Audio Version Of The Blog – 03.03.14

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For A Higher Cause

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Our world is a world of consequences. Do we need, by ourselves, to build the same whip that will force and commit us to correction? Is that the way of hastening (Achishena) time?

Answer: The way of Achishena is not the whip, but a way that attracts us to the purpose of creation due to its elevation in our eyes. We need to raise and elevate the goal so much so it will be so special, so desired, for us that we are prepared to do anything for it. And it won’t be difficult for us to go to it. Then we feel no pain, only inspiration.

For the sake of a higher purpose, people are capable of much: conquering mountain peaks, performing spacewalks, diving to the ocean floor instead of sitting comfortably on the sofa and watching football. People who are involved with creativity or with science burn themselves out, literally. They are willing to experiment with new drugs on themselves and conduct experiments that endanger their lives.

Everything depends on the importance of the goal! After all, our goal is not so difficult. If you arrange yourself in a group and the group begins to support each of its friends, then that will be the easy and wonderful way of inspiration, and you won’t feel even one drop of suffering.

What is that whip that you intend to use on yourself? Self-torment? A thing like that shouldn’t happen. All kinds of religious movements are arranged according to restrictions, while Kabbalah speaks about our path needing to be joyful.

In one of the Shamati articles, it says that the ego runs in front of everyone and shouts, “Catch the thief.” If you feel it is difficult for you, it says that you are progressing in an incorrect way. Make a clarification!
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From the World Zohar Week “Integral Education Convention” Day Three 2/04/14, Workshop 5

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Willing To Pay Any Price

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What happens when a person can annul himself?

Answer: He feels that he is already on a higher level in his connection with the upper, with the one to whom he has annulled himself. This is a question of equivalence of form. A higher level is a higher attribute.

Now I have a certain attribute of receiving or bestowal that depicts the world for me. When I annul myself with regard to the upper, I feel myself and the world, which means the inner and the external part of my attributes, in a more sublime manner. So I feel that I am in a different world.

Question: So it turns out that self-annulment is simply impossible and unbearable for a person.

Answer: We cannot annul ourselves and perform any spiritual action at all. But we must be convinced that we are helpless, and then we will be ready for a prayer. Our goal is to do whatever we can, to pay any price, to do whatever is in our power, and to see that nothing helps. Then we will cry out and stretch our hands to the Creator.

Question: If everything is predetermined, why can’t I save time and skip this intermediate phase?

Answer: But how can you turn to the Creator? A prayer is a real desire in answer to which you receive the perfect Light. Your request must also be perfect and then it will draw the perfect Light. This is actually what the whole period of preparation is concerned with. Reaching the perfect request can take a decade. Then you already have everything: You receive the Light that Reforms and you have a new attribute, the first spiritual state.

Then you advance to the second state, to the third…but all the following states are not as corporeal. It’s like the geological periods in the evolution of the Earth that lasted billions of years; there was the evolution of the animals that lasted a billion years and that of the plants that took half a billion years, but the evolution of the monkey, and of man that evolved from it, took only 100-200 thousand years, while the evolution of humanity has been only 50,000 years.

The development time reduces exponentially like on a logarithmic scale. It’s the same with the period of our preparation for the spiritual work, which is the longest and most exhausting. The other phases are much shorter. We have also developed in our technology, moving from DC to AC appliances, and now are working at high frequencies with lasers.

Question: How can a person hold on to this process which exhausts all his powers?

Answer: We can only count on the Creator’s help and on luck. Luck means holding on to the group, the teacher, the study, the daily schedule, as if you are in an army where everything is like clockwork: you get up, go to the lesson, from the lesson you go to work, and the whole day is according to this alarm clock. This is called God’s work.

After all, only at the end of correction will you be able to get rid of your desire to enjoy and until then you have to work. If you raise the importance of the goal to the right height, you will constantly feel elated. If you curse the Creator who gave you such hard work, it will not end well. You will suffer your whole life, torture yourself and your environment, and will come to nothing.

You should at least continue your participation in the group, even passively, as it says: “Anything but leave.” Eventually you will change, whether you want to or not; the influence of the environment will have its effect. We should understand that our state is perfectly arranged so that we will change, and there is nothing else we can do in this life.

We need to continually adhere to the group. If you are incorporated in it, you will feel that the group is an ideal state: that it is high, strong, and that you can always receive powers from it and adhere to it like a baby adheres to his mother.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/14

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Spiritual Hearing

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In our movement there are two ways: the good way and the way of suffering. My ego doesn’t want to submit to others. How is it possible to oblige it to go in the good way? I understand that suffering is not good.

Answer: You cannot oblige it as long as the group doesn’t convince you of it. You are stubbornly opposed like a donkey, holding on to the ego with all your strength, and you cannot change your mind for the better by yourself.

In the beginning stage we nullify our opinion under the influence of all kinds of blows. And after that we can nullify it, soften it, and change it only under the influence of the group. The group must teach you how to relate to your problem.

Question: But the group is made up of people like me.

Answer: This is what you think: “Who are they after all? What do they understand or know? They, know nothing!” That’s why you sit within your problems.

You must elevate and magnify every friend as the greatest of the generation. And then you will see how it’s possible to hear them. Another ear will appear to you, not beastly, rather spiritual. You will begin to comprehend and understand their words and thoughts in a completely differently; you will feel them differently within yourself if you begin to elevate and magnify them as great. This is the whole problem.

I keep getting answers from my students to questions that I myself cannot answer. I am not ashamed to admit it. It’s said: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my friends, and from my students most of all.” You must lower yourself before them, and then you will be able to hear them.
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From the World Zohar Week “Integral Education Convention” Day Three 2/4/14, Workshop 5

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And Then The Creator Will Make Us Wings

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 9, Item 1: Although this return is annulled during the shattering of the vessels, as we know, it turns out that the vessels of AHP fell once more to the level of the lower like their initial state of smallness. Malchut wanted to use all the ten Sefirot in order to bestow and discovered that it cannot, and so all the AHP were annulled. Now, we must correct them, and only then will we be able to use them, when this is the end of all the correction to the end—which means only to return all the AHP that returned and were corrupted as a result of the shattering of the vessels and fell to the level of the lower of each one, to their places, like they were in the state of the greatness of Nekudim, which means after the new Light that came out of the MAN of NHY of AK already corrected all the fallen AHP and raised them again, which means the time of the seventh Malchut Malchin Kdmain that spread until the point of this world.

We correct the real vessels of receiving, the AHP and then we reach the end of correction. The world of Atzilut spreads until the point of this world, the central point of all the worlds, as it is written, “His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives.”

Thus, we can use all the vessels and every person will attain all 125 levels. This may seem strange because this world is built like a pyramid and we all stand one on top of the other, as one is part of the hands and another of the feet of the general spiritual Partzuf. Yet, it doesn’t matter which organ each one belongs to since we all reach the end of correction and connect into one system, and so every individual, even the smallest one, attains everything, just like the greatest individual. All the differences are eliminated.

This means that everyone’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and their heads will reach Malchut of the world of Infinity, as it says that at the end of all the correction when the Messiah comes, “He will gather everyone in Jerusalem.” This means that everyone will spread form Malchut of the world of Infinity to Malchut of this world, because everyone is incorporated in everyone, and there will be no differences between us.

Everyone will perform his specific individual work with regard to the system, but throughout the whole system, from one end to the other. Thus, we will complement one another and reach the same level. We all will drown in the great sea of Light and will celebrate by “eating the Leviathan,” which means that we will receive all the Light of Hochma in order to bestow.

I am incorporated in all of reality and I operate in it in order to bestow upon the Creator, and you are incorporated on the other side and operate in it for the same goal. It turns out that we attain an equal level because each of us uses the whole system, but I am different from you according to the root of my soul, and so our work is also different. Therefore, each one is envious of his friends’ achievements, and everyone will have a different Masach (screen). I am impressed by how much everyone does, to what extent each one is greater, and the height he reaches being initially more corrupt than me.

It seems that we don’t need all these impressions if we complete the work and reach the end of correction. However, they are essential in order to advance. In the meantime, we don’t understand what will happen after the end of correction. It says that when we complete the correction the Creator makes us wings.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/17/14, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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What Is A “Question” in Spirituality?

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question in spirituality is a desire (Hisaron, need) that triggers the Upper Light. The Light descends and fills that desire. This is called a real question or prayer.

However, until such a real question is formed, one goes through an array of preliminary questions that are called “a prayer before a prayer.” In other words, before one really reaches the prayer, request, one undergoes numerous small, private, inaccurate questions until a correct question finally emerges.

In general, all questions boil down to one thing: “What is the meaning of life? Is it worth living? If yes, for what?” This is the only question that really exists. A man asks billions of different variations, and accordingly only gets a partial response. But at the end of correction, all will transform into one huge question that will be answered by one gigantic response—complete adhesion (Zivug a Shalem).

Question: What kinds of questions should we bring to you and which ones have to be clarified in the group?

Answer: It’s better if you come to me with a collective question. If you have a question that involves the entire group, please refer it to me.

Comment: So far, when I find answers to my questions in the group, I feel that they are correct.

Answer: Indeed “so far.” It is this way for every level, for me and for all. Answers that were right at this degree become incorrect when we reach a new level because the Keter of the lower Partzuf appeals to Malchut of the Upper.
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From a Lesson in Russian 2/10/14

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A Path Of A Woman

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What if I advance faster than my wife?

Answer: That’s the wrong attitude. Advancements of men and women are different in nature and style, and the comparison is inappropriate here. What a woman makes in the creation is not the same as a man.

Sometimes men and women can find a common language, but as a rule, they are unable to do so. Start reading any article or listening to a lesson and you will see that she thinks differently from you, as if addressing the subject matter from a different perspective. Eventually, women come to the same details of perception, but the path and the analysis of men and women are very different.

Men and women can discuss common questions, but when it comes to details, you need to take their current level into consideration.

Question: I see that our impressions complement each other from different sides. But at the same time, my wife has to spend a lot of time and effort with our child.

Answer: This is the women’s correction. Women care for their children and sometimes it looks like it is done at the expense of their self-correction. However, this is exactly how women advance, and a woman’s duty is to be a mother.

Some wonder, maybe I shouldn’t have children and should completely devote myself to studying, dissemination, and correction? No. Women should correct their souls by taking care of their children, by being together with them, and in the measure of time and desire remaining after this.

If a woman has the opportunity to marry and have children, she must do so. Women should take care of children even though it would seem that without children they could have done much more and advance much farther on their spiritual path. She could, but this is not a woman’s path of correction.

Question: Should women with children compare themselves with those women without children who have more time to study and disseminate?

Answer: No. If a woman with children participates in the study or any other activities to the extent she can, it produces correction many times greater than that of a woman who “refrains” from having children because she wants to be involved in Kabbalah. This kind of “abstinence” doesn’t help.

We just don’t realize that this world is built according to spirituality. If we bring sparks of spirituality into this life, we come closer to correction. One cannot rise to the next spiritual level if one has not laid a basis for it in this world. That’s why we have to marry, have children, and move on from there.

It would seem great if all of my students were disconnected from the cares of this world and were devoted to the spiritual. Imagine: everybody studies and disseminates. But instead they marry and women are almost immediately cut off from the process and men are obliged to support their families and resolve endless problems together with their spouses.

This is exactly what correction is. We cannot hide from this fact. Later, you will understand that this is the optimal way to do our job in the best possible way.

Conversely, those who avoid marriage reject the chance for correction. This applies to both men and women. So, if there is a possibility, you should start a family and carry the burden.

Anyway, a family is preferred over anything else because it is a basic part of the world’s correction. It is no coincidence that today the world is faced with the collapse of the family structure; this situation precedes the basic correction.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Spiritual Barbeque

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”: All these worlds and everything in them are included in the holy name HaVaYaH, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, and the tip of the Yod. We have no perception in the first world, Adam Kadmon. Hence, it is only implied in the tip of the Yod of the name. This is why we do not speak of it and always mention only the four worlds ABYA. Yod is the world of Atzilut, Hey – the world of Beria, Vav – the world of Yetzira, and the bottom Hey – the world of Assiya.

Question: Why are we using different words for the same things?

Answer: Let’s assume I’m expecting guests and I go to a market to buy meat for a barbeque. There are twenty different sorts of meat, different cuts of meat from various animals. All of them are just meat, but various kinds of meat are named differently since each of them has a taste of its own.

The same applies to spirituality where everything has its own “flavor” – ten Sefirot of their own with a screen and the Light that fulfills them; each of them is a separate reality.

The same applies to the different names of the same entity. You are not familiar with them at this time and that’s why you are confused and perplexed. You haven’t yet tasted them or felt their “edges,” nuances, shades, or forms in this world.

Without having the slightest impression of spiritual details, you see different names just as duplications. But as soon as you taste the “spiritual barbeque” comprised of numerous kinds of the Light, you will discover their “flavors” and will recognize their names; you will understand why they are called this way and not another.

In this world, we describe flavors using words that are a part of our language: let’s say chips flavored with paprika or onion. In spirituality, you will see the essence of each name and realize why this particular flavor is called “onion” (batzal – בָּצָל). The word stands for “in the shadow” (be-tzel – בְּצֵל) – a certain type of concealment or revelation. When one starts distinguishing the essence of names, one won’t have to memorize them by heart. They will turn into spiritual vessels that are obvious in one’s sensations.

Now you don’t feel any taste. Like a sick person who has no appetite, everything seems bland. Different dishes can be prepared for him, but he eats without distinguishing any flavors and only does so because his doctor demands him to.

Here, as we approach spirituality we are “sick,” but we have “eat” in order to get well. Later, when we recover and become healthy we’ll find huge differences and wonderful tastes in food that seem so tasteless to us today.

So there is a process, “tasting” a new level, you yourself define its name, the names of the Lights that fill it and the vessels. Where do we get them? From our sensations. If we compare the names that we assigned to various objects and phenomena with the original sources, we’ll see that they coincide. It means that we don’t have to read a description of a phenomenon in books; everything emerges from within.

It is said that Adam gave names to everything in this world. After all, he was the first one to reveal the spiritual world and attain spiritual roots of everything, the source of all their properties and hence their names.

Attainment” of something means that we penetrate to the very root of creation as if we attain Infinity, from which an object of our material world derives. And then you have no problem with names. After all, they stem from the Lights and vessels, and you yourself will determine their names.

The power of ten Sefirot with a screen and the inner Light forms the name of a Partzuf, the amount included in each set of forces. That’s why we label a Partzuf not as we usually name a newly born child according to our choice, but rather in accordance with the internal structure of the object. We can’t just give it a different name. This also applies to each of us; when we change, our names also change.

Consequently, a vessel, the Light that opposes a vessel, and a screen that connects them together allow us to perceive the entire reality without referring to any books. We don’t just name the details. Their names are a revelation, the spiritual attainment of a person.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/28/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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What Should We Expect From Studying The Book Of Zohar?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the right intention we should have when we open The Book of Zohar?

Answer: The Book of Zohar was written as a result of the connection between souls and so it operates and influences us in the right way if we connect. Even if I read it by myself, it will affect me by pushing me to connect. But it is impossible to understand this book unless you are connected with other people.

It isn’t just an intellectual understanding, but a revelation.  I feel how I overcome my ego and begin to feel the others in my connection with others. I feel new powers and new attributes in the connection with others, and so I discover the upper world.

The Book of Zohar gives me the feeling of the others by revealing a force field of love and bestowal between us which is the spiritual world. This is the right outcome that we should expect from studying The Book of Zohar.
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From the World Zohar Week “World Zohar Convention,” Day One 2/5/14, Lesson 1

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 03.03.14

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar

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