Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.01.14

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Genuine Creation

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“: And yet, we understand that according to the Thought of Creation, there was no need to create anything more than that will to receive. This is because this new creation is sufficient for Him to fulfill the entire Thought of Creation, which He had thought to bestow upon us. But all the filling in the Thought of Creation, all the benefits He had planned to render us, stem directly from His essence (Atzmuto), and He has no reason to recreate them, since they are already extracted, existence from existence, to the great will to receive in the souls. Thus we evidently see that all the substance in the generated creation, from beginning to end, is only the “will to receive.”

Baal HaSulam emphasizes that there is Atzmuto, the original root, from which the action originates. The action of the Creator is the created being. But created beings do not originate from the Creator Himself; He creates them out of nothing. What comes from Him is the decision, but the “material” from which they are created, is produced out of nothing. This is the act of creation. The Creator did only this.

We are unable to understand and do this. We reveal every thought, every decision, everything in which the attitude of Atzmuto to creation is expressed. This is what we do not know at all. However, we discover His attitude toward us. This is called the “thought of creation.”

Question: Do we create anything new that was not in creation? Otherwise, how do we become similar to the Creator?

Answer: No. We become similar to Him by the properties, but not by creation. Being His created beings, we cannot create anything new. We accumulate, combine forces, so that the likeness of the Creator is formed in us. However, this cannot be called a “new creation” because we use the forces and “materials” that have been created. We do not create.

Question: But the revelation of the Creator, isn’t it creation?

Answer: No. The concept of “creation” (Beria – בריאה) means something external, extending beyond the limits of the existing (Bar – בר), “existence out of absence.” We already use the existing means and carry out correction, imitating creation. We reveal what already exists and thus return to the world of Infinity.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There Is No Evil Without Goodness

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen we advance in our work, we first have to accept that there is no evil without goodness and that there is no goodness without evil. We have to reach the final state in which all of the evil is revealed and in against it all the goodness; one sustains the other as “the advantage of the Light in the darkness.” The greater the darkness, the better chance we have to discover a greater Light in contrast to it.

This is how the creation is arranged because we always find in it two forces, two parts, two attributes, which are basically the Creator and the created being.

So if we want to advance, we have to know in advance that we can do so only by increasing the negative force and the positive force in contrast to it. But the negative force grows first; as it says: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” So they keep appearing alternately, the negative force and the positive force, negative and positive.

Our role is to find the place for the middle line in which we can exist and determine our balanced states. This balance is possible only if we unite and connect. Then each one adds his own state to everyone else, and thus we bring everyone to a state of balance.

If we examine the balance point, we will discover HaVaYaH in it that is direct and opposite, the ten Sefirot of the Direct Light and the ten Sefirot of the Returning Light, which is a whole spiritual structure called a Partzuf. This is the structure that reaches a state of balance.

It is an elementary principle, two opposite forces that reach a state of balance and thus establish all of reality.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/13

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The Spiritual Ascent From An Unchanging Reality

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere is only one force that draws me to the reality together with all the people and this world. I need to reach the state in which I will see, in reality, the only one force that operates it. Although this world will remain in my perception, I will, nevertheless, see only one force that clothes in it and operates it.

So, why do so many people, animals, and this huge universe surround me? Why does the world divide into such a tremendous amount of pieces, instead of being one material, one desire? But, it is specifically there where the uniqueness of this world lies, that is, that it appears to us to be separate from the spiritual world. This picture, specifically because it is imaginary and doesn’t exist in connection with the Creator, can be seen in us even when we reach Gmar Tikkun (end of correction). This is a very special form of reality.

Thus, we ascend the spiritual ladder and see how the Creator is clothed in the entire world, which is on the same level that we are on. The Creator rules all the attributes of the upper worlds, but still this world remains. This corporeal form remains, seemingly outside of the spiritual space. I can feel spiritual levels that are very different, that differ very much from each other, but the form of the corporeal world remains intact in my five senses.

This is the wonder that allows us to work on the perception of the upper force.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/19/13, Shamati #15 “What Is Other Gods in the Work”

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“Bees Work Together”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from the Royal Society): “Swarming is an essential part of honeybee behavior. When a fertilized queen leaves the hive she takes a swarm of bees with her to start a new colony. Up to 20000 bees might accompany a newly fertilised queen bee on her quest. These bees usually form a cluster and cling to each other for several days whilst scouts leave to search for a new home to relocate to. The bees, exposed to the outside temperature, are at risk of getting too cold but in their tightly packed cluster they may also become too hot.

“Clusters of bees seem to react as one autonomous body to these changing temperatures. Whilst each bee only has information from its own local environment, the cluster as a whole responds cooperatively to maintain a temperature inside of within a few degrees of 35°C. Researchers from MIT and Harvard set about designing a mathematical model which would explain how clusters of bees can respond cooperatively without a central controller.

“Their model suggests that bees respond to their local conditions and move accordingly and that this causes variations in packing which can propagate information about ambient air temperature throughout the cluster.

“Bee clusters have two major parts. Around the outside of the cluster the bees are densely packed together forming a mantle, whilst within the core of the cluster, the bees are more sparsely packed.  When air temperature is cool the mantle becomes more densely packed and the cluster contracts, keeping the heat within. In high ambient temperatures the cluster expands and the mantle spreads out to prevent over heating in the core. …

“The model created by Samuel Ocko and L. Mahadevan uses the idea that cold bees prefer to huddle densely and hot bees like to be more sparsely packed. Cold bees attempt to push themselves towards higher temperatures, which creates what the team call a ‘behavioral pressure’. The bees seek to minimize this pressure by changing their packing. Using a series of equations, the team found that by minimizing behavioral pressure local bee packing mathematically relates both to local temperature and outside temperature. Their model suggests that bees respond to their local conditions and move accordingly and that this causes variations in packing which can propagate information about ambient air temperature throughout the cluster.

“With this method bees can share information across the cluster to work together to maintain constant temperatures in the swarm. The model shows bees’ extraordinary ability to act as a collective. The team suggest that in the cluster individuals can work so closely because ‘the difference between the individual and the collective is nearly non-existent.’”

My Comment: Bees and other animals interact instinctively, managed and driven by the force of nature. The human being was given the mind to learn from nature and reach similarity with it by his efforts. As a result of this work on ourselves, we reveal the higher hidden force of nature: the Creator.
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Envy Is The Main Engine Of Progress

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is a correct effort?

Answer: Our level of spirituality is outside of the boundaries of the spiritual realm. Our level is unique because of the possibilities it offers and is much more important than all other spiritual levels, since only at our stage does the miraculous combination of the desires to receive and to bestow exist. No other levels have this.

Only at our level, playing as children, can we become more intelligent and mature. It is similar to a child in this world who doesn’t have developed senses, an intellect, any understanding or knowledge of the way big systems around him work, and yet, all of a sudden the child becomes intelligent. In other words, a child runs these systems unconsciously without any idea that they even exist, without a clue which particular state he is supposed to achieve. He doesn’t know or see anything; all he does is play because he is driven by his natural instincts to grow up.

We lack this kind of natural aspiration; other than that, we are just like children. We have all the means that allow us to attain this desire. If we are permanently warmed up by our surroundings and if it kindles our envy, lust, ambition, and a desire to be better than others, we start aspiring to some goal that is yet unknown to us. We have no clue what we want to receive; however, it seems to us that others have something that we don’t.

We already have all qualities and desires that were given to us by nature. All we need is to organize these qualities and desires correctly, to build a system of relationships between us so that our friends keep inspiring us with the greatness of the goal, and we are worried that others are already ahead of us.

Later, they show me an example of how to help each other, suggesting that this attitude is extremely important and leads to spirituality. Envy is the main thing here! Our egoism is ignited by envy and suffers greatly. If we tightly connect ourselves with the surroundings and happen to understand that there is nowhere to run, then even though envy is a negative sensation, by nature it doesn’t push us behind, but rather, pulls us ahead and leads us to success.

Getting this desire is already a success. The desire is not ours. We receive it from the group as a reward for not running away from them, but rather for bowing our head in front of them and clinging to them. All these methods can be purely material to the extent that we can even pay money to our friends for the desire we receive back from them, as Rabbi Zushi who hired street musicians so that they would inspire him. Or, we can cook a meal for our friends, thus inputting our exertions so that they eventually influence us back.

We receive a spiritual aspiration from our friends, but, in fact, it is still a desire for material success, since all we want is to become more significant, smarter, better in everything. No matter how much we try, we just cannot think of spirituality since we are still in egoism, at this side of Machsom. However, it is already strong enough to attract the Light that Reforms.

It turns out that at this level we have a chance to work and influence the next step that is above us and to attract the Light from there as a magnet that draws things that are in another room through walls.

Really, how can the Light influence us if we are not adapted to it? We are opposite to the Light as if we are in anti-worlds. And yet, everything is set up in a way that the transition between the two stages, between us and the closest spiritual step from which we receive the sparks of the Light, is just a hindrance. The Light can impact us and change us in accordance with its nature, with the desire of the Upper level. So, we can agree with It and start entering this higher level, as a fetus enters a mother’s womb, and then grow first to a small state and then to a “big state” (Ibur – Yenika – Mochin), until we completely merge with it.

That’s why we should value the state we are in at this time and use the level that is called “this world” correctly: all of humanity, our loved ones, our neighbors, our studies, our groups. There is nothing we actually need more than that. We already have all essential things at our disposal; we just have to organize them correctly.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Exceeding Human Powers

Dr. Michael LaitmanEfforts that are required for our advancement are beyond human powers because the desire to enjoy alone cannot free itself from egoism. However, we can act in a way that we move towards correction to the best of our ability in the circumstances that were prepared for us by the Light.

So far, our exertions are associated with our current level; that is, they are at still, vegetative, and animate levels. However, if we make all the necessary efforts at an animate level, the Upper Light will start influencing and changing us. The quantity of efforts needed will be breached and the Upper Light will finish the work as it is said: “applied efforts and found…”

However, if the Light rules everything there is and influences our desires, how can we possibly make any efforts, even the tiniest moves? There is nothing but the Light and the desire that opposes it. The third, additional force that allows us to act is a result of the shattering of the desire.

It means that there are multiple splinters of the desire around us that are detached from each other because of their egoistic nature. If we acted at our “level” and tried to become closer together with others, we would “change” under the influence of the Light. This world is the last and the lowest step in the Universe that allows us to act against our own will. That’s why one is able to unite with one’s friend as if they were brought closer together by the Light. This isn’t really real; desires do not change because of our actions, and yet our impact on the Light does change and that’s why the system works.

The miracle happens at the level of this world that is so low and minor that it is completely opposite to spirituality. On one hand, this world is totally detached from the spiritual realm; on the other hand, it presents to us a wonderful chance that allows us, through physical and external convergence and false actions to influence our internal desires. Our internal desires impact the Light that Reforms, which in its turn begins secretly influencing us until it truly changes our desire.

It means that even though we dwell in this world and have not advanced too far beyond monkeys, we still have an internal possibility to grab the end of a thread that is extended to us from Above, which will pull us out into the world of the Upper Light. If we use the remedies that are given to us and if we understand that they are granted to us from Above, we will trigger the vital awakening from below (itaruta de-letata) that will in its turn elicit the awakening from Above (itaruta de-leila).

To achieve it, all we need is a clear understanding of the sequence of work to be done: what exactly we have to achieve and what the Light actually is. This kind of understanding will protect us from making mistakes and from false expectations about salvation coming without our preliminary exertions and thinking that with time everything will be organized all by itself. One should never be misled to think that there are people who can easily overcome all stages, and who do not have to go through the “four hundred (400) years of exile.” They just don’t exist. We should keep in mind that we have to do everything ourselves and work hard to build a group, attain unity, and mutual guarantee and reveal the power of connection between us.

If we realize that we are given every possible remedy to achieve the result we aspire for, to implement the purpose of our life, we will not be despaired; rather, we will proceed with our work and achieve success. Besides, after all calculations are done, we will have to rise above the results and understand that the mere opportunity to apply efforts is in fact the reward we seek!
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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At Another Frequency

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are the integral structures that are being created during the transitional period in the framework of an egoistic society?

Answer: Yes, but they begin to influence and quietly reformat it.

How else are all kinds of thoughts and rumors spread today? Wherever someone is thinking about something, I begin to think about it too because all of us are linked in a huge system of connections.

Therefore, if we create an altruistic society it will subconsciously permeate everyone because they operate at a different frequency, two lines with a third between them, something that doesn’t exist in an egoistic society.

We are activating a new level which is found above all the previous levels of humanity where only one egoistic force worked. We give the world the two forces in order to create the third. And therefore, working on a different frequency, the integral method will easily penetrate everywhere. This is especially so in a world that is already prepared for it.
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From Kab TV’s “An Integral World” 10/24/13

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A New Type Of Ego

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You say that in our time a new type of ego is being discovered. Perhaps you can characterize it?

Answer: The new type of ego awakens in us the question: “Why does man exist?” It summons in us the need to discover the second positive force in nature so that it won’t swallow itself like a cancerous tumor that eats the entire surrounding space and therefore dies since it has nothing from which to be nourished.

Question: It follows that it appears from a lack of energy and therefore it needs the energy of the altruistic force.

Answer: Yes. But the idea is that in the past the ego had nourishment from which it grew and realized itself; whereas today, a stage has been reached in which the ego needs to develop together with its opposite power in order to create the next level.

In other words, the previous developmental stages were the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature. However, now it’s necessary to develop a new spiritual component. And when it appears, then with the right connection between egoism and altruism, some kind of means will be created from ourselves that is composed of the two forces. Within this useful tension between plus and minus, between the positive and negative force, we create what will be called “man.” Today we are becoming the mechanical executors of our inner egoistic force.
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From Kab TV’s “An Integral World” 10/24/13

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.01.14

Preparation for the Lesson 

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Lesson on the Topic: Preparation for the Convention

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Writings of Baal HaSulam Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 

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