Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.08.13

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2013-01-08_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’8.1.13′]

“Banging Your Head Against The Wall” Or Starting To Think?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to ask of the Creator? Where is this Creator? How can I ask for something from Him, if I know nothing about Him?

Answer: You should look for Him! Everyone should imagine Him in his heart, or perhaps in his imagination, although Kabbalists don’t deal with imagination.

The Creator is called the general force of nature. Why do we say that we turn to Him? This is really very confusing. But there is a force that I can discover according to my desire. In our corporeal life I also discover different phenomena according to my desire. If I had no desire, I wouldn’t see, I wouldn’t breathe. For everything, there is first a desire and then you experience, discover, hear, and understand it, open your eyes more, and make a breakthrough. It is all according to the desire.

It is the same here. The spiritual world is merely a connection that is concealed from us for the time being. In it we discover our life that is independent of the body; the body is dead, while we continue to live in this connection. This is called a “soul“. Now we have to discover it. Our body doesn’t interfere. If we annul it—which means that we live in it because we are alive, without giving it any special attention, without glorifying it, using it as is, feeding it, letting it drink, washing it and putting it to sleep, and taking care of it as we take care of an animal and not more than that—and invest everything else in discovering the soul, then we will discover it.

A soul is the connection between everyone. In order to discover it, you have a point, a beginning of a soul. If this point is missing, there is nothing we can talk about, you are free, go deal with your body, enjoy life. But if you have a point in the heart, the beginning of a soul that evokes you, that doesn’t let you rest, then you come to a Kabbalistic group and you are told how to start revealing your soul, your connection with others. It isn’t a connection between humans, between their bodies, but a connection between individual desires in which there is a point, a beginning of the soul.

Imagine that there is a concealed network among a million members of our global group (although there are many more). This is what we have to discover. The moment I discover the 1/125th part of this connection, I am already on the first level of the spiritual world and in that network, I discover the spiritual world, my self, eternity above time, motion, and place, the whole spiritual dimension, and the source of all this that is called “the Creator.” This is what we are attracted to.

There are people who have already discovered spirituality, written about it, and told us accurately and in great detail how to fulfill this revelation gradually, and what we should do. All this is called “Torah“, the book of instruction. It doesn’t speak about any physical actions or movements with our body; we can leave it alone. It is only about how we can develop our sensitivity through the connection with others, toward the upper force, and then you will attain eternity.

Question: I am sitting here with the text of The Zohar, trying to feel something else that is here as a result of our collective efforts, but I can’t. I continue, and I fail over and over again. You are saying: “Ask the Creator!” but I know nothing about Him, I have nothing to hold on to!

Answer: My advice is that if you have hit your head against the wall a thousand times, then perhaps something has “moved” in your head as a result and you can think a bit more deeply about the Creator: “Who is hiding there? Who is standing in my way? Who has put this wall before me?” You are not just hitting your head against the wall anymore, but you are adding thought to it. A person grows wiser as a result of the blows, right? This is what I expect of you.
[97414]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/13, The Zohar

Related Material:
To Ask The Creator
The Key To The Connection With The Creator
The Zohar Becomes Revealed In Love

An Era Of Small Ideals

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Scientists have long understood that it is possible to continue to advance only if we change our attitude toward reality, so why don’t they discover that changes must be made in the researcher himself, in man? What is stopping them from following this direction?

Answer: It is true that this realization was born in the time of Spinoza and Kant, but because they lacked practical tools, this approach remained theoretical. Scientists are reluctant to step into this field because it belongs to philosophy.

Psychology also deals with changes in man, but it isn’t a science since it doesn’t control the processes. We cannot change something in the body, for example, to disturb the balance of acidity, to add some more electricity, and by that change a person’s perception of reality, record the results, and repeat them several times in order to determine a certain law based on our statistics. We don’t have standard “buttons”; we don’t know exactly what every person discovers.

So what can we do? We cannot conduct similar experiments since this area is beyond human nature and remains unattainable. In order to study ourselves, we have to rise to a higher level. For this reason, science deals with concrete facts, and in the main direction it finds itself in a dead end.

There is nothing scientists can do about that, but at least they aren’t carried away by fantasies any more. It is true that they do talk about “boundary” areas, and deal with abstract ideas that sometimes turn into the popular science, and that is natural. After all, there are no new scientific challenges anymore, so why not “spice” it up with philosophy or with fantasy for the general public?

I don’t blame the scientists at all. They are looking for challenges and are filling empty niches, but it all stems from inner despair. In the conceptual aspect science is over. A person who wants to know reality better sees that his hands and feet are tied. A true scientist has an urge to discover things, but when he delves into the secrets of matter he sees a border that he cannot transcend, and this border is inside him. Beyond the inner border, his mind and feeling and even his imagination don’t work anymore. He discovers that he is in a “matrix,” a “pattern” that exceeds the limits of his abilities.

I understand this tragedy, the inner frustration that throws scientists in different directions, whether it is practical science, technology, or the opposite, philosophical theories and populism. There is nothing they can do…

A few days ago, for example, there was an article in the paper about stopping the particle accelerator project for the next year or two; this is after great efforts and resources have been invested in it and we are told that it is because the system is being upgraded, but in fact it is about a general trend of decline. Everything is stopping, even the space program humanity dreamt about. If space flights are not profitable today, then they are not funded. Romanticism is dead. It was affected before, but people still hoped for something bigger until the ego totally covered the whole desire. In the past there were all kinds of “bright ideas,” but now the fourth phase (Behina Dalet) is in control, destroying the remains of human conscience and good intentions.

Money determines everything. The rich also control politics and every other aspect of our life. Once it wasn’t only about money, but today it is the opposite, there is no other account. There is no pride, no respect, no offenses; they all belong to the past. Today you can only hurt people’s pockets, since this is what the wealthy take pride in…

Unfortunately, outside the wisdom of Kabbalah, people are still looking for a method to change the external form and not man himself. They would like to reach the essence, but they simply don’t have an inner point in order to see where the essence is and how to work with it. They try to connect, to love one another, to work for the good of society, but they are only declarations and not real internal changes. It is because a real change is possible only with the help of the Light that Reforms since otherwise everything is limited imaginary idealism. They think that it is enough to call everyone to connect generally, and then you are already corrected, that it is enough to speak about “love the others as thyself” and then you are already special… it is human nature and so there is no future in these connections.

As of today, there are two areas that are very close to Kabbalah—education and psychology. It may well be that people who study the global crisis seriously will somewhat agree with us, but then again, it is only to a certain extent, above which we still remain by ourselves…
[97421]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/1/13, “Body and Soul”

Related Material:
Horizons Of Perception
Thank You Psychologists, Farewell Philosophers
Are The Exact Sciences Really So Exact?

Not A Spectator But A Participant

Dr. Michael LaitmanDuring the preparation phase, a person who studies Kabbalah cannot use it as an exact science and operate according to facts yet. In this phase, I realize myself in the group, in the study, in the connection with the teacher, in the connection with the Creator, and through the sources. I study authentic Kabbalistic sources that are beyond the Machsom (barrier), although I haven’t transcended it yet. The group in my eyes is also beyond the Machsom, and especially the teacher as well as all the other Kabbalists and the Creator, the universal upper force.

Only I, miserably, am standing here below wanting to be incorporated in them all. I am incorporated in them through the group that has a guide. He doesn’t guide anyone personally; he belongs to everyone. He teaches the group according to Kabbalistic books, which were also written in a group, and all the friends together want to discover the Creator in the general unity.

This is the difference between the wisdom of Kabbalah and other wisdoms: Now I am just like a child trying to behave like a grownup, with the help of different “toys” that his parents have given him. If I do this, I grow correctly; I have a group, books, and a teacher—everything that I need. If I use them the way I should, I will advance.

One of the most effective means is our workshops. We make the most not from the wisdom but through connection; a workshop is an act of connection.

I hear what the friends say, and in my heart and soul I yearn to be with them, to participate in their unity, to feel what they feel, to think what they think. I am incorporated in them, and in that I begin to accept the necessary conditions for the upper Light.

We are ten people sitting together and in between them I find a warm common feeling. Even if I am viewing them on a TV or a computer screen, I am, in fact, looking at the connection, at the mutual cooperation between them. I observe and want to be inside.

Then I begin to perceive the Light that Reforms, the Surrounding Light, that develops my soul.

Not A Spectator But A Participant
This is why it is so important to see the group and to feel that I am in its center. I unite with the friends; I want to tie them together, to hug them all, and to feel one inner desire, one inner thought, mind, and heart.

After several such exercises, I start to feel much closer to the friends, to such an extent that through them I perceive spirituality.

Don’t underestimate the workshops because they are very near unity. It will come sometimes, more and more, and not just in the form of inspiration but as a spiritual experience from which the illumination of the Surrounding Light will become the real Light.
[97418]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/1/13, “Body and Soul”

Related Material:
Dissolving In The Cup Of Unity
Attaining Unity
The Bystander Effect

The Year Of Movement Toward The Public

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You said that the year 2013 will be a year of big changes. I would like to hear from you some kind of blessings, concerning this year.

Answer: I think that this year will pass relatively quietly in the world. The world will delay the end. The economic fall will continue, but in a slower manner; governments will print money, all kinds of “bubbles” will be inflated, and in this way the collapse will be prevented.

But we need to understand that this period is specifically good for us to reorganize, to continue the unity, to prepare intensively for training and good dissemination, so that we will learn to speak correctly to the public and will be able to reach them according to their level and be near them. We must show people that there is a completely different way of development and it is the only way that is correct, realistic, and unique so that they will understand that there is no other way, and then they will see that we are really offering them the only choice.

We don’t need to compete with others and to convince people that we are right, as the Soviet regime did in the past with its claim that “the victory of communism is unavoidable, because it is right.” We just need to work on ourselves, on the movement towards the people, and gradually we will win.

Thus our workshops need to be closer to the public, to people. It doesn’t mean that we are declining. If a person can explain lofty things simply, it is a sign that he understands them and that they live within him. He translates them from the language of the book to his inner language, and then brings it to others in a simple language. Thus, it is very important for us to position ourselves in this way in order to lower it to a simple explanation.
[97333]
From the Virtual Lesson 12/30/12

Related Material:
2013: An Excellent Year
The Way Of The World Group
There Is No Future Without Unity

Experts: Unemployment Will Rise in Euro Zone

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Global Talent Strategy): “According to the Ernst and Young Eurozone Forecast (EEF), 2013 will be a tough operating environment for both business and political leaders. Businesses need to plan for a European “lost decade” as growth will remain muted and unemployment will continue to rise throughout 2013, peaking at close to 20 million. The peak in unemployment is expected to be both higher and slower to unwind in the peripheral economies with the unemployment rate expected to reach over 28% in Greece, 26% in Spain and almost 17% in Portugal.”

My Comment: Inevitably, they should be engaged in integral education; otherwise, unrest will spread and flare up throughout the EU; that is, the error of not implementing mandatory integral education that was allowed when the EU was created needs to be corrected. The same error continues to this day with the reception of immigrants; they are not required to study and accept the laws and rules that exist in the society to which they immigrate.
[97429]

Related Material:
Where Is The Solution To The Unemployment Problem?
Spain’s Unemployment Rate Rises To 21.5%
UN Experts Predict A Rise In Youth Unemployment

Games For Grown Ups

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Roger B. Myerson, American economist and winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics, author of Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict): “The nature of the financial crisis, the war in Iraq, democracy in Russia, endless military conflicts and terrorist attacks, cures for depression, the presidential election … all these are games, which humanity has been playing for centuries. …

“So our lives are—the game. To win, you just need to follow the rules. A game is a process that involves two or more participants. Working in teams, shopping, negotiations, conflict and war… . Everyone wants to realize his own interests and uses a special strategy. … Game theory studies general rules that will reduce stress and facilitate peace.”

My Comment: Kabbalah views everything that happens as a game because without imagining the future state, it is impossible to reach it. I often talk about this in class and always cite the example of children who develop due to games. But a game should be carried out as by children, according to the rules of nature. In children it happens instinctively, but in adults only under the laws of development that Kabbalah reveals.
[97370]

Related Material:
What Is Our Life? A Game!
In A Playful Atmosphere
A Game As An Opportunity For Self-Expression

The Beginning Of All Beginnings

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe content of Kabbalistic books can be divided into two parts.

One of them describes our work in feelings between us and explains how through it to reach the Creator Who is not somewhere on the side but between us.

On the other hand, we are given precise Kabbalistic texts, such as The Introduction to the Science of Kabbalah, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and The Book of Zohar, which are absolutely incomprehensible to us. These books talk about the degree to which we must ascend and the actions that we should perform, so by having united and received the property of bestowal, we begin to feel the upper world in this property.

That is why, based on the articles and advice of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, we must carry out actions of unity between ourselves, and while reading the textbooks about the spiritual worlds, we draw the upper Light to ourselves.

In other words, one part of the primary sources is educational, forming our correct connections up to the point that inside them we feel the quality of bestowal, the Creator.

The second part is dedicated to pursuing the goal of unity between us, during studies, to the extent the upper Light, upper forces, properties, degrees, worlds and Lights are revealed between us.

We should strive to that as a child who longs to become an adult is driven by his egoistic nature. It keeps putting pressure on him, teaching him how to grow, and he tirelessly engages in this. Therefore, in our spiritual growth, we must try to be like children, and with the same energy, just as hard, playing all the time to go to the next level, to become adults, to explore this world of adults and adult relationships.

To do this, on one hand, we need to annul ourselves before the friends, and on the other hand, to be above them, to work on unity within the group, to seek every opportunity to add to it, deepen, broaden, and concentrate it so that in everyone one big spark gathers and lights between us. We should not be afraid that we “rub” against each other like nuts in a sack because this friction also produces sparks. If we know why we do this, we will succeed.

Most importantly, we should constantly be aware of the need to unite and adhere to the Creator and fear nothing. As soon as the group or individual people forget why they are here, they immediately turn from a Kabbalistic group to a “bunch of mockers.”

As it said in the Psalms: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” With these words, King David begins the world renowned Psalms, the book of man’s pleas and appeals to the Creator. They are accepted all over the world as the outpouring of the human heart. That is the most important thing! This is the beginning of all beginnings!

We know that groups have many conditions and problems, but they all converge in one point—the realization of the law “love your neighbor as yourself” because it is the law of the Creator. When egoism corrects itself to love, one becomes similar to the Creator.
[97480]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/8/12, Lesson 4

Related Material:
Text That Causes The Unity Of Feelings
The Force That Affects Unity
The Guide To Life

How Can We Grasp The Outer World? – Laitman Unplugged

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.08.13

Preparation to the Lesson

[media 1]   [media 2]

Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 144, Lesson 37

[media 3]   [media 4]

The Book of ZoharSelected Excerpt, ParashatNaso,” Item 179, Lesson 21

[media 5]   [media 6]

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 9, Item 2, Lesson 15

[media 7]   [media 8]

Writings of Baal HaSulam600,000 Souls,” (Starting with: “Yet, saying that”), Lesson 2 

[media 9]   [media 10]