Audio Version Of The Blog – 08.10.13

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2013-08-10_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’10.8.13′]

You Will Never Advance By Holding Onto The Old

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn our development we need to pass through such a state where we lose our previous form. This is like a grain of wheat that is planted in the ground and is completely decomposed. Only a Reshimo (reminiscence) remains, whereas the substance itself transforms into dirt, transforms to become nourishment for the new form that appears after the decomposition.

Which is to say, a descent from the previous state occurs and after this an ascent to the new state. And in the lowest point of the shattering only a Reshimo is left that is transformed and changes into a new Reshimo, into a gene of the new state. The right form for birth and growth is like this, both for the plant and the animal, and even for the person in our world, and likewise in spirituality as well.

Otherwise we could not pass from one state to another state. There must be transformation here, a new ten Sefirot. From the previous Partzuf of ten Sefirot, to the new Partzuf of ten Sefirot only the Reshimot pass. That is what happens in our world because the spiritual root is revealed in the physical branch, and likewise with our inner development. The same one law acts in everything. It follows that every new state is attained on the way only by our abandoning the previous state, changing our consciousness, comprehension, and approach in that it’s felt in us as incorrect, not appropriate, and therefore we upgrade ourselves to a new level.

In spirituality this is much more prominent than in physicality. If in physicality the person doesn’t change his consciousness, his outlook on the world, his view, his opinion, then he doesn’t grow. He only adds to the previous consciousness and therefore that same small child remains except with more dimensions. The sign that a person has grown is that he is transformed in understanding, in consciousness, in effort.

He gets control over these states and brings himself to a state where suddenly all his previous control, all his previous approach, disappears. He is no longer able to remain in it and he feels himself powerless, lost, not knowing what to do next. On the spiritual path we call this state a descent. We feel ourselves confused, not understanding what is happening to us, and after that we reach a new state. As a general rule in normal life, transformations like these don’t happen and the person simply goes and adds to the old baggage and therefore never gets a new form, so he remains the same child in his old age.
[113822]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Rotten Seed Of The Old World
A Breakup For The Sake Of Unity
The Whole World Is Inside The Reshimo

Dissemination Is Spiritual Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanFirst of all, we need to understand that dissemination is spiritual work! And if someone does not agree with this, does not want or understand it, then he needs to clarify this state and he will see that it is true. We are talking about inner work that is changing a person. The spiritual world is within the human being and consists of his inner changes. To enter a new world, the world of correction, means to switch human properties from reception to bestowal. A person does it within himself.

When we go to disseminate this knowledge to the outside world, we think that we go outside of ourselves. But it is not so. The whole world is like one body: the inanimate, plants, animals, and people joined into one material that must reach correction by means of the human degree. The human degree also consists of the same four levels, and correction begins from the human level of the human degree, that is, the most refined, special people who have a thirst for spirituality.

Thus, although our work is internal and the correction takes place inside of the person, still its essence is that I connect with the entire universe. It may seem like the opposite, that if I am a Kabbalist that I need to sit locked in a room and perform my internal corrections secretly. But this is a misconception—the exact opposite of reality. If my matter, my soul, is outside of me and I am just a point that has to connect with everyone, then it turns out that by reaching out to everyone with dissemination, I awaken my matter.

Coming to people, we need to explain that we should not consider ourselves dependent on any external forces. No one will help us, not municipalities, not the government, not any committee, not other countries, UNESCO, or the UN. The whole world is made up of egoists, and the higher they’ve climbed the corporate ladder is evidence that they are even greater egoists than the rest.

That is why you will get no help from anyone starting from your neighbor all the way to the very top. Everyone will only want from you and will squeeze out of you as much as possible. If you have not given up and still have some hope, if you are angry that you don’t get any sympathy, this shows your complete naivety. A person who understands the world and the nature of creation places no hope on anyone. If everyone is an egoist, it would be better if they leave me alone. All their “care” will be to my detriment. It cannot be that any good deeds come from egoism.

This is the correct view of the world as evident according to the despair that humanity is experiencing now, beginning with the government and the leaders of this world who have lost all hope of getting out of the crisis. And if we understand this, then what is left for us is only to go out to people and explain that gold mines, mountains of abundance, health, strength, safety, and everything necessary for a happy life is in front of them. And all this is right next to you, in your connection with others in your neighborhood, city, country, all over the world, in the connection between people.

From that moment, we turn a person from the external view of discontent by someone outside, to his inside. He understands that he needs to establish a relationship with everyone around him by himself and build a happy life. A person’s hopes can only be placed on oneself. He must try to improve his life in his immediate environment, in his field of vision.

If we start to methodically work on improving our relationship with each other, then precisely there inside this emptiness, we will suddenly discover the source of inexhaustible energy, pleasure, health, and opportunities to solve all problems, the upper, unnatural forces capable of making any change. Then, we will not depend on an authority sitting somewhere on top. After all, he will want to squeeze even more out of us and nothing else can happen.

It is impossible for any good deeds to come out of people who are corrupted by egoism. We have already seen this example in our history. They do not hear us and are involved in their problems. Let’s also take care of ourselves. How much can we put up with this? We do not depend on anyone in this, and it is in our power.

This explanation brings a person to inner work. It seems to us that we get out, but actually we return parts of our soul to inner work. Since the entire universe is one human soul, the more you connect with others and feel them as part of your soul, the more you correct your soul. This is called practical Kabbalah.
[113745]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Practical Kabbalah Is Fulfilled In Our Generation
Implementing The Thought Of Creation
Hypocrisy Or A Game?

How Can We Measure Devotion: By Quantity Or By Quality?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It says that a person’s height is measured according to his responsibility, whether he is devoted only to his town or to his nation, or even to the entire world. What is meant by “devoted to his town, to his state, and to the world?”

Answer: Devotion means that we attribute all the parts of our soul that seem foreign to ourselves. We do this although they are detached from us by a great egoistic desire, by indifference, and by the desire to profit at the expense of others, to be more important than others, to avoid suffering by causing others pain.

If I turn my entire ego into a means to reach adhesion with others so that each one and all of them together will be more important to me than myself, it means that I am devoted to them like to my own kids and that I am ready to give them everything. I turn my ego, which separates me from others, into bestowal according to my height.

If I can relate this way only to those who are close to me or to neighbors that live in the same town I live in, it doesn’t mean that I am very high. However, it requires a great effort to perceive the entire world as my relatives. After all, these people are distant from me to begin with. There is a greater ego between us, a much greater quantity. So, it requires a much greater intensity, a greater height, in order to overcome the ego.

It seems that it is only about quantity, but quantity is related to quality. The concept of quantity doesn’t exist in spirituality, only quality. However, quality is made of quantity, just like computer software that thanks to the capacity of the memory can offer totally different options. The difference is actually in the quantity of memory cells that operate, but this quantity makes the qualitative difference. Thanks to this difference, I can understand, feel, and perceive more.

Thanks to this additional quantity, I begin to understand the Creator. The number of neurons in our brain and the connections between them determine our cognitive ability, which means that the quantity is related to the quality. Still, it isn’t as we imagine. We cannot calculate to what extent we must expand in width in order to reach something in height. These concepts are related, but we cannot work with this formula yet.

We don’t see the right formula since our perception isn’t integral; it isn’t analog. It is digital, discrete. Everything is segmented—1,2,3—while in spirituality, everything is according to a circular calculation and not a square calculation like in our world. This is why we cannot simply count quantity in width and height, and say how something should be.

All our exertion is quantitative as if it were possible to measure it in kilograms, but, later, it rises to Ein Sof (Infinity) and is incorporated in Malchut of Ein Sof, in our MAN, and in response we receive MAD. Thus, all our exertion returns to us in an analog, integral manner, and it isn’t digital anymore. Our constant connection with Ein Sof is added to this connection, and this disrupts our calculation.

However, it is thanks to the connection with Ein Sof, from which everything comes back to us, that we have a chance to bring our exertion into Ein Sof each time and to save it in the right box. Then, we heal the whole system by our personal exertion by even the smallest action! Our exertion doesn’t insert some small cube into the general structure, but melts in all of Ein Sof.

Then, when the bestowal from Ein Sof returns to us, it makes actual changes in us and raises us to the next level. Although we see our actions as digital and limited, when they reach Ein Sof and return to us, they build an analog, integral form in us that is similar to Ein Sof.
[113659]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
No Effort Is Lost Without A Trace
Not Everything Has A Price
The Divided Reflection Of Unity

Unlimited Creativity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You say that dissemination is the fulfillment of the goal of creation. What is the message of our dissemination? Is the goal to set an example of how to behave in society or to present the actual method? Perhaps your articles which are edited in a modern fashion could be presented as cards or movies? Can such a message be conveyed when a person writes a script or a book for example?

Answer: I explain the basics of the integral education to you, how to approach people and the world, but I am not a man of actions. I cannot even feel today’s generation correctly. I perceive it only through you, only through what you tell me.

Although I read a lot, about 20 to 30 short articles and news items a day about science, culture, politics, and different events in the world, I am still not very connected to people.

I cannot be any different. Everyone knows me, and so it affects people’s attitude toward me. So, making contact with the people wouldn’t work.

You must promote everything. I allow each of you to do as you wish—to write, talk, and create—as long as it is checked if you want it to be right. I don’t object that members of Bnei Baruch write their own books as long as it is censored. Why? It is so it will be right.

No one has any intention of using you. You can write independently everything that comes to mind, beginning with poetry, songs, and serious commentary on The Book of Zohar. It is your business as long as it comes out correctly in the literary way according to the wisdom of Kabbalah or according to the integral education that we are revealing at the moment. It is because I don’t know it either and I simply am revealing it through what is going on in the world now.

If you take what we have done in the last five years, then you will see that we have actually preceded Rabash. The only major trend in the world should be the revelation of the Creator to the created beings. By definition, this is the basis of the wisdom of Kabbalah. The goal of the wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the created beings in this world.

Today, we have brought the wisdom of Kabbalah and the revelation of the Creator in this world to our world and have made another step forward thanks to integral education.

We have dressed Kabbalah with a connecting element that helps adapt it to modern man, to modern society, to this world, with the help of the integral method, roundtables, workshops, and so forth. We have done what did not exist before.

Rabash brought us the idea of a “group,” and we have changed it from a group of Kabbalists who speak about the importance of the Creator and the importance of the goal into a roundtable for different people who speak about the connection between us.

Thus, we have put another type of clothing on Kabbalah so it can come in contact with different types of people, which is good for them and for us. We now can engage seriously in developing this method and expanding it.

You can do whatever you like since our method is built on the connection between the unity of all the people in the world and the Upper Light that operates in it. It will go on this way, and so you must write about it and do whatever you want, even write doctoral theses.

Integral education is the future of the world. There is nothing but that. The world will not want anything else since it will find the only means to relax and succeed within it. Its good future depends only on that.
[113575]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/13, Shamati #59 “About the Rod and the Serpent”

Related Material:
The Integral Method: Present And Future
Parting Words After The Convention
Dissemination And Unity