Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.07.14

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The Responsibility We Feel For One Another

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the difference between the concept of mutual guarantee and the raspberry sphere?

Answer: You can define the first state of unity in a dozen ways. The idea of this analogy simply occurred to me at a certain point. I wanted to express the special feeling of warmth that everyone feels which is pleasant and illuminating in itself.

Mutual guarantee is the connection between the broken vessels that connect above the breaking as they understand that we must be connected. The strength of the connection, the need for it, its vitality and the responsibility we feel for one another is called mutual guarantee. This shows to what extent I am responsible for others and feel them inside me as myself.

Mutual guarantee is an inner state of connection that takes into account all the conditions: how we connect, with what vessels, on what level of Aviut (thickness). It refers to the vessel that is about to connect. It’s because of the separation between these parts and their connection, the growth of the left line and the right line, one in contrast to the other, that we put together the concept called mutual guarantee.

In the mutual guarantee, that is our spiritual vessel, we begin to receive the Light that Reforms and see that we are corrected. Then our mutual guarantee is corrupted again and we have to correct it once more. Everything is included in this concept. Baal HaSulam wrote two articles: “The Giving of the Torah,” since we have no way to correct ourselves without the upper force, and the article that followed it “Mutual Guarantee,” which explains how we operate and manage the upper force in order to ascend to the goal of creation.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/14, Lesson on the Topic: “9 Steps”

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The Wedding Band Of The Bride

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,”: …reception in order to bestow is regarded as pure bestowal.

In Masechet Kidushin it is written that with an important man she gives and he says—by that you are sanctified. Because when his reception is in order to delight her, the giver, it is deemed absolute bestowal and giving. Thus, one buys complete adhesion with Him, for spiritual adhesion is but equivalence of form, as our sages said, “How is it possible to cleave unto Him? Rather, cleave on to His qualities.” And by that, one becomes worthy of receiving all the delight and pleasure and the gentleness in the thought of creation.

Comment: To begin with, a woman should be aware of a man’s importance and enjoy it. Only then she is dedicated to him.

Answer: The same thing happens between us and the Creator. We have to unite with each other because love for the created beings precedes love for Him.

We form a common force between us, the common spiritual vessel, which is called the “woman” or “Shechina” relative to the Creator. The Creator for us is like the “Bridegroom,” and we want to give Him all the pleasures, all the possibilities, our entire life, i.e., all the intention in order to bestow. Then, to the same extent, He “buys” us, in other words, accepts and fulfills us.

However at the beginning, there is a need for the awakening from below, our ascent to Him. The bride has to attract the Bridegroom, to encourage Him to unite with her. Therefore, first we have to prepare the altruistic intention. If it is big and strong, if we really want to give Him everything, to that extent we will oblige Him to act because He has the common desire to bring goodness.

Then the Creator will turn to the group, to us, and will want to unite, to desire to enter into adhesion with us, in spiritual “intercourse” (Zivug).

All this is manifested in the relations of those who are directed straight to the Creator (Yashar-ElIsrael), to the upper force. The whole rite of passage, marriage indicates a connection between the Creator and the created beings. The bride has nothing to give, except her service to the Bridegroom. That’s all she can do.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/1/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam 

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Life In Bestowal, Death In Receiving

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe created being must be between two systems in order to grow and to exist: the shell (Klipa) and holiness (Kedusha). This is why there are the worlds of ABYA of holiness and ABYA of impurity, as it it is said, “God has created them one opposite the other.” The souls are in the middle and as they go through the phases of development, they are alternately influenced by the system of purity and the system of impurity.

Accordingly, those who are nourished by the system of the Klipa are called dead and those who are nourished by holiness are called alive. Thus the influence of the worlds helps the souls develop continuously between life and death.

We gradually develop from the simple desire to live a material, corporeal life into a desire of a spiritual level. On this level there is no more life and death in the usual sense. In the spiritual life we are independent of the body; we rise above it and begin to feel a different level of life. Then life means that we are under the influence of the force of bestowal and death means that we are under the influence of the force of receiving.

This teaches us how to turn all the forces from the intention of in order to receive, from the evil inclination, to the good inclination. Thus we establish our spiritual life.

We must understand what the principle of “God created them one opposite the other” means here: If one desire is evoked in us, the other desire falls, and vice versa. The two systems cannot operate simultaneously. The effectiveness of one system is at the expense the ineffectiveness of the other system. Thus they operate alternately, according to the upper plan that is in the world of Atzilut.

The systems of BYA of holiness and BYA of impurity help us advance by pushing us forward. If we advance by the system of BYA of impurity, we develop “in its time,” and if we advance by the system of BYA of Holiness, we hasten our development, which is called “I shall hasten it.”
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 01/01/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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“The Decay Of American Political Institutions”

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Francis Fukuyama, American political scientist, political economist and author): “Many political institutions in the United States are decaying. This is not the same thing as the broader phenomenon of societal or civilization decline, which has become a highly politicized topic in the discourse about America. This is the result of intellectual rigidity and the growing power of entrenched political actors that prevent reform and rebalancing. …

“Institutional reform is, however, an extremely difficult thing to bring about, and there is no guarantee that it can be accomplished without a major disruption of the political order. So while decay is not the same as decline, neither are the two discussions unrelated. …

“Ordinary people feel that their supposedly democratic government no longer reflects their interests but instead caters to those of a variety of shadowy elites….

“Ordinary Americans express widespread disdain for the impact of interest groups and money on Congress. The perception that the democratic process has been corrupted or hijacked is not an exclusive concern of either end of the political spectrum. Both Tea Party Republicans on the Right and liberal Democrats on the Left believe that interest groups whose views they happen not to like exercise undue political influence and feather their own nests. As it turns out, both are correct. As a result, trust in Congress has fallen to historically low levels, now barely above single digits.”

My Comment: There will be full integration of the elite and those in power that will maintain the state and control the people as they find necessary, as long as the people allow them. The lower classes will become interested in integral education for transformation of society. Perhaps, this will pass upward, similarly as religions seized the elite through slaves and the masses. Or there will be a threat of civil or world war. In any case, it is either the method of integral education or suffering.
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Mutual Guarantee Of A Good Mood

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur only problem is in establishing the right connection. At the moment, we are not connected at all, but when the connection becomes stronger and tighter, we will need to find out how to fulfill it. Suppose I have several millions of strings to tie and you have several millions of strings to tie and we need to find out how to connect them correctly: which string connects to another, in which frequency and when, in which sequence and order.

The main thing is to feel the importance of the goal. Mutual guarantee is an inner feeling that we should reach that determines the inner state of the new reality. It isn’t just a point of connection between us; it actually expands afterward and becomes a point of the new reality. This is why we need the feeling of importance that empowers us so much and which sustains and promotes the point of mutual guarantee, which later becomes the mutual guarantee between me, which includes the whole world and the Creator.

This is the importance of the goal, the importance of the group, and the importance of the friend. I have to constantly clarify things, find out what I need in order to increase the idea of mutual guarantee at any given moment: what is redundant, which means, what I don’t need. The importance of the work should be great and we have to evoke it in every friend.

Eventually, we return to the greatness of the group that must impress everyone in a different way, by igniting envy, passion, a desire for respect and control, in other words, by using every means to spur us on and to shake us. This is how everyone should work on everyone else. Mutual guarantee begins when I see that it’s my responsibility that my friend should simply be in a good mood by being among us, and then this mutual guarantee develops more and more.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/13, Lesson on the Topic: Preparation for the Convention

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Work In Concentric Circles

Dr. Michael LaitmanUntil the completion of correction (Gmar Tikkun) itself, all of our spiritual work is realized through the environment until this environment and I become one whole. All of these levels are like concentric circles surrounding one central point.

From the outermost circle, from myself, the complete egoist, I first enter into the first circle, into the group, and begin to move into 125 circles deeper and deeper within.

The more that I am included in the group, I come closer to the Creator who is found in its center. The central point is the point of this world, the central point of the world of Infinity. Everything returns to one point, the “black point” of Malchut.

All the states we are studying speak of how much we have connected, circling within the connection, more and more strongly becoming one both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this way the spiritual levels are measured. It is possible to say that I begin from the largest circle and after that I in more and more contracting circles, centering them more and more from the point of view of clarification, connection, and unity, that is, qualitatively.

But it is possible to say that with this I can expand to more external people, to integral education, because the Creator has given me the AHP to work with, which is required for me to advance. And so I do the opposite; I go from the central point into wider and wider circles. It is possible to say this also: accordingly, I go out to wider and wider circles, to the masses, in other words, transforming into a “quantitative increase,” simultaneously with the work with this greater quantity, I contract myself with my knowledge and emotion further and further towards the center, meaning, more qualitatively, closer and closer to a single whole.

Likewise it is possible to say that in this one place I grew upwards in that I become more and more like the Creator. There, in the central point, I find the Creator and transform into being like Him, beginning from one point and growing higher and higher.

It is possible to express this process in different forms, but essentially there is no other work; there are no other realizations and means besides the environment. The environment is the group, the Rav, the books, and the Creator who is hidden within them and becomes our final goal. Otherwise we cannot aim towards Him.

We can never turn towards the Creator if we don’t stabilize Him in the center of the group connection. Everything else will simply be false. And besides this, work with the wider external public is imperative.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/13, The Zohar

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Kabbalah And Sufism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What are the lines of similarity between the wisdom of Kabbalah and Sufism and where do they diverge?

Answer: Sufism is not contrary to the wisdom of Kabbalah. They speak about the same thing. But Sufism doesn’t explain the technique of the construction of creation, the system of creation, and its conduct. It’s more adapted to the masses since it speaks about the solution to human and spiritual problems but on the level of our world.

Sufism doesn’t explain the structure of the upper world in the precise form as is recorded in the wisdom of Kabbalah:  Sefirot, Partzufim, Olamot, Ohr, NRNHY, KHB ZON, Tzimtzum, Masach, Ohr Hozer, and all the rest of the concepts. Only in the wisdom of Kabbalah is a description given of the “celestial mechanics.”

In principle, you could say that you have no need for it. Yet in fact this is not so. When you begin to attain the upper world, then these mechanics becomes necessary. You cannot make order and clarification within you, relying only on your emotions or the guide. For you the guide has already transformed from being a person into an internal characteristic. You don’t see faces, rather you feel the Creator. Then you require deeper definitions and emotions, you must work with more subtle and more measured states.

I am not a big expert on Sufism, but it seems to me that it is a part of Kabbalah. And if we penetrate more deeply into true Sufism, then it’s possible to discover where that divider is found beyond which the wisdom of Kabbalah is imperative. According to its foundation, Sufism is the right study for leading the person precisely towards the goal, but up to a particular limit.

The idea is that with all of us there are different levels of ego. Sufism stops at a deep level of ego. And for people with a big ego, Sufism is not enough; they require a greater weapon against themselves. Therefore they require the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Unfortunately, Sufism has stopped its development for some time. Today in the Muslim world it’s not wanted at all. This is a great shame because once there was a connection between Jews and Muslims through Sufism.

Question: I have friends among the Sufis. Can I try to explain to them how the level of their development could be changed in this way?

Answer: I think that it’s not worthwhile to attract those who are involved with Sufism to the wisdom of Kabbalah. We are against coercion. We have free entry and exit. They can come, listen, and go; there is no obligation here. But I would give them some popular book on Kabbalah so that they will see where there are similar lines and where there is a difference.

In principle, the wisdom of Kabbalah is the inner part of the Torah and most parts of the Koran are based upon the Torah. The Torah constitutes the basis for all the religions. Therefore there are no contradictions here.
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From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day Three 12/15/13, Lesson 5

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As Long As The Two Forces Of Nature Are Not Aggravated

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Suppose a person studying the integral method suddenly and painlessly experiences a change in direction of his flow of negative energy. When he encounters people he formerly hated, will he no longer feel this quality towards them? Will it be directed only towards his ego now?

Answer: The idea is that we can change all of our negative, egoistic characteristics into their opposites. If we create the appropriate atmosphere around a person, this will happen rapidly and easily. A small community of the like-minded surrounding him will always encourage him. With his new world view, there will not be any reason for him to see people as enemies; now he will look at them as fragments of his own soul; he feels himself and them as a single whole.

But if he disregards the integral method, then nature will strike him with hard sufferings, disasters ,and extreme situations, and still will oblige him to change, but this is the way of very great suffering. Not much time will pass until a person begins to think: “Why did sufferings like this fall upon me? Where did they come from? What is to be done? Where is there to turn?! It would be better for me to die than to live!”

But he will not be allowed to die until he understands that all the disasters, the epidemics, famine, floods, volcanic eruptions, and the disastrous civil wars, come from his egoism. He will not know how to fend off everything that has befallen, where to hide from it.

Therefore we propose people learn the integral method as long as nature doesn’t begin to take care of them, as long as they don’t aggravate its two forces (the positive and the negative), since it will not be very easy for humanity to balance the two forces in their natural appearance, in fact it could be totally eradicated. In this case, a small handful of people will survive on the face of the globe and under the influence of the forces of nature, they will include within them all of humanity with all of their suffering, they will understand that they must change themselves. What we suggest to people cannot be compared to this possibility.
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From Kab TV’s “An Integral World” 10/26/13

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.07.14

Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 16

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