Audio Version Of The Blog – 02.03.13

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2013-02-03_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’3.2.13′]

A Residence Permit By The Creator’s Decision

Dr. Michael LaitmanKabbalists tell us that the created being has a goal and this goal is to adhere with the upper force. In any case, I am obliged to adhere to it whether I wish it or not. There are two ways to realize this: the path of good and the path of suffering. As a rule, we advance along the middle path because we are unable to choose just the good and most of the time we slide to the negative, so we try to keep at least in the middle.

However, I don’t know to where or towards whom I am heading. It’s true that I am driven by an internal impulse, but I have no idea how it works or where it drives me. In fact, I don’t know anything; everything is hidden.

What happens is that an unknown desire burns inside, and I can’t put it out. “Life is not sweet; everything is bad; I need something else…” An incomprehensible urge restricts my chest, and I can’t find a place for myself, I don’t know how to forget or how to disconnect from this life.

These distressed people come to the wisdom of Kabbalah. But as soon as I come to it, as they say, the Creator “puts my hand on the good fate.” In other words, it’s not my decision; He has chosen it for me. The game is sold. He set up my entire life and seemingly tells me, “You see, I have arranged everything for you. Here is a group—the best place for you. Here are friends—the best people for you. And you just have to strengthen your relationship with them.”

It’s not me who decides where to stay or what to do. My only choice is to strengthen. This framework also includes my relationships with my family and the external conditions but only in order to focus me on my connection with the group. I have to provide myself with basic material needs and devote the rest to the Creator, to adhering to Him. Now I have to relate to the group in the appropriate way; the family, children, work, and daily life are only necessities, and the rest is among the friends. “I have already chosen the best for you,” says the Creator, “Just take it and carry out.”

Another thing is that it’s impossible to carry out. Why has the Creator made it all in this way? It’s in order that we don’t forget about Him. Only by attracting Him, putting Him between us, can we unite. Each one with the group and we together in the group will be able to make some movements towards correction, unity, the goal, even if the tiniest steps, only if the Creator is our partner. This is the only way to move forward, provided that we remind each other about this. After all, no one can recall this by oneself. That is part of the changes that a person must go through. And it is in his power to organize everything properly.
[99341]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Thanks For The Honor
The Upper Program Anticipates Your Input
Replacing The Values

Fundamentals Of Kabbalah – 02.03.13

A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah

[media 1]   [media 2]

Be The Creator’s Friend

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe principle is very simple: Everything depends on how important our desire to receive, our nature, sees something. If I see an important person I have a desire to get close to him, and I appreciate him according to how important he is.

Then I look at that important person without taking my eyes off of him, just like a mother who cannot take her eyes off her baby since he is the most important thing for her. I will follow the important person and try to appreciate and even love whatever he likes, and gradually I will change my tastes in order to resemble him. To get close to him means to love what he loves, and to behave as he does. This is the law of bestowal and love, the law of importance.

Therefore, the first condition is “make yourself a Rav,” by seeing that the Creator is important to us; the goal of His creation becomes important for us, the law of equivalence of form, which we should attain. This is what we should work on.

The Creator is concealed so that we will not chase Him egoistically like we chase an important person in our world because being close to him promises me a real gain. I have to yearn to chase the Creator so that it will only be beneficial for my vessels of bestowal, so that there will not be any self-benefit in my bestowal and my connection with Him; that it should be only for Him, for being equal to Him and not for the filling of my ego.

It is because by the filling of my ego, I cut myself off from the Creator and only want to receive from Him. In order to allow me to chase the Creator so that I can adhere to Him by changing my attributes to His attributes, the Creator is concealed. We, however, have to change ourselves by the help of the society.

To the extent that the environment depicts and presents the Creator’s greatness to me, I can think about the changes in me, about changing my attributes to His attributes. Then by “make yourself a Rav,” which means by seeing that the Creator is important, I attain “buy yourself a friend” and connect to Him by resembling His attributes.

This is the whole process that the sages expressed in the short message of “make yourself a Rav and buy yourself a friend!” If we don’t see the Creator as great and important, we will not be able to get close to Him and to annul ourselves.

So there aren’t people who cannot succeed because they have a weak character or don’t have the brains, the sensitivity, or power to do so. The only explanation for our failures is the lack of feeling the importance of the goal, which we can always buy from the environment.
[99275]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/13

Related Material:
How To Light The Fire In My Soul?
Overcome Yourself by Raising the Importance of the Goal
Moving Forward Fueled By The Group

Put The Rider On The Horse

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What kind of work should we do with regard to analysis and acceleration of time?

Answer: To become like the Light means to reach the degree of bestowal. At first it’s necessary to separate yourself from the still, vegetative, and animate levels, and to understand the human degree, the degree of Adam, the one “similar” (Domeh) to the Light, bestowal. It’s necessary to figure out how I gather pieces of bestowal or grow them within through the correction of my relationship with my environment and the Creator.

This work is done every time above my desire, which naturally is inside me on the animate level. And I build the human degree, the form of bestowal, above it. The better the person begins to distinguish between these two notions, the greater the difference he begins to feel between the animal form within him and the human form, which is above this animal. All our work takes place on the borderline between the first and the second form, with the purpose of increasing the human form within us.

It’s not easy to separate these two forms within us in such a way that we perceive them in a completely equal way, as an inseparable pair: a rider, riding on horseback. Only then will we attain the understanding of what an animal and a human are. This is the main work of a beginner who needs to figure out how much attention he can dedicate to his animal and how much he must dedicate to his human in order to separate them and put each one in its place, so the one would control the other.
[99316]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam 

Related Material:
How To Measure Spiritual Acceleration
Moving To The Side Of Bestowal
A Ladder From Absolute Darkness Toward The Light

Dispute Below, Love Above

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is the plant for the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah a good environment for a person’s spiritual development?

Answer: We are working with the whole world and must bring it to correction. Our plant is a spiritual system, which we build among us, between us and the world, between us and the Creator. So there can be some fundamental differences.

Even if I work in a factory that produces cars, for example, I can still attribute it to my spiritual development according to how I relate to people, to the work, to the owner, to everything. But if we, together, develop a factory for the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah, for the dissemination of the method of correction, then how can we not take our group into account? The only thing the factory needs is for each member to carefully account for his actions, since first of all, we work using the Maaser (tithe) that is collected all over the world.

Secondly, here we encounter the connection between the friends and the connection between experts and one mustn’t be more important than the other. This means “you are my friend but the truth is more important.” So, although you are my friend, I can totally object to what you say when it comes to some serious professional decision. This, however, doesn’t mean that we are not friends any more. The decisions have to be professional and accurately based on our commitment to work in the most fruitful way for the correction of the world.

Personally, I have no questions about this. I can yell at the workers, reprimand them for not working as they should, but I love them no matter what; they are my dear students, my children. One thing has nothing to do with the other. It’s just like you treat your son: On the one hand, you can sometimes spank him, but on the other hand, you love him, and because he is your son, you care about him. One thing doesn’t negate the other.

It’s the same among friends: We do things together, study, become closer, and together we are one whole, but in this you are wrong. “You are wrong,” “No, you are wrong.” Practically we can fight as we try to find out who is right, but at the same time you can still love one another. We have to get used to the fact that there will always be two levels: Below there can be disputes, but above this, “Love covers all the sins.”
[99268]
From the Virtual Lesson 1/27/13

Related Material:
Solutions: Organize A Round Table
Being The Conductor Of The Light And Not The Resistor
Squabbles Or Connection?

Solutions: Organize A Round Table

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Sometimes when we start new projects we are unable to come to an agreement. In such cases we organize a roundtable in order to solve the problem together. Is it worth setting up such general meetings from time to time?

Answer: We should organize discussions on any occasion. All issues should be resolved precisely this way, but we need to stick to our principles at the same time. This means that we should not act like “angels” who make all decisions only from love and do not accept anything else. If everyone annuls themselves before all, then you will not solve anything. Therefore Kabbalah teaches us to follow the middle line. A clear and rigid decision for the problem means the left line. The absolutely opposite way, in love, means the right line. As a result the middle line appears.

You have to make a real decision by doing it all together.
[99265]
From the Virtual Lesson 1/27/13

Related Material:
Dispute Below, Love Above
Being The Conductor Of The Light And Not The Resistor
Where There Is Love There Is No Room For Questions!

What Does Creativity Fuel?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It is very difficult for creative people to realize themselves when working at an enterprise because its structure requires certain boundaries, and creative people need freedom.

Answer: What freedom does a creative person have? Is he not limited by his creativity? He must understand what he is doing, after all.

This is not just a free artist with wealthy relatives who does whatever he wants. And even in this state, he will not be able to create anything. Or he must be completely poor, like Modigliani who barely made ends meet, or something anyway needs to be pressuring him, otherwise he will not produce. But being “suspended in midair” is not creativity. All the great people have worked in difficult circumstances.

For example, Slava Zaitsev, a famous designer, suffered for many years because he was not being recognized or accepted, and he was badly treated in Russian, until he became known abroad.

Thus, freedom without boundaries is not a creative approach. I do not believe in things like: “Right now we’ll take our time, and we might show you the results in six month or a year from now.” One should not do business with people like this!
[99261]
From the Virtual Lesson 1/27/13

Related Material:
The Industry Of Integral Creativity
Smooth Education
Education By Way Of Dialogue And Discussion

Being The Conductor Of The Light And Not The Resistor

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What can we do if the load of working in the group and the load of working in the general Bnei Baruch factory don’t allow a person to deal with both? What should be given preference? Is it the obligations in the group or the responsibilities in the organization?

Answer: It is a problem I hear about everywhere, both in the groups in Israel and abroad. You have to decide what the priority is.

If we don’t deal with dissemination, then we will not be given anything from Above either, since we exist in GE like vessels that should conduct the Light from Above downwards to the nations of the world, and this is why we were given a spiritual awakening.

We must understand that we have to give below as much as we want to receive from Above in order to be the conductor of the Light and not the resistor. So you have to decide to what extent you can do that.

There are people who work in the group for the friends in the maintenance of the building, etc. There are people who deal more in publication, in production, in working in the society or in the global group, but on the whole the ratio should be that a person should aspire to give as much as he receives.
[99257]
From the Virtual Lesson 1/27/13

Related Material:
Dispute Below, Love Above
Your Personal Desires Won’t Take You Far
The Connection Between Group And Enterprise

The U.S. Economy Has Fallen

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Michael Chazin, economist): “Americans have admitted that politicians are sober people and understand that sometimes it is better to admit: there is a fiscal cliff. The reaction of experts: the worst expectations in relation to the fiscal cliff have come true. The actions of the U.S. government become completely predictable. There are no real actions to combat the crisis; there are no explanations, just a reference to the ‘objective’ factors. …

“The question is what they will do next. The recession will increase, there can be problems with the U.S. rating, and it is far more dangerous.

“Another option is to force the banks to lend to individuals despite the fact that they will not return them. But as soon as it becomes clear that the loans do not have to be returned, citizens will start spending money on silly things. It will give a surge in sales, but salespeople will use this opportunity to raise prices. This will be ugly and minimally effective.

“How will the U.S. government compensate for falling demand that causes an economic downturn? The GPD data should not be misleading: the growth of personal consumption expenditure is associated with permanent compensation; these expenses are much higher than normal household income. …

“In the EU, citizens are suggested “to tighten their belts.” It is possible that the U.S will choose this course as well. But the U.S. Federal Reserve is not going to tighten monetary policy. The authorities are in a state of dilemma; the crisis continues, there is nothing new in this.”

My Comment: Restructuring, resetting, rebooting, no matter what, but everyone will have to listen to the relentless law of nature. Life develops and exist only due to the combination of two opposing forces “reception and bestowal” (egoism and altruism) in the middle point between them, in the middle line if we consider the point in motion. Instead of including egoism along with altruism, we should use it wisely, carefully including it in the property of unity, in altruism, for the development of integral relationships. In this case, we will develop in harmony with nature.
[99302]

Related Material:
“US ‘Fiscal Cliff’: Tax Crisis Pending At Year-End”
A Gradual Realization Of A Dead End
The Recovery From The Crisis Is In Self-Correction