Audio Version Of The Blog – 11.30.11

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I Had A Wallet And Now It’s Gone

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I am trying to imagine 72 hours at the convention. How will this process bring me to the One, Unique, and Unified?

Answer: I enter the convention hall like a holy pool (Mikveh), a place that will purify and correct me. This is a place filled with holy water, the quality of Bina, the mother’s womb that I become included in and grow in. I don’t need to do anything besides settling in there like a drop of semen inside the womb. I must only cleave to it, and everything else will be done by others. I must simply become part of what is happening.

It is written, “The Creator dwells inside of his nation,” where “inside of the nation” means the place where everyone gathers and each person annuls his egoism as much as he can for the sake of uniting together. Then we reveal that there, inside of this unity, the upper one is present—Malchut, the Shechina. And inside of it—the Shochen, the Creator.

We don’t need anything else! Just come there and don’t be a smart alec. Lose your “I”: You come in and dissolve. Someone asks you to do something, so do it. Just connect to it, without any clarifications. The most important thing is to go with the common flow.

That is why the convention is appropriate for everyone, for every person. If a person can just come there, then a powerful force will arise there that will take us over and will spin us all in one whirlpool, like one whole. And we don’t need anything else. We won’t need a special mind or lengthy studies, but just that force. With it, you will already receive an impression of the upper one, of the upper level. So come!

You came there and you’re singing, dancing, eating, and preparing food, and you annul yourself before what is happening as much as you can. This will bring you to the upper level because it is there, inside, in the connection between people.

The tradition to hold mutual meals, to sing songs, and dance was established by Kabbalists. All of this leads to unity, and without unity, it’s impossible. Abraham once invited guests to his tent and first of all, he sat them down at a common meal, while explaining that it is necessary to unite and love the neighbor.

We won’t manage anything without unity. I understand that our egoism, our nature is against it. I was also opposed to unity once, and even more than you are. But that doesn’t scare me: For any egoism, there is a force capable of defeating it. Most importantly, try to be as determined as you can and set your mind to coming there and losing yourself.

Get lost in some unknown place, like a wallet that you had and is now gone. There’s just nothing you can do about it: It was there, and now it’s gone! Try it!
[62141]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Looking For The Mysterious Unknown

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn order to imagine what is love of friends and the Creator, we have to detach from this entire world and from ourselves, as if nothing exists besides one force. It’s as if there is no one observing it, seeing it, or feeling it. And this force has a goal: to create something equal to itself.

We do not know why this thought suddenly emerged. This occurred even before the first action occurred, aimed at our creation. We do not attain what preceded this. This is a boundary in our attainment because it takes place in our vessels—desires that did not exist before. We begin from the plan to delight the creatures—the program and thought contained in this single upper force, which decided, “I want to create creatures that are equal to me in order to delight them.”

That is how the upper force begins to implement the program, to create creatures and promote them to bring them to its own height. That is, the form of creation was set initially and must be the same as the form of the Creator. There is no creation without the Creator or Creator without creation. One exists opposite the other.

This condition of equality to one another determines the entire process. It’s like a mathematical equation where the unknown that is being sought out exists by itself, but it has to be equal to the upper force, its eternity, perfection, understanding, sensation, and qualities—to everything that is present in the Creator.

We do not know the Creator’s qualities exactly. We only know that creation must replicate them while remaining a separate creation. That is, in the end there is the Creator – #1, and the creation – #2. This is the difference between them: The Creator is first, and creation is second, but this does not get in the way of their equality.

According to this condition, the universe begins to develop like by a mathematical formula. We have to observe the condition that creation exists independently, having its own understanding, attainment, and sensation of itself, its freedom of choice—everything that belongs to the notion of “I.” And at the same time, this “I” must be completely equal to the Creator.

After that, this condition begins to come to life, like a person who planned to build a house and imagines its future form, and then begins to implement it: to build a detailed plan, to create the specifications, to determine the number of necessary materials and people who will work on it. But all of this results from the final form, which already exists in the Creator. And a lower form exists only in the creation for the time being, which is why it has to go through various changes.

These changes do not take place in creation itself, but in its consciousness, understanding, and perception of itself: who it is in relation to the Creator.
[62167]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Right Entry To The Convention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can I bring my body to the convention, even if I have no desire or intention…?

Answer: At least I lack the desire, I have a negative intention. Coming without any intentions isn’t good. You should at least feel: “I don’t want to, but I am doing it.” Then you should do everything that is required. When you cannot dissolve in your friends, doing what needs to be done is also a wonderful state.

One way or the other, you should be aware of what you are going through in the convention: I incorporate myself into them with all my thoughts and desires, and I put everything else aside. Only my point in the heart enters the convention, and besides it, I have nothing else with me.

Question: But I have no control over that.

Answer: This is precisely why we need the preparation that will enable you to be free of the unnecessary load. You come in order to expand the point in your heart, that is, to connect it with all the other points. No one needs the extra “load” that you have. Only our sparks, which connect into one, should glow in the space of the convention hall. I don’t bring the load of all my problems there.

Question: How can you lose yourself among the friends, dissolve in them?

Answer: You should do everything that they do, everything they want you to do, and try to add your desire to these actions. In other words, you try to “clothe” in the group.

Question: Will these physical actions influence my thoughts?

Answer: Of course, the hearts follow the actions.
[61962]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Two Attempts

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should we do if a friend is no longer imbued with an aspiration to spirituality? Should we pressure him or should we wait?

Answer: The convention is such a special thing that we must wake the friend up. In other cases it could be possible to wait, but now we have a very special and rare opportunity. Therefore, if we see that a friend doesn’t intend to come to the convention, we must do our best to convince him.

Of course, we do not use force, but persuasion because if we don’t do so, he will miss this great, once in a lifetime opportunity. We should leave him alone only if he finally says: “Leave me alone, I am not going.”

There should be two attempts. Imagine that your friend is leading his donkey along the road (this example is brought in the Babylonian Talmud that was written in exile, at the time between the first and the second Temples). And even if he isn’t your friend but your enemy with whom your relations are bad, if his donkey falls under his load, you must help him.

You take the load off the donkey, put it back on its feet, give it food and water, and then put the load back. If the donkey falls again, you repeat the whole process: You take the load off its back and strengthen the donkey with food and water, meaning with the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) and the Light of Hassadim (Mercy). After all, the “donkey” (“Hamor” in Hebrew) is the human matter (Homer), egoism. And then you put the load back on it. If he falls again, you are allowed not to help him any more.
[61965]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Come Empty

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can you advance in spirituality only by suffering?

Answer: No. Advance by goodness, it depends on you. Sufferings come from Above according to the plan, and you, on your part, can move forward with the help of the Light. Raise MAN (a request for correction), and then the Light will come and draw you forward in goodness. If you don’t ask for it, you will advance by suffering.

There is the force of evil and the force of goodness. The question is do I ask to receive the good force that will draw me forward more strongly than the evil force that will push me from behind? The negative force operates according to the plan (in its time), and the positive force acts according to the desires and the connections in mutual guarantee. My role is to do my best so that the evil force won’t reach me and to place the good ahead of the bad.

Question: How can we do that if we all suffer?

Answer: All the friends are happy every moment of their lives, except for you. We feel that we are inside the Creator who fills and envelops us. We feel eternity and perfection; we swim in the growing abundance. So join us and so that you will place the good ahead of the bad.

Question: How?

Answer: Do what we want.

Question: What do you want?

Answer: We want you to dive inside and detach yourself from your egoism. A “friend” is someone who forgets himself. Why should you worry about yourself if there, inside, you feel bad? Leave the desires and the thoughts that make you feel bad and come empty. Here, you will get new thoughts and desires from us. The choice is in your hands.
[61968]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Adding Myself

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Studies show that a person learns more when he gets incentives and rewards and not punishments. So why do we feel that the Creator educates us by punishments?

Answer: An undisciplined child doesn’t want to make any efforts or to receive rewards. He prefers to be idle despite the threats and punishments.

I, for example, was very stubborn as a child. I didn’t want to study what was taught in school. I didn’t find it interesting. So I received many punishments, but still refused to dedicate time and effort to something that I didn’t like. I read and learned a lot, but only things that interested me and not what was taught in school. Despite the punishments, I didn’t give up because the freedom to do what I wanted was more important. So I paid a double price: I didn’t get a reward and I was punished.

We too are in the same situation. First, we have to give up our ordinary life. Well, this isn’t such a big problem because today’s world is preparing us for that. Second, we have to give up our egoism, our “self,” the familiar reward: self-fulfilment. Our reward should be the opposite, the opportunity to fill others, and this is much worse than the school curriculum.

In the meantime, I don’t feel any punishments for not bestowing upon others, and of course, don’t see any reward in giving everything to others. So who would agree to such a thing?

Why did people come here from all over the world? Why did they give up their holidays and their convenience? Why did they spend so much time and money? A person is given an initial urge to connect, and then he has to respond to that call and not to miss it, to work with this initial desire.

Imagine how much money, time, and effort our friends have invested in order to fly here. Now they have to examine the situation in the following way: “Everything that I did until now wasn’t really done by me because there is none else besides Him. The Creator brought me here and has transported me thousands of kilometers. And now after I have received the urge from Above, I have to worry about how to add myself to Him.”

The more efforts a person makes in order to come here, the more important it is for him to add himself because otherwise he will not bring his “self” into it. It means that the Creator has taken him “by the ear,” put him on a plane, and brought him to the convention.

The upper governance is everywhere, so where is the “self?” It is the same “self” that has to reveal the Creator and to participate in His actions. It isn’t easy to add myself to them, but it is here that I have the chance. Thereby I reach the Absolute Good. After all, the Creator has brought me to this special action, and now I, on my part, have to become special as well.
[61972]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Everything Depends On Our Desire

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Will we be able to reach a permanent spiritual degree at the convention?

Answer: If not a permanent degree, we can reach a temporary spiritual degree at the convention. It will give us Reshimot (reminiscences) and create a particular spiritual picture inside of us that we will be able to seek later by arousing it over and over again and shaping it inside us.

Thus, it is necessary to wish for at least a temporary understanding of the next degree of creation, our next state, to form it inside us. The permanent state will come later. That is not a problem. A clear understanding of what to aim for will be formed in a person already.

It is possible to reach a permanent spiritual state. Everything depends on our common desire. If we want to, everything is possible!

A person’s location at the time of the convention is not important. If he can’t come for reasons beyond him, such as a lack of money, job, family, and so forth, it doesn’t matter.

Try being with us during that time at all our events. We will be open for you 24 hours a day. Even if we go to sleep for some time, you still are going to see an empty room and a few dozen people who are preparing it for the morning lesson. That doesn’t matter; be with us!

Everything that we study will be uploaded immediately to the website. Those people who can’t be with us in real time will be able to watch, listen, and relive our events immediately. We will do everything physically so that you can be with us, and you will do everything to be with us internally, spiritually. You can count on our support.

In fact, all the lessons that I give now, all our studies, are aimed toward convention preparation. It should warm, gather, and shape us up so that in those 72 hours we would simply “solder” together and reveal the upper world in that weld.
[61834]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/6/2011

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The Secret Of Longevity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we reach the quality of bestowal in such a short lifespan?

Answer: Your life depends completely on how much closer you get to the quality of bestowal. If you get closer to it, your life will be extended to allow you to reach that state. If you don’t, why suffer for no reason? You will have to be born one more time, and maybe then you’ll get lucky.

That’s why it is said: “Against your will were you created, against your will were you born, against your will do you live, against your will will you die,” meaning not by our own choice. However, if you have an invitation to rise to the next level, into the Creator’s castle, try to realize that.
[61837]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/6/2011

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Returning To The Unity That Already Exists

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe need the influence of the Light that Reforms to make of us one desire, one vessel. How can we summon this Light to shine on us? In order to do that, Kabbalists have described its actions. It makes no difference if these actions are directly connected to us. What’s important is that we awaken the Light. By our intentions, we awaken it, the “One, Unique, and Unified” that exists.

When I read The Book of Zohar, I don’t feel anything. What is described there is concealed from me. To imagine different images is to create idols. I know only one thing: The “One,” the concept that I yearn for, corrects the shattered vessels, meaning the desires that are separated by egoism. I want it to correct the separation. This is what I think about, yearn for, and demand.

I don’t worry about understanding The Zohar because as it is written, “it is not the wise one who learns.” This is called the “studying of the Torah.” After all, the Torah, the method of correction (as it is written, “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice”), is not attained by the mind. I correct my egoism and connect with others by the power of the “One.” In this collection of desires, I discover the new integral reality, the upper world.

We know this from the experience that each of us has after years of studying the wisdom of Kabbalah. The mind doesn’t help in any way. There is some internal change, and then I begin to understand, to feel, and to connect the different notions better.

So, in order to summon the influence of the One who will unite me with all of reality, I simply have to read about His actions. However, I aim myself toward the outcome of the reading, the influence of the Light that Reforms: It brings me back to the state of the One from whom it comes. This is what is important.

I add the group to this. I add myself, the entire world, and everything that I perceive in my reality. Everything has to connect to the notion of the “One, Unique, and Unified.”
[61832]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/27/2011, The Zohar

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