Getting To The Center Of The Universe As In The Eye Of A Needle

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash, “Come unto Pharaoh – 2”: For this reason, we mustn’t underestimate the importance of the work in love of friends, for by that he will learn how to exit self-love and enter the path of love of others. And when he completes the work of love of friends, he will be able to be rewarded with love of the Creator.

We should know that there is a virtue to love of friends: one cannot deceive himself and say that he loves the friends, if in fact he doesn’t love them. Here he can examine whether he truly has love of friends or not. But with love of the Creator, one cannot examine oneself as to whether his intention is the love of the Creator, meaning that he wants to bestow upon the Creator, or his desire is to receive in order to receive.

You need to train yourself to evaluate the success of your spiritual advancement by how much you think it depends on the relationship with the environment. The environment is not just a means of our advancement towards the Creator, but precisely inside it, within our unified homogenous connection with each other, completely as equals, we will find the Creator.

If our entire attention is directed at the center of unification, we begin to understand that this environment is Shechina, Malchut of the world of Atzilut, the central point of creation, in which our advancement, spiritual birth, and growth must be realized. The entire spiritual life is perceived only in the center of the group. And depending upon how powerful the unification is that we are able to achieve, both in quantity and quality, by this we measure our ascent on the spiritual ladder and correct the whole of reality from the point of our soul.

All the work is in preparation so with the help of the Reforming Light we bring ourselves to the feeling that we fully depend on and get life only from the point of our connection with each other, which is the center of the entire universe. This is the point that we discover as “the eye of the needle,” and the common force of bestowal and love that is the Creator is revealed in it.

We become the helpers, friends of the Shechina and the Shochen; the Creator is revealed. Everything is only there. The main thing is to understand that all the accidents and troubles are caused by a lack of correct connection between us and to concentrate all our responses and efforts on strengthening our connection in this central point. When a person binds himself to the environment in this way, this connection becomes more sensitive, energetic, and unconditional; he already begins to advance correctly towards the revelation of Shechina, becoming its inseparable part.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/13

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The EU Will Begin To Fight Youth Unemployment

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from EUbusiness): ”… European Union president Herman Van Rompuy on Friday called on Europe’s leaders for help in fighting youth unemployment, now at record levels across the 27-nation bloc. …

“‘The number of unemployed people in our Union, especially of young people, is at record levels,’ he said. ‘It has become one of the most pressing issues in most, if not all, of our member states. That is why we must do our utmost to deal with it together.’ …

“The June summit ‘will be an opportunity to mobilise efforts at all levels around one shared objective: to get motivated young people back to work or education,’ he said, urging leaders ‘to actively contribute’ to fight youth joblessness.

“Fears are rising of ‘a lost generation’ with almost two out of three under 25-year-olds out of work in Greece and in Spain.”

My Comment: It is good that there are calls because the problem is growing, but as usual, funds will be allocated, plans will be created, hundreds of jobs for office workers will be created, and then one day they will remember them and see the result: wasted money… The only way out of unemployment is to occupy young people with integral education: It is inexpensive, reliable, promising.
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Child Cruelty

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Elena Galkina, historian): “Violence among children is multiplying. They have much more opportunities today to immerse into the virtual space, in the TV world, computer games; between the ages 5 to 15, they see approximately 20,000 murders, horror movies, thrillers, a huge amount of blood, and treachery. They conclude that he who is successful is a rapist, a murderer, one who views others as stepping stones, steals, and take bribes.

“A child needs to see an example of a good behavior towards others. Otherwise, as a biological creature, he sees how he should compete and, of course, he will choose this path of crime, violence, and social dominance.

“If we don’t resolve this issue, our society will turn not just into beasts but into a population that will not be able to reproduce because for reproduction even animals and birds require an element of altruism, an element of social cooperation for the common good, and not for the benefit of just oneself through the misery of others. If no attention is given to this, we will be faced with social collapse and the collapse of individuals.”

My Comment: This is the path of the realization of the evil of our nature, and only after recognizing it as evil will we be able to begin our correction as the only inevitable, sensible, and desirable action. The realization of evil can be long and cruel if we persist in remaining in egoism, or it can be fast and easy if we study it as a tendency to realize it as evil in order to rise above it by means of integral education, and then replace it with kindness and love with the help of integral upbringing.
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Checking The Compass At Every Step

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur every action must be directed toward the final correction. Otherwise, this action is imperfect. We always seek the end and on this basis consider all the states.

In his time, Abraham sent envoys to eastern countries. The forefathers had to deal with Hagar and Ishmael (representing the right line), with Esau (representing the left line), and with Laban and other characters (symbolizing various properties). All this was necessary to introduce specific details of perception that will be manifested at the end of the generations. The wars with Amalek, with the nations who lived in the land of Israel, were not limited by that “place,”—that is, part of the desire—above which it was necessary to rise and overcome at that time. No, everything was initially aimed at the final correction. All the efforts are gradually accumulated and added to the overall total.

The forefathers realized the necessary preparations to receive the Torah, and then the preparation continued by the way of correction of the people of Israel, with the same intention, to be ready to correct the world.

There are more calculations it seems. All the stages through which Israel has gone are caused not only by the needs of its development, but also by its purpose: to become the means of correction for the world. These people received the Torah not only to correct themselves, but also to be ready to help the world later.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in his articles, “The Giving of the Torah” and “The Mutual Guarantee.” Everything is interconnected and the end of action is inherent in the original plan, and that is why we must keep the course at Infinity (Ein Sof).

After all, at every rung of the spiritual ladder, at an increasingly higher resolution with higher definition, we attain the world of Infinity, a round, integral, analog system in which everything is interconnected. Be it a fetus in the mother’s womb, an infant, a child, or adult, we always are talking about a perfect system that has all the necessary parts. It’s only that some of them are incorporated in the potential for further development, while others already have been formed.

It does not really matter what is before us, a “spiritual gene” (Reshimo) in which the world is hidden or the entire world itself. They are one and the same. It’s just that first we attain the Reshimo, and then it opens in our perception.

So, the system is always perfect. It is the same Infinity. It only is revealed depending on the one who attains it. That is why in wanting to attain spirituality, I must imagine it completely corrected. Otherwise, I do not reach it through my desire, I do not intend bestowal.

The calculation is as follows: In the corrected state, I bestow upon the Creator. For this, I must prepare the receiving vessels, that is, the “nations of the world.” For this, I must prepare myself in order to be connected with them. Thus, stretching the thread from the end to the beginning, I proceed to any action.

Conversely, if in my every action I do not intend the correction of the world in order to bring it to the Creator, if I forget that He is revealed and enjoys precisely in the desire of the world, if I do not pervade my actions fully with bestowal, then I do nothing. Then I am like a plug that obstructs the path for everyone and represent the forces of impurity.

With every step, we must create this mental picture, this calculation, constantly adding to it and expanding it. At first, I calculate to benefit myself, then my family, then my city, then my country, and, in the end, all of humanity. As Baal HaSulam writes, today we are all one family. So, could I isolate myself from the world? In that case, I am not going toward bestowal.

So, every time, to the extent of my strength, I need to imagine the entire chain to the end. That is enough to become similar to the Light and draw it for correction.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/4/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From Faith To The Truth

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must yearn to actually see the friend as the greatest in our generation, to actually feel it “within reason” as if it were the truth and not as it seems to a person’s desire to receive. The desire to receive always wants to feel good and comfortable and so it instinctively diminishes everything around it so as to be “on top.” The most important thing for it is to rule.

So accepting the thought about the need to connect with the friends as a means for reaching connection with the Creator is only possible in “faith above reason” since we certainly don’t see things as they really are. It’s only according to this minor external condition—that a person yearns for the same goal and is ready to accept all the necessary conditions to advance towards it—that we begin to relate to the other as a friend as a means of connecting to the Creator.

According to these external signs, we decide to start working on our attitude towards that person. If he is ready to work together we dismiss all the other demands of our ego and we get closer to that person and connect with him in order to actually discover the connection between us, not only in “faith above reason.”

To the extent that we actually communicate, we approach the building of the spiritual vessel in which the Creator is revealed. The connection can be “‘above reason” when I don’t see that the friend is “worth it,” but I still connect to him. I use it as a means, which is called the time of preparation when I respect the friends not because I see that they are great. According to my senses I feel that I am greater than them, but I work above my senses and don’t agree with them and imagine that the friends are greater.

In order to transcend from a state of “faith above reason” to the state of “within reason,” which means to truly respect the friends, I have to correct the vessels, my perception. The correction of the vessels is when we begin to work on the connection between us, despite the fact that we know the opposite. We establish a society in which everyone impresses the others with the feeling of the greatness of the group and the goal.

By working together, we draw the Light that Reforms, and eventually we move from “faith above reason to “within reason,” and thus we continue to rise. The next levels are more difficult, of course. First the friends seemed quite average, having some good sides and some bad sides. When I had to work “above reason,” I could easily do it and accept them as equal, as partners along the spiritual path and even as the greatest in our generation. Their goal seemed important, and they seemed great.

But then came the hardening of the heart and I began to see different flaws in them, it became difficult to accept them as great and to see the Creator behind them, to warm myself by the fact that I don’t pay attention to anyone except the friends who become the most precious of all for me. Thus, each time becomes more difficult until I manage to overcome these interruptions and fill my measure.

Then all my efforts of working “above reason” turn to “within reason” and become the right vessel in which the first revelation of the attribute of bestowal takes place, which means that a person is filled with the feeling of the Creator inside him. Thus “faith above reason” is a gradual process, as we ascend from one level to the next, but when we build our vessel we have to yearn to have it within reason as much as we can.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 06/03/13, Writings of Rabash

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The Clash Of Two Civilizations

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In a peaceful society, a government of sages, great teachers, and saints is appreciated more. But in times of trouble, the first line goes to the revolutionaries and rebels who gradually become dictators. We are facing mass unemployment. Today it is already clear that revolutionary leaders are beginning to seize power easily. How will the new era that we will enter in the future replace these leaders, or will rebels and revolutionaries have to become educators?

Answer: Societies in which revolutionaries are prominent are the least stable societies that have no clear direction. They exploit every idea that at the moment seems necessary for attaining power.

As a rule, they combine this with religion and do so in most fanatic and cruel form. That’s because this is the most basic and prominent form that can be explained simply, adapted to certain needs, and presented to everyone. It doesn’t require any knowledge, quests, or inner freedoms, but on the contrary, only personal fanaticism and a range of vision contracted to a minimum: Who is with you and who is your enemy, and that’s all.

The problem is that the two weak civilizations clash. Western civilization has weakened itself in that it has completely neglected its cultural heritage. In the 19th century it was totally different. Its main value was the development of science and culture. Now everything has deteriorated.

Now neither science nor culture is valued, except perhaps only in a form that interests the leaders according to their personal, mercantile considerations that help to strengthen their regime. In our day only money and power have value, and they have transformed into identical concepts. Wealth, once despised even by great scientists and people of culture, has become above all. Today all scientists and people of culture can be “bought.”

This characterizes today’s Western “decadence.” We clearly see that the bestial state of a person in this society is what is most important and comes closest to the Roman barbarism: “bread and circuses.”

The absolute lack of education of the masses is what has led to this state. Instead of attracting the masses to culture, to the scientific elite, which were valued in the 19th century, absolute degradation has taken place. What is amazing is that all this began with Germany, which in the past was the cultural and scientific center of Europe. It was precisely there that this transformation took place.

And now Western civilization is encountering and intermixing with the Eastern civilization that expands not thanks to science, art, and technology, but through the power of the masses, meaning multiplication and fanaticism, that is, pressure.

Thus we see that this is what is taking place in Europe and now in America as well. In the end, it will come to the point when the Asiatic-Arabic culture may “swallow” the world.
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From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/17/13

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Education Or Nazism?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: With the dictators who have come to power like Hitler, surely there is a sense that they proceed as educators to save the society.

Answer: Hitler was not a dictator. He rose to power in a democratic election. The people chose him. Therefore, it is impossible to say that he conquered the government through power as was done, let’s say, in Russia or some other countries. Also, Germany was not a nation that could be conquered with the help of military force. It was done through the power of persuasion.

Question: Are you saying that sages who need to rise to power now also must persuade the people?

Answer: They don’t need to persuade, but rather to educate them, to tell a person about the meaning of his life.

Persuasion is only possible when you act on a beastly level. Hitler achieved specifically this: He put pressure on the beastly instincts of the German people. The same thing can be done with any other group of people since all of them are internally convinced that “we are unique,” and this inclination toward uniqueness can be raised to the level of fascism, Nazism, that is, people can be gathered with this and directed against others.

In the integral society, a new paradigm that we advance toward is completely different: General humanity, full integrality, similarity to nature as to a single system, a balance between us and nature when each one is in his place so as to raise humanity, to help everyone to “exit themselves.” This exiting oneself will be felt by each like an acquisition of an absolutely new method of existence in which a person begins to feel life precisely outside of himself and not within himself.

Specifically this is what the sage, the leader of the new world, disseminates and advertises, and so this can be absolutely differentiated from what all leaders and dictators have done before him.
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From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/17/13

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Such Restless Rest

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What can make the heart be more sensitive to the Light that Reforms?

Answer: Only the Light that Reforms can make a heart more sensitive. Nothing else operates on the heart or advances it toward correction. The heart is a desire that responds to the Light that influences it.

Even our most corporeal desires to sleep or eat are a result of the influence of the Light that excites the vessels. We are in a sea of Light that is in an infinite frequency of vibration. This is called “absolute rest” with regard to the Creator since all His actions are aimed only at correction and this goal never changes.

Everything is managed according to one plan and therefore, it is called absolute rest since it advances all of creation toward the good and is inclined to your maximum goodness all the time. Thus, we say that the Light is in a state of absolute rest, although it performs endless actions. It constantly fixes and corrects something, but for the Light, it is rest. If you love someone, every opportunity to do something good for your loved one is pure pleasure, and for you, a state of rest. The Creator can give us goodness all the time, and thus He is in a state of absolute rest.

Everything is done by the Light. The Light shakes you and wants you to respond all the time. When you begin to respond to it, you can expect to act together. You will be like a couple, like a horse and his rider, both feeling this internality. You must try to attain such sensitivity.

On our part, we must have a deficiency to resemble the upper, to adhere to Him, and to cooperate with Him. He will operate on you according to your deficiency. He will evoke the deficiency in you, will check your response, and will continue to evoke a new deficiency, and so on. It is up to you to find out how you, with the help of the environment, can develop your sensitivity to what is happening in you.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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On The Development Above Reason

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe see already in the ordinary experience of this life that the human being does not change. All the qualities with which he is born remain in him for life, only slightly adjusted depending on his understanding of which ones of them are more useful and which ones are not. In essence, as he was born so he will live and die.

Nothing can change us, and society, too, does not set the goal of changing the human being, knowing that we do not have the means. The change is possible only if a person has special properties that are subject to change, and these properties are not from this world.

These are spiritual properties from which I have just small, informational genes. Besides that, I am given a means for the realization of these genes: the environment through which I can attract the Light to my spiritual genes, which will develop and realize them correctly.

Thus, I will get spiritual properties in addition to my physical body and its sense organs through which I feel myself, the environment, and the entire world, feel that I am alive and exist. Thus, from my spiritual genes, due to the Light that Reforms, I can give birth to my spiritual body and grow it to feel a spiritual environment and spiritual life in it.

This is another, additional upper reality in addition to this world in which I exist now, regardless of my wish. All this development proceeds only by faith above reason because my opinion will always be based on my egoistic interest, and my egoism will never consent to spiritual development.

It is possible only if I raise myself above reason, understanding that there is no choice and society should oblige me through studies and the teacher’s instructions. I finally begin listening to his advice—the Surrounding Light gradually gives me the ability to hear. That is why I already am willing to bow my head, to bend my ego, my corporeal impulses, and begin to work against them.

Then I will have justify to myself: Why do I do this? Mere beautiful talks will not help here. I must develop my desire that draws the Light to itself. That is why I completely depend on the environment that can give me an additional desire. As much as I can bow down and make myself little with respect to the environment—play a child who devotedly listens to adults, restrict and bend my pride—to that extent I will be able to get higher values from them. For their realization, I will need the Light that Reforms, and thereby I will be able to advance.

All that work against one’s own natural, egoistic desire is called actions above reason. For the time being, these are corporeal actions in the group, and then I will begin to act in this way in spirituality.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/13, Writings of Rabash

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.09.13

Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Mighty Rock of My Salvation

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The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “The Vision of Rabbi Chiya,” Item 57, Lesson 27

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 10, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 16, Lesson 54

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Writings of Baal HaSulam Peace in the World

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