Talk For “Tisha B’Av” – 08.08.11
Posted on August 8th, 2011
The Light raises us to faith above reason. But to enter there, a higher, previously unknown dimension should be open within you, and that is why it is called the “salvation of the Creator.” And to the extent of that opening within, you first start to get the “reason,” “knowledge,” and understanding what “above reason” means.
These two concepts are revealed simultaneously. Prior to that, we are at the level of animal consciousness, as it is said: “Everyone is like a mortal animal.” But a “human” begins from this moment. A human being is the one who rises above reason. We get reason from nature, and “above reason” is what is higher.
The Creator is above reason. The one who gets this opportunity is called a “human,” Adam, meaning “similar to the Creator,” and the wider the gap is between reason and faith above reason, the higher is the level of man.
A person does not know in advance what faith above reason is. He has no control over its revelation: It is given from Above, as aid from the Creator. Although of course, this is a result of the person’s entire previous effort and requires completing them fully. But as to when this will happen, a person does not know.
He just feels that he advances: understands more, feels more, becomes smarter, can somehow control what is happening, and analyze it deeper. But he does not have a spiritual sensation, a new desire, in which he could understand and feel the Creator. And thus he advances until he reaches the starting, zero, point, and from it, slightly pushes forward, towards that higher dimension.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/2/2011, Shamati #207
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In the News (IGSM (Institute of Globalization and Social Movement) Report): “American agriculture has been impacted by the crisis the most, to be followed by commercial crisis and industrial production decline. Due to the failing demand in the US market, the crisis will spread to the “new industrial countries,” where production will begin to halt.
Decline in sales and production will lead to a collapse in stock markets and a shift from inflation to stagflation, a drop in oil prices, increased unemployment, and general consumption decline. The crisis will affect all countries and cause general economic instability….
“2009-2010 will mark the peak of the crisis (the main decline), followed by depression and the restructuring of the world economy for new development in 2010-2013. There is no reason to expect that the crisis will pass quickly…
“The global economic crisis is characterized by the fact that the world economy cannot continue developing as it always has… there are no further opportunities to keep reducing real wages while stimulating consumption….
“Crisis will lead…to the formation of a single world labor market. It will strengthen global monopoly and will enhance its role in a global market (the role of small and medium businesses will decline). The crisis will booster protectionism….” It will generate social inequality and instability in international and intra-national relations.”
My Comment: All that is bad has been predicted, but there is no way out. The closer the breakdown is, the clearer we see the lack of tactics and strategies for coping with an impending stroke. I wonder how the idea of man’s spiritual transformation, rather than external economic adjustments, will be realized as the only effective solution. After all, the increasing majority agree with the fact that crisis creates a new society and economy.
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Opinion: (Jerry Kennard, healthcentral.com): “We’re more anxious and depressed than ever before and the situation is worsening rather than getting better. The argument that modern technology would one day protect us from ill-health and distress and open up a world of leisure and, by implication greater happiness, is looking decidedly dated….
“Lead author, Dr. Catriona Morrison, from the University of Leeds, in the UK., found that high internet use is associated with depression. High internet use is frequently associated with gambling, interacting in social communities or viewing sexual content. According to Morrison, ‘the study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.’”
My Comment: We mistakenly think that the Internet can replace communication. This is the very means that pulls us into loneliness and unnoticeably isolates each of us from others to such an extent that we no longer can communicate directly.
This condition will be worsening until the full realization of it as evil, and then, society will understand the need for a good open direct communication. Only it can eliminate depression!
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Until now, humanity has not written its own history but fit into it instead. However today, in our new stage of development, we will be the ones completing our history. This opportunity is being given to us for the first time after thousands of years of infancy.
Over the entire course of history, man developed under the rule of egoism, the constant growth of which automatically obligated us to search for the means and ways to satisfy our desires. In this way, nature directed our movement by basically stripping us of the freedom of will. Man did not change himself consciously; rather, nature changed him according to its program.
From our point of view, it appeared as though we changed the environment according to our requests whenever needed, but now the time has come for man to change and correspond to nature. Scientists are beginning to agree with this.
In general, what is “nature” which we have tried to conquer in vain for so long?
When a mother leaves the nursery, leaving her baby to play with his toys, does the baby feel free? Yes. He really enjoys his time alone and doesn’t understand that she is watching him with her attentive and loving eyes. He senses that he is free.
This is how “nature,” the system of governance where we exist, is concealed from us as well. It begets our sensation of freedom, although in reality freedom simply does not exist. This illusion was specifically planned by evolution so that we would develop freely in our egoism, using and following our desires as much as our nature, qualities, and possibilities would allow us.
And we thought this was good, that we could and should develop this way. Social relationships and technologies changed; we constantly changed things, hurried somewhere following the command of our essence, our growing egoistic desires. At the same time, we wanted even greater power over nature. Man did not think about what he was doing; he simply acted on his desires.
When nature gives us certain desires, we can only work within their boundaries. We cannot go beyond them. Food, sex, family, knowledge, fame, money, and power, every person has his own combination of these desires and realizes them accordingly. Nature moves us gradually from the inside, “from behind.” The impulses it awakens in us in combination with the surrounding environment determine everything.
Essentially, I represent an administrative mechanism. Desires awaken within me, certain circumstances happen, but I am limited by my morals, my physical and mental abilities, as well as the norms of my environment, and the common laws of a global nature. In the end, I merely try to realize my desires as much as possible under conditions that were not set up by me. Thus, it turns out that I am no more than an administrative mechanism. The desires and conditions are predetermined, and all this pushes me towards self-realization.
This was our path: Man’s mistakes, his good and bad actions, all of these were necessary and unavoidable in the previous stages of development until the current time. Against his will, man received innate properties and found himself in a particular environment without a choice.
And still, he did not think that all this was predetermined. Like a child, he was simply playing and feeling free due to his mother’s absence, while she simply slipped away from his field of vision.
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From the Talk about a New Book 7/18/2011
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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1,“Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Question 47: What is Kav (line)? Kav indicates a discernment of up and down that was not there before. It also designates a much frailer He’arah (emanation) than before.
“A line” is a feeling of constraint. I feel lesser than someone who is above me. Besides, a line is the restriction of my receiving, according to “size” and “weight.” That is, I am limited by two conditions: the qualitative height of the degree I am at and its quantitative value that I can uncover and accept.
It’s a feeling that above me, there is another whole staircase, higher degrees and more exalted properties. On the other hand, I feel that I do not receive infinitely on every side, but am limited and can communicate with the Creator only in the form of a direct channel, a tube extending from the top down, which is called a “line.”
In other words, we should visualize not a geometric line, but rather the restrictions that the desire to enjoy experiences. All the concepts have to be translated into feelings. But there is no emotion in the shape of a line. A line is an agreed upon signal of what feeling I am supposed to evoke in myself.
Suppose I work at a factory or in an organization. And in my position on the job and in the place that I am in, I am under the whole hierarchy of chiefs more essential than I. And so, I feel beneath them in properties. Moreover, there is a difference in their ability to act or get all sorts of benefits and salary (fulfillment) at work, meaning that relative to them, I am limited in quantitative terms. Therefore, I feel vertical restriction, depending on the height (from upward to downward), as well as a quantitative restriction in this very place (horizontally).
A line indicates a discernment of up and down that was not there before. That is, I feel what it is to be “above” because I have “recollections” of them, the informational data (Reshimot). And so, I can compare it with my current state. I understand the difference between the line above and my position which I currently feel. This yields a restriction on height, that is, with respect to the Creator and compared with His properties.
It also designates a much frailer emanation than before. After all, previously, he was receiving with no limitations at the top (the head) of the line, whereas now, at its end or in the middle, he is restricted in reception.
These are two totally different experiences. The feeling that you are at the bottom of the line is due to the lack of adhesion with the Creator. A sense of how small my ability to receive is due to the lack of the ability to bestow. This means that one limitation is qualitative and the other quantitative.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.
Obtaining the Greatness of the Creator through the Environment
There is one point we should work on—appreciation of spirituality.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Agenda of the Assembly”
“Make for yourself a rav (teacher) and buy for yourself a friend.” This means that one should create an environment for oneself that would help him obtain the greatness of his rav so that…bestowal upon one’s rav will become reception and give one energy to act for the sake of the Creator. An individual alone cannot do a thing about it whatsoever.
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
We can receive delight from bestowal only to the extent that we appreciate bestowal. Hence, only the greatness of the Creator will give us strength to bestow. …Hence, he should seek out like-minded people, who are also seeking to enhance the importance of any contact with the Creator, to receive assistance from them, perform acts of bestowal, and sense the Creator.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Agenda of the Assembly”
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Editorial in the news (by Professor Y. Zair): The events of the last few days have shown that the Israeli society resists minimizing the government’s participation in managing the country because people want to live in a unified society that does not extol competition at any price, but supports mutual guarantee, care for one another, and a much more humane society.
All of the classes are interlinked with one another. The youth is giving us a wonderful lesson of brotherly relationships between people.
There is not a single party in Israel that proclaims equality as a value. Perhaps the phenomenon we are observing in Israel is one of the first harbingers of a new, worldwide tendency.
My Comment: All that’s left is to discern how to turn this tendency into new social relations in order to reveal the new, upper world inside of them.
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Last night, on August 6th, there were mass demonstrations held all over Israel, demanding social justice. The central event was held in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands of people came out to the streets.
Banners of the “mutual guarantee” movement were visible in almost all of the photos and videos published by news agencies and shown in the news. These banners, carried by several thousands of participants, appealed for justice and unification regardless of one’s political views. They proclaimed mutual guarantee as the highest value.
The event was broadcast live via radio and Internet.
The “mutual guarantee” movement was founded by the “Kabbalah L’Am” movement. Its objective is to unite the nation, in conformity to the demands of the new era, as part of humanity’s process of becoming a single, integral whole. Today, the topic of the mutual guarantee which we proclaim is being vigorously discussed in the Israeli mass media and picked up by a wide audience.
“Mutual guarantee” is gathering momentum!
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