillment. Thus, the still, vegetative, and animate natures are created. Our cells, molecules, atoms, thoughts, and force fields act from the desire (the need for fulfillment) to fulfillment.

This is manifested at different levels: biological, physical, in thoughts and desires. There is nothing in nature apart from deficiency and fulfillment. So, if I turn myself into a device of your fulfillment, this means that I bestow to you.

Thereby, we unite: I connect with you, and you can do the same in relation to me. We build the place between ourselves in which we can reveal the upper Light, the ultimate fulfillment: you from me and me from you. This is called the sensation of spiritual life.
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From Lesson 1, Convention in Spain, 6/3/2011

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Offering The World A Solution

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Millions of people around the world desire to grow spiritually. But what about the rest?

Answer: Everybody is suffering; everybody feels bad. Look how unrest is growing around the world. Isn’t it obvious that we are on the verge of adversity? This process is accelerating at a remarkable speed. I recently received a letter from Spain where the regular folks are facing serious problems. Unemployment is sky rocketing.

This is how the Creator is pushing and turning everyone to face Him. Willing or not, people start asking: “What do we do? How to do we get out of hardships?” First, to avoid hardships is the key: If a person has nothing to eat and no money to pay the rent, if he or she lacks necessities, spiritual matters will hardly interest them. But you can show them what the solution is.

Read what the analysts write, search wherever you want: Today, nobody has any solutions to the problems the world is facing. At least that much is already evident. Those who are still in power as well as political commentators are fully aware that we have come to a dead end. Nobody has the courage to raise their hand and offer a solution of their own. It is too obvious how unrealistic and impractical anything they may offer is. In this type of situation, only we can speak out. And we must hurry to do so.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Reshimot: Memories About The Future

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe purpose of creation is to become similar to the Creator. This is the meaning of the words “to do good to His creatures.” How can the creature become similar to the Creator? What does this similarity entail?

First of all, you should want this. How do you start wanting? You have to be opposite to the Creator and wish to become similar to Him. This is a desire: I do not have what I want, but I strongly desire to get what I do not have.

The Creator is good and does good to the bad and the good; He is love and bestowal, the property of HesedGevurah, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod…. There are plenty of qualities that I do not understand, but I have the opportunity, the need, and the desire that corresponds to each of them, to want them.

The Creator has 613 properties of bestowal. I have (although I have not discovered that yet) 613 desires enabling me to want the same properties as the 613 properties or Lights of the Creator. I have to reach these desires; I want to become similar to the Creator in each of them. It is said about it: “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.”

However, to want that, I have to know what I am lacking. But how can I know what I do not have? To understand what it is to be a grown up, I have to become one. To understand how to be strong, rich, or wise, I have to know about that firsthand. Could I wish what is unknown to me?

In our world, a child wants to grow up instinctively, without knowing why, which is because nature obliges him to grow, bypassing his understanding. This development takes place on the animate level; however, in spirituality, I myself have to know why and for what I want. This is a real desire.

How can I start desiring similarity to the Creator? To do that, I have to attain the status of the Creator, to verify what it is, whether it is worth it or not, and then desire it. How can I attain the status of the Creator so that I want to become similar to Him?

For this purpose, the breaking of the vessels took place. Thanks to it, we strive to be similar to the Creator, more and more, and become like Him by means of His force. That is why the destruction of the First and the Second Temples were necessary, which the science of Kabbalah studies in the spiritual context of the breaking of the vessels. We are talking about the fall from the level of reception for the sake of bestowal (the First Temple) to the level of bestowal for the sake of bestowal (the Second Temple), and then to the level of reception for the sake of reception, into this world.

As a result, we have a record of all the states that we went through, starting with the level of the First Temple, from the height of love, and including the Second Temple, which is much lower than the First Temple, yet it is still great. All the impressions which were acquired on this path are ingrained in us and are called “Reshimot.”

When they awaken in me, I have to realize them. In other words, one Reshimo is not enough; through it, I have to imagine what it means to be a giver. To do this, I have the group and studying: In them, I realize my Reshimo and from it, to the extent of my strength, form a reality.

Relationships with the friends, with the environment, with the Light that Reforms become a “construction site.” I have “material,” meaning a desire as well as a Reshimo, and now I want to introduce this Reshimo into material so that it realizes itself there and gives it material form. Then, I need the force from Above, the force of the Light, that will help me and will carry this out.

Rabash writes about this in article No. 940 from the collection Dargot HaSulam (Rungs of the Ladder): “It is said on the destruction of the Temple: ‘Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” This means: Build me a Temple from your desire, build such a house which will become the house of holiness, of bestowal and love. If you have such a vessel of bestowal and love, “I may dwell among them,” meaning the upper Light will settle in it.

“We are talking about the point in the heart that should become the place of the Temple so that the Light of the Creator will dwell in it. That is why a person has to try to build his house of sanctity.” From all my desires that are originating from Infinity with the help of the Reshimot embedded in me during the breaking, I have to build the correct form, each time realizing my Reshimo from heavier material.

This will give me all the necessary details of perception because I always get the form opposite to the Creator. Thus, knowing my form, I am able to perceive His form opposite to mine and move forward.

In such a way, in our world a person already has forms corresponding and opposing the Creator. In this gap between the desired and the actual states, a person always has an opportunity to build his desire, knowing what he wants. It’s possible because once, before the breaking of the vessels, we existed in a perfect state from which the Reshimot were left in us.

This is the answer to the eternal question: “How can I become similar to the Creator? How do I know what this means?” We may wish this because of the records kept in us from the stages we went through.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/2011, Writings of Rabash

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World Kabbalah Convention In Moscow – 06.12.11

“Unity – the Future of the World,” “Freedom of Will,” Lesson 6
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“Unity – the Future of the World,” Lesson 7
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“Unity – the Future of the World,” Closing Ceremony
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