Audio Version Of The Blog – 08.08.13

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2013-08-08_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’8.8.13′]

Friends Who Grow To Infinity

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are in concealment in our relationship with the Creator. We do not feel what exactly comes to us from Him and do not see that all this is for our benefit. We evaluate good and evil according to how much and what our “animate” level feels.

This is the main attribute of concealment. If we had felt that everything comes from the Creator, the Good Who Does Good, we would have seen the world differently. How can we achieve this?

The Creator sends us His attitude of the Good Who Does Good not applied to the egoistic desires, but in relation to the goal, wanting to raise us above the “animate” to the human degree. Thus, His influence always seems bad to us, harmful for the “animate” level.

In the same way, the child feels under constant pressure from his parents: “You have to eat well, don’t get dirty, clean up after yourself, keep your things in order, study this, read that, and so forth.” We constantly demand something from him, wanting to nurture the human degree in him, and this looks bad in the eyes of the “animate level” that wants to grow freely.

However, children in our world strive to look like the grownups, learn from their examples. For us, the example is the environment in which we will grow like children who develop easily.

We see that development occurs due to many efforts. And accordingly, the more good examples I have before my eyes, the less effort I will need to invest. My nature will want to be like others.

This means that if the environment is important and valuable in my eyes, if it appeals to me, if the friends play before me showing that they are great and they have connection with the Creator, if time after time they show increasingly higher and more qualitative examples, then it is easy for me to develop and I rise without much effort.

Conversely, if the environment does not give me good examples or if I ignore it, if we do not raise the Creator in our eyes together, then it is difficult to move forward. It is a problem; I do not have good teachers.

Thus, in order to not be an “animal” in the course of his development, a person has to participate in this process himself. Together with friends he builds the group, the environment, so that it always appears to him higher, growing more and more. As a result the friends for him are in the world of Infinity, and the greatness and quality of the group is compared with the Creator—and no less. If the group in his eyes is lower than the Creator, then he does not appreciate it enough in order to optimally and as quickly as possible develop with its help. This is what we should remember.
[114047]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/6/13, Shamati #8 “What Is the Difference Between a Shade of Kedusha and a Shade of Sitra Achra

Related Material:
Lift Your Head To See The Friends
While Collecting Grains Of Awe
“Under Its Shadow I Delighted To Sit”

The Rotten Seed Of The Old World

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn order to transcend to a new level we have to attain a state in which you have no idea what is happening to you and all the old forms disappear. You cannot work with them nor can you hold on to them anymore, and you feel puzzled and confused both in your mind and heart.

The world seems so strange and unfamiliar that you don’t understand which world you live in. you are like a seed that was totally rotten in the ground and has lost all form and direction. You have already lost your old form and have not received the new form yet. Thus you move from one state to the next.

You will see how different this is from what you see in your corporeal, healthy egoistic mind and heart. A state of disorientation, helplessness and confusion becomes the beginning of a new man on a new level. To the extent that this seems undesirable from a realistic egoistic point of view, it is actually desirable for a person’s advancement.

There is a law that the individual and the general are equal. So the whole world is in the same state today, feeling this confusion, not understanding where it comes from. The whole world feels powerless and in despair. People don’t know what to do next: All the old views, all the old paradigms, the whole perception of life is disappearing and going bankrupt.

It is the first time in history that we are in such a position. There are no leaders, no dogmas, nothing. No one is saying that he knows what needs to be done anymore. Where are the revolutionaries of the past like Che Guevara, Marx, they are gone. It is a sign that all the ideas and views, all the previous approaches have rotted, like the seed that rots in the ground, from which something totally new has to grow now.

We have reached a state of Ibur (conception) and from now on the new world will begin to grow and to develop. The old form is lost and soon a new form will be depicted. The world doesn’t know it yet. But we, those who engage with the wisdom of Kabbalah, are the new Reshimo (spiritual gene) for the world, transferring the world from the old state to the new state. The world needs guidance growing in this state, and we have to fulfill the role of the Reshimo and reveal to the world how to advance and grow onward.

In all the other states what needs to be done is revealed by itself according to natural laws. It is instinctively clear to the still, vegetative, and animate nature what to do and how to grow. But on the human level this growth has to be done consciously by special efforts. It is by this that man is different from an animal.

Our body is an animal, but the mind has to be human, like Adam, which means “Domeh” (resembles the Creator). So we have to advance to the new state consciously, knowingly, by our own powers. Here we need to wake people up, to arrange them, to guide them. Therefore, Israel is called Li Rosh (I have a head). One can only grow by understanding, consciously and by making efforts, and we do it gradually. We grow by getting closer to fulfilling this role, and the world becomes more and more desperate and ready for us to raise it. It will happen very soon.
[113817]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
A Decisive Moment In History
Global Revolution
A Breakup For The Sake Of Unity

Exquisite Egoists

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: The truth is that the root of this whole disorder within us is no more than the above-mentioned attribute of singularity, which exists within each of us, whether more or less.

And although we have clarified that it comes from a sublime reason, that this attribute extends to us directly from the Creator, who is single in the world and the Root of all creations, still, out of the sensation of singularity, when it sits within our narrow egoism, it affects ruin and destruction until it became the source of all the ruins that were and will be in the world.

Nobody will make any progress until we realize the degree of our singularity that was given to us by nature. Everyone has to fully see their egoism in its authentic form. Meaning that on this material plane, in this world (the way we perceive it) before anything else, we should understand the basics and realize the magnitude of our desire to act solely for our own sake.

Eventually, we will figure out that we are the only ones who we ever take into account and that we never hesitate when it comes to “overlooking” others; we always do whatever we want with others if it brings us even a tiny drop of delight. When we analyze our calculations, we see that we don’t care about anything else but ourselves, and that a minimal particle of our pleasure is equal in our eyes to world-wide afflictions. Let this realm vanish, burn or continue suffering forever!

Unless we discover this condition internally, we won’t “get acquainted” with ourselves. Actually, it’s a realization of the attribute of singularity, meaning the realization of the evil inclination.

It’s extremely hard to reveal this within ourselves. Even if we admit our wickedness, we still don’t agree with it internally. An evil inclination does not allow us to go through the process of self-scrutiny, nor does it let us visualize or sense our nature, our exquisite egoism, our “I-ness,” that obscures the entire picture of the world from us, nor does it leave any space for anything else. It’s like others just don’t exist; we are simply unable to take them into consideration. They are out of our range of perception. This kind of awareness is an essential step on our way to correction.

Question: Why does our egoism conceal the truth from us?

Answer: It’s a natural defense. Our egoism doesn’t want us to suffer. If we saw the entire degree of wickedness we have, we would strive to rid ourselves of it. That’s why our egoism hides the truth from us: It slightly shows some the edge of the cover and then re-covers it. It’s organized this way to make us sink deeper and deeper until we hit the very bottom, maximum realization. At that time we are ready for the Light’s help.

Until then, we are not “equipped” for that; we just would resist our desire to self-correct, we’d run away at the very last moment. If our egoism didn’t protect us from negative sensations that we experience because of our awareness of our egoistic essence, we wouldn’t be able to continue our work.

This explains why a cognitive process happens in “jolts.” A moment ago we were astounded by our wickedness, but the curtain falls and once again we catch ourselves having vile thoughts about others: “I wish him to be dead! Why do I need him at all? He is in my way…” And yet again we are shocked by our malevolence, but then once more we forget about it. Generally, every attribute is paired with its opposite. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to penetrate to the very depth.

In any case, if we don’t aspire to the good, we will never recognize our malevolence. It’s a universal rule that works at all states that we go through. We seek benevolence and bestowal; we want to stay with our friends; we pursue our great goal without hesitation, without looking around, without “beating around the bush.” However, instead of benevolence, we discover loneliness, obliteration, and chaos.

It is said: “Do what you can.” It means that one should be a “good boy” and aspire to the goal stubbornly and steadily. On this path, one learns lots of things and becomes smarter, but the main thing is to continue advancing and acting.

Question: Can we prepare ourselves for a revelation of evil beforehand, so that we can immediately correct it?

Answer: No, we never should prepare ourselves for evil. A person who worked in a circus once told me that acrobats have a very important rule: before they performance begins, they check where they might fall. They know ahead of time where they will land if they fall and what position they will keep while falling.

In spirituality, there is an analogue to this training. However, we work not for the sake of falling. We should always aspire forward. Yes, we have to prepare the “rear guard,” but our eyes should see the goal ahead. We don’t intend to retreat.
[113201]

Related Material:
Refuse To Pay The Debts of Egoism
See No More Evil In The World
The Whole World Is In One Boat

A Small Sacrifice For A Great Goal

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn a Kabbalistic group, love for another is attained when we stop paying attention not only to the externality of the friends, not only to their physical appearance, but also to their inner potential, because all this mixes together and each one works within the other.

We have already spoken of this not just once, that I don’t have those desires in me that I can fulfill through the Upper Light, through the Creator, through attaining the upper world. They are all found in you; whereas in me, they don’t exist. There is only a point in me and no more than this.

To the degree that I acquire your desires as mine, “and you shall love your friend as yourself,” so I acquire that spiritual Kli, those desires, that I can fill. And through their fulfillment, I fulfill myself.

Together with this we transform into very big egoists, only this is no longer called “egoism” because you see I overcome my small physical ego in order to acquire a gigantic desire that is filled by the Light through the presence of the Creator. And all of this is mine!

Therefore don’t separate from anything, don’t escape anything, don’t sacrifice anything, and don’t pretend you are heroes. On the contrary, you are approaching very great reception of Ein Sof, therefore this wisdom is called the “science of reception.”

The one thing, as Baal HaSulam says, is that there is a small psychological trick here where we must overcome a psychological barrier that I “as if” fulfill others relative to my present self.

But as soon as I gradually begin to feel the way a mother feels towards her child with the group, that this is mine, then immediately it becomes understood by me that it really is mine. This is my acquisition, my Kelim. And that’s it! This is your world of infinity. Please, be like the Creator, take control of it, you will get it, and enjoy it!

Because what is the goal of creation? To enjoy! Therefore don’t try to make of yourselves holy martyrs. We sacrifice the smallest most nothing ego in order to leave it and acquire a truly limitless Kli filled with infinite pleasure.
[113923]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

Related Material:
Working In Sync
The Strongest Weapon
Open Heart Surgery

Love Is The Way To Happiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Arguments and Facts): “Love doesn’t die. Partners who love each other a lot, even decades after marriage feel that sense of euphoria (caused by the secretion of the pleasure hormone dopamine), as do couples freshly in love. The difference is in this; with those who have not been in love for long it has been observed that there is increased activity of regions of the brain responsible for passion and excitement. And with the partners who have been in love for a long time, activities in areas of calmness and suppression of pain became prominent.

One glance. Love is aroused in a fifth of a second after eye contact, and comes to expression in strong stimulation in 12 areas of the brain. The number of hormones that are secreted into the blood is different, which disrupts the normal activity of the nervous system.   From here comes the expression: ‘Losing one’s head from love.’

“A drug that is not harmful. Love influences people in a form like this; they forget obvious things and lose the ability to concentrate, which is to say that love influences the human body in the same way as drugs. Memory and concentration become less active when a person sees a picture of the object of his love.”

My Comment: Spiritual love—(not that which is egoistic or natural, like the love of a mother for her child or love for someone of the opposite sex, which fulfills the ego), love that is created in us “artificially” with the help of the upper Light (the Surrounding Light – Ohr Makif) according to a particular method (the method of integral education), that in spite of our ego, one loves the other—in love like this, the feeling of a higher power is discovered because a person begins to see the world through other people, in their desires and characteristics. In this way the person “leaves” his body (the senses) until the creation is comprehended as an eternal field of power and emotion.
[113274]

Related Material:
Forecasting How Long Love Will Last
Hugging A Loved One Strengthens Health
Is There Love In This World?

The Human Being Is Intention

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll the created beings are under the control of the Creator, the upper force. The Creator created only one thing—the desire to receive that is divided into four levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human. These stages descend from the connection with the Creator, from the “world of Infinity” to the state of “this world” in which they are completely disconnected from the Creator. They descend because only by participating in the creation of the connection with the Creator will the created beings feel, understand, attain, and make their life have the same state as His.

To do this, the entire desire to receive should take the form of the desire to bestow, inherent to the Creator. On the way, the created beings attain the upper management and obtain the ability to act as the Creator does. That means to be like Him.

In order to bring all the created beings to the state of belonging to all four levels, the most developed desire of the fourth stage—the human, Adam—must first establish connection with the Creator. Only the fourth level is able to keep this connection consciously and deliberately by starting to feel his own reality against the Creator, seeing himself opposite to Him, agreeing or disagreeing with Him, acting for his own benefit or the benefit of the Creator, etc.

Thus, in essence, the fourth stage is the center of creation. On the other hand, the previous three stages are connected to it without having freewill. It is the fourth stage that determines how these components will take part in the process. It is the intention, the direction, while others just act in this direction without any free choice.

Thus, we are talking about people in this world who above all should feel that they are in concealment and then can to work in order to establish contact with the Creator from the stage of complete separation from Him, from the point most distant from infinity.

Schematically, it looks like this: The Creator is in the world of infinity, and we are in this world, and the distance between us is divided into 125 degrees. We must establish connection with Him from here, from this world.

It begins when the Creator awakens us—shines more and more. Due to His Lights, the desires of the fourth level begin to rise in our world; in turn they are also subdivided into various types according to the same four stages. The “purest” desires awaken first; they are followed by more “coarse” desires. Thus, the process of correction continues from easy to difficult. In other words, those “easy” parts that we correct at the beginning help us correct more “coarse,” “heavier” parts later.

Correction is carried out due to the fact that the Creator awakens His illumination, His attitude to us, and it begins to be revealed not just as good towards the “material” of desire, as on the still, vegetative, and animate levels, but deliberately good. In other words, due to the illumination of the Creator, we will have to get closer to Him.

To do this, we need to change our intention. That is, instead of the still, vegetative, and animate level, we have to form a human stage in ourselves. And the human stage is intention over matter.

We know this from the four stages of the distribution of the direct Light: The fourth stage in the end decides to make restriction (Tzimtzum) and respond to the master with the same attitude that He shows in relation to it. This is the intention.

The fourth stage has nothing to give back to the Creator back—it can only continue to receive His good with the intention that turns all that is received into bestowal onto Him. Then, all the person’s thoughts and all his heart are in the Creator. It does not matter what he receives; the person is like a guest who looks at the Host and wants only to please Him.

That is what the change of intention is, a change of attitude; I switch from “for my own sake to the sake of the Host,” which becomes the determining factor. The Host is first for me, His state is my first and main concern. And according to this, I do with myself everything that is required.

Thus, it is no longer important which states he goes through, only if they are for the benefit of the Host, and in this case he accepts them as given, he is happy, and his intention is completely aligned with them.
[113993]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/6/13, Shamati #8

Related Material:
A Human Is Defined By His Intention
Loving The Tough Father
A Laboratory For Correcting The Human Ego

Behind The Cover Of Blind Fate

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Exile and Redemption”: By these words, I only mean to show that the Torah and the natural law of development go hand in hand in wondrous unity even with blind fate.

Although it seems that my life is managed by blind fate, it is in fact managed by the natural law of evolution. It seems that my fate depends on many accidental incidents, but in fact all the events and occurrences in my life are predetermined by creation.

Only one thing depends on me and that is how I accept these events. If I prepare myself correctly, then I can accept and feel them in an opposite way than I feel them today. Today I have a special “receiver,” a mechanism with a sensor, that can totally change the receiving, the feeling, from minus one hundred percent to plus one hundred percent.

But the whole chain of events doesn’t change and I will go through all of them. The Creator initiates this process and manages creation, but on the way He gives you a chance to accept His actions if you want to. If you don’t want to, then He will make you want to.

It is because there is none else besides Him. Everything is already predetermined and even if He changes the “letters” in this “story,” which means if one letter doesn’t match and He replaces it by another letter, it is only with regard to my feeling, so that I will work on it better.

In fact, I am in an eternal process and can only ask myself about my perception: “Are there actually any changes? And if so, are they inside or outside of me?”

But if it is about my impressions, then I can certainly change them. If I don’t change them, they will become so unpleasant that eventually I will try to change them and correct my “receiver.”
[113964]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/04/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Creator Governs With Love
When Everything Is To Our Benefit
The Light Of A New Candle

How Can We Correct The Stony Heart?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why can’t we correct the stony heart?

Answer: It is impossible to correct the stony heart since it is the gap between existence from existence and existence from absence. I can only resemble the Creator. To resemble means to form above me all the forms of the Creator that I see. Then the desire to receive takes on different forms of bestowal. This means that I can resemble Him like an actor, but I cannot resemble Him in all of my internality.

Only by all my corrections when all the Lights that I draw come together, will they operate the system and it will influence me by the Light that corrects the stony heart. I generate this process indirectly.
[113961]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/04/13,The Book of Zohar — Introduction

Related Material:
An Intentional Mistake Arranged From Above
Only A Miracle Will Melt The Stony Heart
Breaking The Iron Wall In The Heart

When Threats Nullify Everything

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: …the well-being of society, which is the well-being of the state and the well-being of the world, are completely interdependent. As long as the laws of society are not satisfactory to each and every individual in the state, and leave a minority that is unsatisfied with the government of the state, this minority conspires under the government of the state and seeks to overthrow it.

Our world is round not just because the earth is round, but because all the connections round up before our eyes. All the signals move back and forth between us and we are all connected even if it’s against our will.

When we discover the inner connection between us, we also fulfill it on the outside by building different instruments to help us communicate. Did a person who lived three centuries ago need a mobile phone; actually no, and for what? Did he need it in order to check the prices of flour or salt in another state? What difference would it make? After all, it was too far.

But direct physical contact gradually became an emotional contact, and people invented transportation, cars, trains, planes, and radio connections, etc. On the whole, fifty years ago there was no need for global communication cables that connect the entire world, but now we can’t even imagine managing without them. During the last fifteen years the Internet has surrounded the whole world and has become part of every person’s life. Why? Because man has felt an inner need for that and has developed the right technology. By the way, today we also have greater deficiencies, but the ego of individual people curbs their advancement and doesn’t provide us with the right tools…

It all stems from frustration, from an inner attraction to something. This is what should obligate us to build tools by which we can correct the world.

At the same time, the global connection is accompanied by a negative and very dangerous phenomenon. Because of the ego we are connected by evil desires, and each one wants to dominate others, to enjoy at their expense, and to use them. If we could only set certain limitations, but it’s very difficult. Thus the connection between us can be very dangerous.

We are in a state of transition, an intermediate state, and despite the threats we have a need for absolute connection. We want to see and hear everyone regardless of language differences, cultural differences, and other differences, and we want to understand and to feel as much as possible. We are ready to make the Internet into something that is totally different since now it already offers us very limited options compared to our requirements. Modern technology can bridge this gap, but in the meantime we don’t develop it for more extensive use.

We are in a very sharp transition and the peace in the world actually depends on each one. This means that each one needs correction since otherwise he can cause harm on an internal scale. Hackers, for example, can disrupt many essential functions by remote control and break the electronic protection of gas reservoirs or the power supply system. In other words, a certain expert can bring about a great disaster just by using his ten fingers from some distant corner of the world.

This means that as long as we are not corrected, the connection between us is very dangerous to the peace in the world. It relates to many different areas and especially to those who produce weapons and deal with them. These people just wait for a conflict to break out somewhere in the world. This is the way the egoistic world thinks and it will remain that way until we correct our ego.

But on the other hand, it’s the danger that was caused by global phenomena that brings about an opportunity for correction, since we will have no choice; we will not be able to go on living under this terrible constant threat. As long as we are under this threat, it isn’t worthwhile to live, to get married, to have children, and to raise them if everyone can easily hurt my success and even put an end to my life. All the beginnings become insignificant.

It’s then that a person finally understands that we must correct the situation. How can I protect myself against criminals? Actually my life depends on everyone and I simply cannot live under this constant terrible threat. It’s impossible to chase all the potential criminals.

Perhaps all this will force us to make a decision since we have no other choice.

In the meantime, we don’t even understand how we can reach a solution, through the UN? We see how impotent this organization is. Behind the bipolar connection there is a bitter truth according to which everyone tries to profit at the expense of others. In fact there is nowhere to turn. There is no organization or institution that represents humanity with regard to the key questions of our time.

Baal HaSulam says that the wellbeing of the world and the wellbeing of the individual are the same. The essential condition of our time is to finally acknowledge the need for connection, for peace, for agreement, and for love among us. Without love we cannot survive. The principle of “love thy friend as thyself” is the result of a very difficult process of the recognition of evil when there is no choice and a person will understand that he must fulfill it.

One way or the other, the individual and the general advance along the same path today, along the path of the recognition of evil, that eventually pushes us to make the decision that we have to change our lifestyle and adopt new software. Then we will finally embark on a new path.
[113308]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Crisis: The Search For The Solution
The Will Of The Integral System
Not Punishment, But An Integral Responsibility