Leave The Donkey Out Of The Circle

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What inner action can I perform in order to help the friends and not just smile at them, but to actually bestow and give internally? I don’t want to just spend some time in the convention and then go home. I want to create and to perform this inner action, so how can I do that?

Answer: We are going to have workshops and you should try to listen to one another, and feel the circle that is formed by your ring. Everyone should lower his head before the others so that he can receive from them. At the same time, everyone can also add to the others, give to them. You should want a special force to appear in the circle, the force that will be shared by all the participants in the circle.

None of us has any feeling or mind of his own left since our own heart and mind belong to the animal, to the donkey, that is left outside the circle. In the circle, however, there are souls and not bodies. You don’t see physical people before you, but only their yearning to connect in order to reveal the Creator. This is for what this exercise is meant.

If we manage to connect correctly, we will begin to feel a certain closeness to something new that we haven’t felt as of yet. There will be a special feeling, a special force that is external to you, that pulls you out of your body. This is the experience we should attain.
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From the Convention in New Jersey 5/10/13, Lesson 1

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Willing To Prepare

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why does the desire to resemble the Creator appear in a person?

Answer: That is called a gradual approach to confronting Mount Sinai when I have prepared myself for a new system of values to be formed within me, when the attribute of bestowal becomes for me the highest and most important quality, and although I have no previous conditions for this, I am ready to part with everything for it.

This desire penetrates through the point in the heart that from the beginning exists in each person. But if it is still asleep, lost within the depths of a person’s ego, then there is nothing to be done. One needs to bring it out though gradual influence in a suitable environment that will awaken this point through all kinds of egoistic actions and influences perceived correctly by the person, and a person will feel that it’s worthwhile to do this since the environment confirms it.

This means that we wash and cleanse these layers in order to reach the point in the heart, and when it begins to come forward, a person is willing to give everything in order to realize it.

This is because the questions are unable to receive an answer in the egoistic dimension. This is the result of the previous steps of the influence of the Light on it. Concerning all the questions about his ego, a person gives one answer: “Because that is what I want!” After all, there is no other way to answer the ego. He is not able to justify this unacceptable act from his viewpoint.

However, one needs to approach this gradually. Thus, we need to understand that our dissemination of this system to the world should be done to the same extent that the world agrees and is ready to listen. And on the other hand, the general crisis operates in such a way that people are already able to listen to it.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/18/13

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Why Do I Feel Like Sleeping So Much?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do I have to make such great efforts not to fall asleep during the lesson although I exert a lot of efforts in the study and in dissemination?

Answer: I will tell you a secret: People who are attracted to spirituality, who want to reveal the Creator, don’t like to study…. It’s because they want to feel! They may even seem a bit stupid and sleepy. They can read the same passage ten times and not understand what it says. I have experienced it myself.

If you let someone on the outside read this passage, he will immediately “understand” what it says. This is very typical of the wisdom of Kabbalah since the point in the heart is awakened in a person when he reads, the point of feeling and not the mind. A stranger perceives the text in a totally logical way, and so he has no problem understanding what it says.

This is the reason that we sometimes see how new people come to the group and apprehend and master the material easily. It’s easy for them to understand what the text says, they immediately begin to study TES, and in a month or two already begin to discuss the most complex theory. People with the point in the heart, however, who have studied for ten years, cannot understand what it says since they are looking for a feeling and not for logic, like a clever donkey.

We should understand that there are two main obstacles for students. The first obstacle is when we discover problems in the group, in the relations between the friends, but we don’t understand that these problems are actually the springboard forward and we escape them.

The second obstacle is that a person reads the text over and over again and already knows it by heart, but feels that he doesn’t understand what it means. This is true not only with regards to the theory in “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” or TES, but even with regards to Shamati and other articles. Certain articles may sometimes move a person, but most of them seem dry and do not touch the heart.

This is actually a good sign. It is said: “It isn’t the wise who learns.” It doesn’t mean that I am giving you permission to sleep during the lesson, but in fact I do understand it. I have never made complaints to students who sleep since I understand them. It isn’t just feeling tired, but a result of wanting to feel spirituality. If they don’t feel that, they don’t understand why they sit in the lesson.

It’s said about this: “Time does what the mind doesn’t do” since the mind cannot really help us here, but time can! This means that with time the Light influences us when we are in the group or even when we sleep during the lesson. You should just let the Light work on you, and the sensation will come.
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From the Convention in New Jersey 5/10/13, Lesson 1

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The Major Law Of The Universe

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why is Kabbalah a hidden science?

Answer: Kabbalah is not a hidden science. It simply waits until everybody feels a need for it. Humanity has to realize that there is nothing else in the world except the general law of balance, the basic law of nature. In order to be happy, healthy (in an absolute sense of the word), and rise above this life, exit to the next level at which one can sense eternity, perfection, and unconditional health, we should follow the law of “love thy neighbor….” It’s the major law of the universe and the ultimate goal of the method called Kabbalah.

However, in order to approach this, humanity has to first realize that natural egoistic aspirations only lead us to death. Soon (maybe even today) people will hear that there is a method capable of bringing them to absolute harmony, which translates into absolute health, success, happiness, peace, benevolence, and well-being.

Question: Is it possible to formulate this law some other way? For example, “don’t treat your neighbor the way you don’t want to be treated.”

Answer: Yes, you can verbalize it this way. In any case, you should put yourself in your neighbors’ shoes and act out of this understanding.

This is called balance that expels all diseases out of us. However, there is another hidden problem here. How can balance eliminate illnesses if we are constantly subject to the influence of an awful environment, both human and ecological? No matter how one tries, one’s illnesses will remain intact. Not only does one have to correct oneself, but one also has to correct oneself relative to society and society itself.

We depend on humanity and the entire civilization depends on each of us. However, if one starts correcting only oneself, he’ll become a “dandelion” who admires everybody and everything around. By all means, he will feel more comfortable and balanced, but still one will never achieve the state of genuine health since other people around him are simply parts of his own organism. One has to correct humankind inside oneself; the rest will happen automatically and will instinctively lead to a state of harmony.

Question: If we correct ourselves with regards to humanity, does it mean that we don’t have to mend humanity on a physical level?

Answer: We have to address humanity and try to deliver the truth to them, thus helping them correct themselves. The world will not improve as long as there are people who don’t understand what the law of general balance means on a moral level.
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From KabTV’s “Medicine of the Future,” 4/7/2013

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 05.19.13

Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash “Shlavei HaSulam,” Purpose of Society – 1

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The Book of Zohar – Introduction

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Writings of Baal HaSulam The Mutual Guarantee

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Audio Version Of The Blog – 05.18.13

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
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Scientists Have Created A Remedy For Quarrels

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from NaturalNews): “An unusual scientific experiment involving the hormone oxytocin sheds new light on the dynamics of relationship. Known as the ‘trust hormone,’ oxytocin is usually associated with childbirth, lactation and bonding. Researchers are now studying the influence oxytocin has on happiness and contentment as well as harmony in partnerships.

“Created in the hypothalamus region of the brain, oxytocin is responsible for a sense of love, connectedness and kindness. Research has also found the hormone to be involved in feelings of fulfillment and well-being.

“Another study shows how an oxytocin nasal spray can help reduce conflict within marriage. Researchers at the University of Zurich observed 47 couples ranging in age from 20 to 50 who were either married or cohabiting for at least a year. Each couple chose an issue where they disagreed. The participants then self-administered a five spray dose of either oxytocin or a placebo. The couples were left alone to discuss the contentious topic while the researchers filmed the interaction. Saliva samples were also taken throughout the experiment to gauge nervous system activity.

“Compared to those who received the placebo, women who were given the oxytocin spray had a significant drop in nervous system activity whereas in men, it rose. Women became more sociable; men demonstrated heightened positive behavior.

“Kavita Vedhara, a professor of health psychology at Nottingham University, comments on the outcome of the study:

“‘What they have shown is that oxytocin appears to reduce women’s emotional and physiological arousal following verbal conflict, but that the drug has the opposite effect on men, increasing both their emotional and physiological arousal. It is not clear if the increased emotion in men was always positive, but it was certainly associated with more positive behaviors during the conflict situation.’”

My Comment: Undoubtedly, it’s possible to produce lots of various hormones that will turn us into zombies with a happy smile for any occasion. But nature aims at correcting egoism that has been deliberately created in us, not at providing pain relief for it. In the end, this experiment will reveal its special terrible consequences, and still nature will prevail and force us to re-educate ourselves in a sober state by means of the Integral Upbringing.
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I Am Above Desire; Desire Is Above Me

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt this time, we are at a certain level of egoism, and its value, relatively speaking, is approximately one gram. Spiritual ascent makes the level of our egoism rise. At the next stage, it will be worth ten grams, then one hundred grams, then it will expand to ten tons, ten million tons, and so on.

Thus, our receiving desires constantly grow, each time making a new spiritual vessel. This is the place where the Creator reveals Himself to us, when our desires are directed to bestowal and the well-being of others. We constantly use our desire, rising above it, while it charges upwards again and again. This is why it’s said: “No matter how much a person rises above others, his evil inclination will still rise above him.”


This begets the stages of spiritual growth during which the vessel, desire, increases within me, and in parallel to it I receive the Light, the property of bestowal.

As a result, by climbing the spiritual ladder, we create more challenging situations, up to hatred, felt by Rabbi Shimon’s disciples in the beginning of their studies. It’s impossible to grow without going through this stage. This explains why we have to be happy when we reveal the “wicked” within ourselves— after all, we can now correct them.

Question: While it happens to us, who acquires new vessels: the entire group or an individual?

Answer: Only those who experience internal leaps of egoism are able to acquire new vessels. We apply a group effort that each one of us benefits from to the extent of one’s individual contribution. Subsequently, if one’s participation in general work is not enough, he receives the least out of it since he doesn’t have a “place” to accommodate anything bigger.

Everything happens proportionately to the affliction we go through; there are no compromises. Our efforts are equal to our ability to absorb new portions of the Light. We can never “digest” more than we have contributed, never more than we give, since our bestowal, our straining, our desire, allows us to feel the results.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/13, Writings of Rabash

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A Failed Exam

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You said that it’s necessary to try to see the Creator behind everything, including my thoughts and emotions. But when something bad happens, it’s very difficult to hold onto Him, not to speak about getting out of such states. Why does the Creator put us into conditions above which we are unable to rise? Intellectually, I understand the need to surmount this, but it’s impossible.

Answer: There are no states above which we are unable to rise. Every state accurately matches our present level, which makes it possible for us to overcome it. If we make the effort and fail, this says that we have not sufficiently prepared a base.

Suppose you have to take a test, and you want very much to succeed in this test. But you haven’t prepared enough, and therefore, no matter how much you “sweat,” no matter how much you try to answer the questions, this doesn’t help. So, what’s the point of complaining that you invested all your energy and failed?

So, humanity and each individual evolve according to a program, and if we prepare ourselves and our environment correctly, it cannot be that we will not succeed in overcoming all the states that we encounter on the way. For these states do arrive in stages according to a precise program, and we receive everything necessary to be ready for them.
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From the Convention in New Jersey 5/10/13, Lesson 1

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The Technology Of The “Wisdom Of The Crowd”: A Unified Image

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In an integral group everyone needs to humble himself towards all and simultaneously rise above all. What does this mean?

Answer: When we discuss something, uniting between each other, we nourish each other. Suppose that our friend is speaking. So, on one hand, we seemingly try to enter him, to feel him, to be together with him. On the other, when I am speaking, then everyone is included within me.

It follows that when my friend expresses himself, I nullify myself completely and try to absorb everything that he is feeling and thinking, in heart and mind. And when it’s my turn, I bring everything out of myself, and everyone else is included in me in an identical manner. This is the first, smallest precondition.

In addition, people need to understand that they have to rise above the ego and not look at the faces of the others: I don’t like your glasses, I don’t like his nose, I don’t like his hair, and so forth. This is to say, I completely divest myself of the external appearance of those participating in the conversation. We try to gather our emotions, heart, and mind together. And when this shared heart and shared mind, that is, the feelings and thoughts that typify an individual are united, this creates one unified image that is called a “crowd” or a “group”; otherwise this is not even a crowd.

In our world we consider a crowd to be a mob that gathers in the town square to beat someone. It’s very easy to manage an average crowd. This is not so in the integral society. In this group of people, clear protection appears. In fact, no external force can do anything to them because they rise to another level, working at another frequency.

When people create a unified image, all of our usual earthy stereotypes, disturbances, and influences don’t affect them—they have another level of perception.
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From KabTV’s “The Wisdom of the Crowd” 5/6/13

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