Audio Version Of The Blog – 11.02.12

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The Ark Of Unity On The Stormy Flood Of Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanAs The Zohar says: “He has seen that the angel of death is approaching along with the flood and he hid in the ark.” Meaning, that he understood that the claims to the Creator and spiritual work deprive him of the spirit of life, and therefore he came to faith above reason, the properties of Bina, the desire to be only in bestowal, to receive nothing and rejoice in his share, considering slavery to the Creator as a tremendous honor.

A person’s task is to organize an environment that will continue to guide him to the goal, praising its importance. He should take care to make this environment as large as possible and to make important to himself. But on the contrary, he is prevented from doing this by being sent questions: “Who is the Creator that I should obey Him?” and “What does this work give you?”

He begins to doubt why he should do inner work, what is the point? There are all kinds of interference in this work, coming from the family and various other sources. And only the environment will help a person stay on this path; there are no other factors. A person must understand that he has no power himself.

There is a war between two forces: The right side is the environment, the society, radiating the force of unity and the importance of the goal within him. And on the left side are egoistic questions sent by the Creator: “Who?” and “What?”, which over time turn into a turbulent flood.

Everything comes from above, from the same source, but if a person tries to set a strong environment on the right side to support him, by this he realizes his only freedom of choice. And then on the left side, the Creator organizes disturbances.

Caught between these two opposing forces, a person is completely confused; he cries, feels helpless to the extent that he needs either to escape or to hope for a miracle.

And then in this hopeless condition, when a person is almost drowned in the treacherous questions “Who?” and “What?” and cannot get out of them, the idea of the ark is suddenly born in him. He understands that he will be saved only if he gets the property of Bina, bestowal, Hafetz Hesed that will be higher than all his requests.

These requests will remain, a person cannot completely get rid of them; it does not depend on him. But if in spite of all these problems, he enters the ark, deciding that these turbulent murky floodwaters, all these doubts and problems are not related to him, he can be saved.

From what and for what is he saved? It needs to be checked! After all, the questions “Who?” and “What?” (“Mi” and “Ma” in Hebrew) that generate the floodwaters (Ma-im, “water” in Hebrew) offer a very attractive material solution. An ark is intended for entering a state of unity, adhering to the same goal. Thus, a person will be able to advance.
[91910]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/12, Writings of Rabash 

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Material For Advancing

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: As egoism continues to grow in every integral education group, will the leaders have to explain the inevitability of this process: quarrel, make peace, then again bicker?

Answer: Of course! All the work of the group and its advancement from one day to the next are impossible without rising above the ego. Growing egoism is the material above which we build ourselves. And such is the nature of this work.

Thank God we are arguing today; that’s great! Now we should try to rise above it. We will continue to rise while falling and clarifying on the way.

The tendency should always be to rise, only to rise! And we should examine all the descents, throes, and conflicts because otherwise we could become stuck in them forever, continuing to be at each other’s throats.

On the contrary, we need to really scrutinize them, to analyze them from the perspective of whether they cause us to advance—only in this light, in this direction. Our whole egoism rises in us only so that we could overcome it to the goal above it.
[91899]
From KabTV’s “Talks with Michael Laitman,” 03/10/2012 

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My Role In A Group

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It seems to us that people in a group gather by coincidence. But in reality it isn’t a coincidence and each person serves a unique role, which corresponds to a certain Sefira, a certain quality?

Answer: Absolutely! However this is not important to us right now. What’s most important is that people connect. It doesn’t matter what anyone’s role is because they all complete each other. In an integral system even a small screw carries the same meaning as the entire system because without the screw the system wouldn’t function.

Question: So the person doesn’t realize or understand what his role is exactly. But can you conduct an analysis of the groups?

Answer: What would be the point of this because without my sincere and voluntary participation, you can’t force me to do anything? Only an inner realization of the truly voluntary and free participation in this system will give it a state of freedom and perfection. There is nothing you can do against a rat or against any person.

Therefore, no matter how you examine this system, the only thing you can do is strengthen integral education. This is the only thing that can uplift people and further unite them. Of course different research will be done. But basically we should understand that only this type of action is good.
[91789]
From KabTV’s “Talks with Michael Laitman” 3/10/12

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I Want To Escape To The Upper World!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are so many beautiful bright people and forces in this world. And in spirituality, it is said, “There is none else besides Him,” dryly and simply. How can I feel attraction to the spiritual world and taste and pleasure from it so that I will want to rush there?

Answer: How can you feel an attraction to the upper world? If you felt more attraction than you do now, you would be driven by your egoism, you would never be able to rise above it to overcome it, and you would hasten there. So it is concealed in order to give us as the opportunity to make efforts that are above our ego, not for our self-benefit.

If we moved to the upper world through our egoism, we would forever stay within our selfishness, we would have no chance to get out of our egoistic shell, and we would be buried in it, buried alive. We would never go beyond the egoistic sphere.

If the upper world were revealed to you right now, you would immediately understand that this material realm is worth nothing at all! We would clearly see that people are animals that live only to feed themselves. I feel sorry for this life; at this point, nothing is worth our efforts, there is no sense to have children and continue suffering…nothing really matters! Is it clear? Then what?

Ah, there is the upper world! First and foremost, it’s eternity that is beyond any limitations. Time, movement, information, everything becomes completely open to us. Time ceases to exist; it only exists in this world, as physicists say, only below the speed of light. Information becomes completely available there. One begins sensing oneself as existing in infinite space. One acquires absolute knowledge about everything that is going on in the entire system of the worlds, in the whole universe, since this system is analog. There is not a system clock, it does not work on pulses; it is always in continuous motion and at the same time rests in calmness. You feel that you are inside of it and at the same time you know that It somehow exists within you, meaning that you are everything there is!

If you happen to see even the smallest piece of that picture, even one gram of it, you’d become a slave to this sensation. Baal HaSulam writes that if the revelation of the upper worlds to us would happen before the contraction of our desires (at which point a man becomes able to keep his egoism to himself and even rise above it), then even one drop of revelation of this enormous pleasure would force one to chop off his hands and feet seven times a day just to experience this sensation once in his lifetime.

Do you understand? You would be a slave and couldn’t do anything at all except to pursue this pleasure. You would make huge efforts in the group and everywhere else only to receive this sort of pleasure. In other words, you would aspire to it egoistically, and thus you would distance yourself away from it even more.

Question: How can we possibly want to achieve that state if we don’t have powers of our own?

Answer: Ask your friends. Only they can ensure your future. If they go for it, you’ll have it, if not, you won’t.
[85914]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Lesson 1

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Hurricanes Warn Humans

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (from The Voice of Russia):Nature warns humanity of the impending disaster, but humanity does not want to hear it. Recent natural disasters are becoming more destructive and less predictable, but humanity hardly learns from disasters. …

“Nuclear reactors and defenceless cities still rise on the way of tornados and tsunamis. …

“Hurricanes have become more powerful and occur more often. Their path is difficult to predict, they are more difficult to prepare for. …

“For example, the current storm Sandy has a completely non-standard path. It made its way through Florida, Louisiana and made an impact in the northern latitudes. This is very unusual; in the past, hurricanes did not behave in this way. In addition, Sandy was nearly twice the size of other massive hurricanes. …

“The number of hurricanes has increased by 20-30%, and above all very powerful hurricanes. That is why it is necessary to prepare for a range of surprises. … Hurricanes of such power will not reach Russia, and they cannot be created locally, as they are born over oceans. But our own natural disasters will reach us. … There is a sharp increase in tornadoes in central Russia.”

My Comment: We do not fulfill the condition of balance with the global integral system of nature due to our intervention at all the levels: the still, vegetative, animate and especially human. Our society is not integral, but individual, it is not in homeostasis. The failure to observe the unity of nature threatens us with disaster.

Nature will force us to change from hatred and competition to unity and cooperation against our will. Like its smart children, we can understand and reduce the path of suffering in advance of the disasters, by correcting ourselves.
[91936]

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Hurricane Sandy: The US Vs. Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Sandy leaves behind not only great damage but also certain “vibes” in the air. After all, it has touched millions and made their hearts beat faster. What is the message they can learn from this?

Answer: First, I don’t expect them to search their hearts as for the upper governance: “Why is this happening to us? What have we done? What didn’t we do?” Here everyone has their own account.

But generally speaking, Americans must understand that something is happening with the US. Once it was a dream, a model of democracy, and the search for something better. Despite all the dirt that our ego brings, no matter what it touched, there was also something good. But the positive aspect came to an end long ago when it turned into the exploitation of the whole world in order to satisfy the needs of Americans who are also proud of this situation.

Lately this phenomenon has reached such dimensions that in the current circumstances the US has no right to exist. So it turns out that in everything that you do, you harm others, and it is only in order to gain a bit more, even if you actually don’t need it. This approach is unthinkable since it is totally opposite from nature and doesn’t lead to correction.

The upper governance accepts all forms of human behavior that enable people to learn something and to come to the right conclusions, to understand what is good and what is bad. But the circles that govern the US have crossed this line last summer when they stated the “Arab Spring” in Israel, wanting to bring about the destruction of the state of Israel by revolution. I felt and saw it with my own eyes in everything that happened.

They make their people believe that Israel has no right to exist. This is the intention of those in charge (except for a few intelligent people—to shift the public opinion in this direction. By that they pull the carpet from under their own feet.

If they continue this trend, we will suddenly see how quickly the disintegration can take place. After all, the advanced and sophisticated infrastructure is actually a weak spot, and if you destroy it there will be nothing left.

For instance, what is the city of New York without the vital subway that brings million of commuters to work? Modern technology is a two-sided coin. It is sign of progress and at the same time a vulnerability. We can draw an analogy to elementary forms of life that can survive in harshest conditions while developed organisms are weaker in the face of threats. So it is very easy to shake the foundations of modern man.

Americans don’t understand what the laws of nature are. Today, according to the general plan, any state that wants to be prosperous has to help the nation of Israel in the process of correction. Of course, they have to pressure this nation since otherwise nothing will come of it, but the pressure is only one of the conditions that together with others have to spur the people of Israel to act: “You have to perform the correction, this is what we expect of you.” Ideally, this is exactly how the process should take place.

But the Americans act in an opposite manner and actually block their “infusion” by themselves, cutting the branch they are sitting on. Thus they will not advance, although at the moment it seems that their situation is improving. It will not improve. The figures can be wonderful, after all the “bubble” has been inflating for decades, but it won’t take long to puncture it.

I foresee difficult times in the US. Of course they will try to pass on their difficulties to the rest of the world, as they have been doing for many years, but still, this state will encounter great difficulties if their attitude will remain the same. I hope that it will change if Mitt Romney wins the elections. If not, things will get worse and the path of suffering will truly be revealed.

I am saying all this only from the perspective of the plan of creation, and there are no other considerations involved here.
[91802]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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About Suffering Great And Small

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe giving of the Torah, meaning the method of correction, is not a one-time event, but a constant process; each one who feels a need for correction receives the method of correction. It was said, “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice for it.” The criterion is simple. If a person wants to correct himself and discovers that his desire is bad, that it is the evil inclination, then an inner outcry directed at correction is born within him that is aimed at the need for correction for deliverance from the evil.

We naturally tend to always get rid of the bad that is within us. The whole point here is whether a person really feels this? Is he willing to bear the bad feeling, despite the countless possibilities to neutralize this feeling and avoid the demand for correction?

And it can be vice versa, to sweeten the situation by evading it, saying, “After all, this isn’t so bad. I’m not worse than others. And why do I care about it at all?” There are a lot of “diversionary paths” that help one escape from the bad feeling. This is because it is very unpleasant and involves great emotional pain to reveal how evil I am.

Therefore a person needs support, great help, which will provide him with secure support. He reaches the real recognition of evil through this; he will scream from lack of choice, and along with it, he doesn’t escape from the path. And then he is really in need of the Torah.

How can one reach such a state where we are really “shackled” and can’t escape from the suffering so strongly that we receive the Light that Reforms from Above? This can be accomplished through very great agony through the path of development called “In due time,” the path of suffering. These sufferings come from a corporeal level and obligate us to spiritual work. The gap between these two levels is so big that suffering is many times more powerful than on the path of hastening which allows one to recognize the necessity for the Torah in the spiritual work.

In this spiritual work, we begin to use the Light that Reforms and examine ourselves from the spiritual degree. We recognize the necessity for correction not because we have a bad life, but because we ourselves yearn for it. Accordingly, the suffering has a different form: spiritual and not corporeal. Therefore according to this, their quality is much higher, their pain is much deeper, and the intensity is such that the person is capable of tolerating it.

The uniqueness of the wisdom of Kabbalah is that it explains how to progress on the path very quickly, by feeling a little suffering quantitatively, but great qualitatively. Thus we can shorten the path; we can divide the suffering with the friends and pass it to them in small quantities. There are many advantages in following the path of Torah compared to the path of suffering. It allows us to ascend to a different qualitative level of progress.

Today, when the whole world is sinking under the troubles of the path of suffering, we want to show to people and ourselves how to advance on the path of Torah. We are at the head, as owners of the method, and they after us, until we all come to the beautiful goal.
[91418]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 11.02.12

Preparation to the Lesson

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Shamati #56 Torah Is Called Indication

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The Book of ZoharSelected Excerpt, ParashatKdoshim,” Item 123, Lesson 9

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Preface to The Book of Zohar (Starting with: “He is called ‘Upper Adam'”), Item 38, Lesson 29

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