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The “Good Signs” On The Way

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person cannot trust and rely on himself before the final correction. He must constantly be under the influence of higher vessels, desires, and simply explore them degree by degree, cleaving to them without counting on his own “reserve.”

We advance only by faith above reason, that is, only at the level of adhesion to a higher degree. Only from there can you draw and bring correct answers and correct signs to the current state. The principle of “be guided only by what you see” refers to corrupt desires, but to stay on the course, I have to “cling” to a higher degree by faith above reason.

Everyone can find “signs” proving he is right. But this is prohibited. The mind does not work here and I will not involve it. Even Kabbalists’ explanations are intended only to bring us closer together with spiritual concepts, to add knowledge, genuine support, this confirmation can only be found in the Upper One when I cancel my understanding and equip myself with His mind.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/13, The Zohar

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The Man Who Opened The Path To Liberation

Dr. Michael LaitmanRecently, we marked the remembrance day of Baal HaSulam, our great teacher, who in our days brought Light from Above to the entire humanity. He revealed the wisdom of Kabbalah to our generation so we could use it and with its help rise from the animate to the human degree, to know how to perform all the actions and achieve the opening of our eyes. This is the only way, without knowing it, we can see where we actually are.

Baal HaSulam was such a great man that we are not even able to properly appreciate and thank him for what he did. We are indebted to him for our spiritual life to the same extent as we are indebted to the mother and father for the life of the animal body. Only it’s not the material life but spiritual life in which we reach eternity and perfection, the upper worlds, the state which we now cannot even imagine right.

Baal HaSulam worked very hard for this. He wrote for so long, working dozens of hours without breaks that his hands went numb, and it was necessary to unclench his fingers to release a pen from them. He gave himself a break for 2.5 to 3 hours of sleep a night and half an hour in the afternoon in order to stay focused, and the rest of time he worked. It was like this throughout his life.

During the war, he was willing to sacrifice all his attainment and asked the Creator to lower him from his spiritual degree only to be able to somehow help unfortunate people suffering in this world and not even realizing for what. And the Creator heard his request and helped him do it. Even Moses could not get that from the Creator when he asked Him to make him responsible for his people and divert punishment from them.

Baal HaSulam was at such a high degree that the Creator told him, “I have no one closer than you out of all humanity.” He was a true giant. Let’s hope that we will be able to appreciate his height, his value. On one hand, he was connected with the Creator, and on the other hand, he could go down to each person to feel in what form he needed to convey explanations to him. He was able to write so delicately, so as not to offend any religious or secular and bring them closer together as much as possible.

His legacy was passed into our hands. We got all these tools through Rabash who adapted this method for realization in the group. Throughout the years of study and work, we began to understand what is written in these works, to implement it, to bring closer all other groups, and by this increasingly appreciate the tremendous contribution made by Baal HaSulam. He was the first of the Kabbalists who revealed the stage of liberation.
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From the Talk during the Meal Dedicated to the Memory Baal HaSulam 9/15/13

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Following The Evening Comes The New Day

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why does a person fall deeper each time? How can he attain eternal adhesion?

Answer: We fall deeper and deeper every time because increasingly stronger, coarser, egoistic desires are revealed to us. As it is written, “He who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than his.” We need to be immersed into greater egoism in order to reach the greater reflected Light through working on it. The lower we descend into our desires, the higher we rise due to correction, one against the other.

Otherwise, it is impossible. Such are the laws even in material physics, not just in the spiritual one.

A descent contains all the information about the next step. The problem is only that, when in descent, we lose sensitivity and cannot feel it. If we had felt what we get from a descent, you would understand what powerful tools we get.

The only problem is that all the sense organs stop working in descent and we cannot reveal anything. In essence, the difference between descent and ascent is that the Light comes, gives us a new attitude toward our egoism and toward the Creator, and we need only to tie this into one—Israel (our longing for the Creator), the Torah, and the Creator—and then we will use the egoism that has been revealed to us correctly.

Changing our attitude to what is revealed in descent is called an ascent. However, most important is a descent because it is the revelation of new desires in which we then experience a new world—higher, exalted, expansive—and it always happens during the revelation of darkness. As it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/13, Shamati #33 “The Lots on Yom Kippurim and Haman”

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Construction On The Ruin Of Doubts

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom an article by Rabash, “Destruction by Old Men Is Construction”: “‘Destruction by old men is construction; construction by young men is destruction’ (Megillah 31b). Old men are those who are regular in service to the Creator. Young men are those at the beginning of their work. Destruction is what descent or fall is called. That previously they had some kind of ascent in the work, which was considered to be constructive, meaning that they thought these were ascents. But the destruction at the time that they felt some kind of fall, which comes from the concealment of the Creator, that is to say that the Creator conceals Himself from them, this is called destruction.

The destruction of the old men, when they say that the Creator sent the concealment to them, it is found that they are already found in construction, being that the Creator is taking care of them; and from this they receive vitality. And the essence of faith is revealed at the time of descent; this is to say at the time that He doesn’t enlighten a person, for then he is standing before the dilemmas. Either he will say, “I don’t need any benefit, rather I want to give satisfaction above, and it is not important to me what I feel, or God forbid, the opposite.”

“Construction by old men is construction.” If the “concealment,” rubble, comes to old men, then upon it they build a new level, from experience. An old man is a sage who acquires the way of Torah.

And the young men (the youths) who don’t have experience in the work, even when they merit construction, ascent, they cannot build anything, and with these ascents in the meantime, they build contradictions, ruins, descents, disappointments, until the Upper Light influences them and transforms them into old men, and then they “restore” all the rubble and the contradictions that they built in the process of building from above; this is to say, they raise the shattered “Reshimot” and correct them. And in this way they begin to build upon the rubble. And all this is thanks to their faith. The “Light of faith” is what the Upper Light is called, the Light of bestowal that illuminates the person and makes it possible for him to pass from “destruction” to “construction.”

The rubble, the “contradictions” (conflicts) are the difficult thoughts and doubts that dominate a person and conceal the unity of supervision from him. From our experience it is known that if the person continues to be stubborn, then the Upper Light acts on him gradually and “One penny and another penny accumulate into a large sum.” And so ultimately he reaches a state that through discernment of the conflicts, from the descents and the disappointments, he begins to ascend.

Otherwise we cannot ascend, rather only through feeling the exile, the lowness, in other words, through feeling the shattering, feeling the crisis. Only from this state do all the creatures begin the way of their ascent.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/13

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Forcing Your “Donkey” To Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do you maintain the right intention when performing dissemination over the Internet when it is not a physical exercise and a friend cannot remind you about the intention?

Answer: You are disseminating the correct material over the Internet. They direct you correctly themselves and in fact you have no distractions unless you intentionally divert your attention.

Foreign desires are awakened in you at every moment: to surf other sites or leave the computer and do something else. In this case, certainly you must restrain yourself. Disconnect all the external sources like television and radio, disconnect your access to other websites such as news sites, various entertainment sites, and so forth. Disconnect all the external sources like television, radio, disconnect your access to other Web sites such as news sites, various entertainment sites and so forth. Do everything possible to limit your “beast” so that it will not be attracted to any place, for there is nowhere to be attracted. Lock it in a cage and force it to work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/25/13, Question and Answers with Dr. Laitman

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“New Model Europe”

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Enrico Letta, Prime Minister of Italy): “It is becoming increasingly clear that if Europe is to overcome its crisis, business as usual will not suffice. …

“The European Commission’s recent decision to grant member states some flexibility for productive public investment linked to EU structural funds is a welcome step in this direction. … The second issue is the need to take further steps toward closer integration within the eurozone. …

“But, to do so, we will need to make EU institutions more efficient, with better regulation and a lower administrative burden. Common institutions are needed to ensure that all EU countries’ interests are protected, and to act as a bridge between eurozone and non-eurozone member states.

“Frankly, the functioning of the EU and its institutions during the crisis has been a part of the problem. For many people, EU decision-making is opaque, inefficient, and removed from democratic control.

“Most worrying, the crisis has challenged the very idea of European integration. … There is nothing worse than letting people believe that European integration is something that proceeds by stealth, a journey driven by invisible and uncontrollable forces. The EU cannot last unless it is built on its citizens’ explicit commitment.

“Today, we have a chance to remodel Europe. …The choice is clear, and it will have to be made sooner rather than later.”

My Comment: Nothing good will come from Euro-constructors; they will only deepen the crisis by directing it to the path of suffering instead of correction—the correction of human nature; only it must be corrected so that everything in the world becomes balanced, kind, positive… And they are still trying to deal with the crisis by external means, applying patches, which even before being attached fall apart and new patches are required.
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Everything Depends On Preparation

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe worst thing regarding our physical and spiritual state is frivolity. There is nothing worse than this. Some small smirk, movement, or act of disrespect, and that’s it. Everything within me falls. It is terribly necessary to be afraid that, with this, you are liable to harm a friend, but you could harm yourself many times more.

It is necessary to always be in “serious joy” but from the heart. Even if your condition is the worst but excitement comes from the heart, this will help. In no way or manner should there be any showing off unless you are intentionally playing at this to cheer a friend. It is very necessary to maintain our level and constantly be concerned about rising further and further all the time. Don’t forget about the most important thing: preparation.

I advise those who have the opportunity to connect to the live broadcast of our morning lesson. Although I say that it makes no difference when you watch it, it is also possible to watch later, but if you can, this is the true time. There is psychological importance to this for a person. The spiritual energy that exists in the world, it is found here.

But when a person feels that right now there is no need to seize this state and fear for it to pass, meaning, he is in a relaxed state, he  gets up, pauses the computer, sips coffee, and so on; he is not glued to the screen.

Therefore, I strongly urge you, I recommend, if possible, to see part of the live broadcast of the lesson at least, and don’t miss our connection and unity on Sunday evening.

You see yourselves what the meaning of preparation is: We all are preparing for the state of the completion of correction, of full adherence of everyone together with the Light. All of our lives, all of our spiritual elevation, is called “preparation,” and therefore, it needs to precede all of our activities. Before the lesson, I need to get up at least a quarter of an hour before in order to read something. I need to do something with myself. I need to hear something on the way to the lesson.

Read Psalms or some excerpts from our literature, something not connected to anything, which gets you tuned up in the right way. A violinist or cellist tunes his instrument no matter what melody he will play later. So, we also need to tune up our “instruments,” and then, in a lesson we will play.

I can’t imagine that I would come to the lesson without tuning myself for it. It is not important for me to know what I will do with you. Believe me, I sat down now, I looked at the subject of the lesson, and started it. This makes no difference to me, but I must tune myself up before then!

Before the nighttime lesson, Rabash would take a walk in the street for half an hour. I would get up an hour and a half before the lesson even though I only needed to walk fifty meters or less. I needed to take a hot shower, cheer up, read something from his materials that wouldn’t divert my attention from the lesson but, on the contrary, would tune me up properly.

Sometimes it happens that you read some material, and after that, it is difficult for you to regroup and come. You arrive and suddenly, a completely different subject has been prepared for you. This is a responsibility, for in front of me there are tens of thousands of students sitting around the world!

This is how each one of us must feel because we are working on a common Kli, vessel. I am not tuned to anything in particular. I am tuned to that connection that you can give me at any moment, and if you cannot, then even the lesson is lacking.

Sometimes, your state, your connection, opens me up so much that the speech really flows freely and fluently, and this doesn’t depend on the number of people. Rather, this depends on the quality of the connection. Sometimes you succeed, and then wonderful material appears. Therefore, it is necessary to take all this into account and be good children.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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Where Does Time Elapse?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Some subcultures lead a semi-vegetative style of life. They live in huts on the coast of the Indian Ocean and stick to a “natural way of life.” For them, the speed of time is significantly slower…

Answer: It’s possible to stop sensing time by descending to an animate level. Animals instinctively feel when to eat, sleep, or multiply. It’s possible to arrange life similar to the what they have in the south of India or in Africa and live without any problems.

Question: Can a person learn how to internally control this process without moving to India: How can we accelerate or contract time, slow it down or speed it up?

Answer: I think that first of all people have to understand what they live for and acknowledge that they are given a chance to attain the next level. At this time humanity is approaching a state where we can transition from the animate level to the level of “man.”

“Man” (Adam) is a state of elevating beyond our body and attaining such a level of civilization, such a developmental stage, at which we can afford not to care about our material existence any more. Practically, there is no problem in providing everybody with everything they need. Our material desires become quite unsubstantial and are limited to satisfying our basic needs. We don’t need more than that. All our desires are still at an animate level and are limited to the viability of our body.

The rest of our desires are gradually rising to the level that we want to attain, to a different state, to a new virtual reality that is currently beyond us. Why do we exist? Where are we going? What is the meaning of life? What is the system of the upper governance…?

In other words, we want to attain the divine level (although it’s not associated with religions in any way). Going to a new level of existence, this is what contemporary humanity aspires to; this is the direction our civilization is heading. The question is whether we can do it or not. We are facing a twofold possibility; we are at a crossroads.

If we continue our development correctly, in ten, twenty, or thirty years from now we will come to a state when we will be totally covered by robotics and practically no human physical labor will be needed. Only a small percentage of Earth’s population will participate in manufacturing and technologies.

People will be replaced by robots, 3D printers, etc. No one will have to take care of themselves physically. That’s why people will be able to correctly organize their time since they will have many extra hours on their hands. Life expectancy will double; similarly, our contemporaries now live twice as long than those who were born at the time of Pushkin.

Besides, people will learn to fill their lives. Gradually, over the course of time, people will transition to the next dimension that is called “Man” (Adam). We have already reached a transitional period of our development. I think we’ll approach this state within the next several decades.

Question: At the level of Adam, does time disappear or does it only dramatically accelerate?

Answer: In essence, it’s the same thing. In any case, time either slows down until it stops, or speeds up until it disappears.
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From Kab TV’s “Through the Time,” 3/18/13

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The Power Of The Upper Blessing

Dr. Michael Laitman

Question: What does the dialog between letters and the Creator that is described in The Book of Zohar in chapter “Letters of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba” mean?

Answer: We want to clarify the properties of each force (a letter) relative to Keter (the goal, the white Light) that act in the general system of our universe that was made by the Creator. The system defines relationships between the power of bestowal and the force of receiving.

There are two forces: “something out of something” (Yesh mi Yesh) and “something out of nothing” (Yesh mi Ain) and there is a system of relationships between them. How is it possible to make “something out of nothing” similar to “something out of something?” How can the desire to receive become like the desire to bestow? The desire to receive cannot turn into a giving desire, but it can copy the latter by acting like it. This type of behavior is called “receiving for the sake of bestowal.”

For that, it is necessary to have a sensation of the Giver since we are not yet concerned about Him; all we worry about is how to fulfill ourselves. In order to receive for the sake of bestowal, we have to sense the one to whom we are giving and use our desire in accordance with what the Giver wants.

Our desire turns into a method of pleasing the Creator, so we need energy and properties that we did not have previously. We want to “get acquainted” with the One to Whom we bestow and we should understand why we are doing this. In other words, we have to detach from ourselves and start feeling somebody else’s internal world.

What properties, forces, and augmentations are necessary to achieve this goal? We have to resolve this problem. We have to go through a certain process in order to achieve the goal. This question is clarified to us by the letters. Malchut asks Keter if she can become similar to Keter with the help of the letter “Samech.”

Keter responds to Malchut that it’s not possible. She can only cover a part of the path to meet Keter; she can only go a small portion of the road, to the place where Malchut separates from herself and receives support (Simcha) (derivative of the letter “Samech”). At this point, Malchut does not depend on the desire that she had in the beginning of her journey. It’s as if she floats in the air.

What’s next? Correction cannot be accomplished this way. On the contrary, if Malchut wants to proceed, she has to receive for the sake of bestowal. “Samech” doesn’t want to receive. This letter aspires to bestowal, to “Hafetz Hesed,” nothing but that. It’s like a righteous man who lives alone in the woods and doesn’t have even a shirt, but he doesn’t need one.

That’s why it’s necessary to cancel “Samech” since the force that envelopes this letter becomes a hindrance to it. We need a developmental power of the letter “Mem” that consists of two letters: “Dalet” (two doors – Delet) that have to open and let the fetus go out in order to continue its development. These doors are two opposing forces that fight with each other. That’s why they are called the door hinges (Tzirim), or labor pains (Tzirim), meaning the pain of advancement. The second power that cancels “Samech’s” protection is getting stronger and the fetus starts getting additional desire to be pleased that was previously under the power of egoism, but now it transitions from receiving to bestowal.

There is nothing that is absolutely and entirely good. There is no letter or force that could help us in all circumstances with the exception of the letter “Bet” that means “blessing.” The letter “Bet” doesn’t depend on anything at all, only on the Upper. The ways of receiving its blessing (meaning the Returning Light) can be learned from the wisdom of Kabbalah. The remaining properties reveal and correct because of this blessing.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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