Audio Version Of The Blog – 04.22.14

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2014-04-22_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’22.4.14′]

Lift The Gates Of The Heart For The King Of Glory

Dr. Michael LaitmanPsalm 24: A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the LORD? and who shall stand in His holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not taken My name in vain, and hath not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of them that seek after Him, that seek Thy face, even Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in. “Who is the King of glory?”

“The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in. Who then is the King of glory?”

“The LORD of hosts; He is the King of glory.” Selah.

We should try to imagine what revelation a person needs to attain in order to speak this way. The earth is the Lord’s… the world and they that dwell therein means that one reveals that it is the upper domination.

Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord means that he has ascended there himself and reached the level of equivalence with the Creator and now, who shall stand in His holy place? He could have done it by he who has clean hands, all the levels of the Light of Hassadim, and he who has a pure heart, which means that he works with the desire to receive in order to bestow, which is called the Light of Hochma.

He has already corrected all the evil that was revealed, an answer to, who hath not taken My name in vain, and hath not sworn deceitfully. It’s all thanks to the power he has received from Above and not thanks to his own powers; he shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Then lift…O ye gates refers to the gates of the heart. All of a person’s desire that grows all the way to Malchut of Ein Sof (Infinity) and becomes in order to bestow; he can now call the Creator the King of glory, and the word “Selah” means that we now touch Malchut itself, which means that we touch the measure of truth.

It’s impossible to work with the measure of truth unless we do it by other measures: peace, justice, and mercy. But when King David uses the word “Selah,” he touches the measure of truth.
[133039]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/14

Related Material:
From Where Will My Help Come?
Appeal And Gratitude
Psalms – The Spiritual Atmosphere

Building Among Us A “Spiritual Partzuf”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to build a spiritual Partzuf among us?

Answer: Building a spiritual Partzuf between us means to want to connect between us with complete and absolute bestowal.

The part of all of our desires that is ready for mutual connection is called the Toch (trunk) of the Partzuf.

Intentions within this Partzuf directed towards bestowal as a support for discovering the Creator, to give Him contentment is called the Rosh (head) of the Partzuf.

When you begin to connect correctly and seriously, you will feel a lack of bestowal towards the Creator and the conditions for this will appear.
[132926]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/16/14, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
A Workshop Is The Creation Of A “Spiritual Partzuf”
Uniting Into A Single Drop
The Spiritual Division Of Labor

EU As An Incentive For Neo-fascism

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Vesti Finance): “Economic problems cause fascism. The theme of strengthening of Anti-European and nationalistic sentiments in Europe is increasingly drawing attention. Neo-Fascists today consider the European Union as an example of coalescence of the state and corporate power.

“The French, Spaniards, Hungarians, Greeks and others who did not integrate in the market are faced with the fact that the interests of corporations are ahead of its individual parts. Transferring the production to regions with lower costs, active use of migrant workers, and cuts in public spending pave the way for the growing nationalist sentiments.”

My Comment: If we are late with a voluntary transition to the new socio-economic formation, in building a unified planetary equal society, mutually bound by a single good force, instead an opposite society emerges: fascism.

It is logical that in place of the European Common Market (EU), where everyone would have to be unified not for profit but for the sake of happiness in union, equality, and freedom from the evil nature of egoism and competition, by replacing the noble concept of unity with the concept of the common market, mutual hatred arises. If a sudden flash in Europe occurs, logically a world war would break out.
[132975]

Related Material:
The Crisis Brings Nazis To Power
United Europe Turns To Fascism
Friendly Fascism

Absence Precedes Presence

Dr. Michael Laitman

Baal HaSulam, “This is for Judah:” The Creator made creation existence from absence. Hence, there is not a single creation that was not previously in absence. However, this absence has a distinct form in each element in creation, because when we divide reality into four types: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking, we find that the beginning of the still is necessarily complete absence.

However, the beginning of the vegetative is not complete absence, but merely its former degree, which, compared to itself, is considered absence. And in the matter of sowing and decay, which are necessary for any seed, it is received from the shape of the still. Also, it is the same with the absence of the animate and the speaking: the vegetative form is considered absence with respect to the animate, and the animate form is considered absence with respect to the speaking.

The main thing a person has to clarify on his current level in order to ascend to the next level is that he doesn’t have the upper level! As it says: “absence precedes presence.” I don’t exactly know what my next level has to be, but I feel that I lack it! If my deficiency regarding the next level is ripe enough, I move on to it. This means that “absence precedes presence.”

This is what happens in the transition from the level of the still to the level of the vegetative, and from the level of the vegetative to the level of the animate, and from the level of the animate to the level of the speaking. How can one ascend from the level of the speaking to the level of the Creator? Where can we begin to clarify what we lack?

Hence, the text teaches us that the absence that precedes man’s existence is the form of the beast. This is why it is written, “a wild ass’s colt is born a man,” as it is necessary for every person to begin in the state of a beast. And the writing says, “Man and beast Thou preserves, O Lord.” And as a beast is given all that it needs for its sustenance and the fulfillment of its purpose, He also provides man with all that is necessary for his sustenance and the fulfillment of his purpose.

Therefore, we should understand where is the advantage of man’s form over the beast, from the perspective of their own preparation. Indeed, it is discerned in their wishes, since man’s wishes are certainly different from those of a beast. And to that extent, God’s salvation of man differs from God’s salvation of a beast.

It turns out that we need to feel that we don’t want the Creator and the spiritual world, but that we want to remain beasts who carry on with our comfortable life in our pen and nothing but that. This means that I have to discover my real desire in the current state and my refusal to leave it by even one millimeter. This is a feeling of absence.

I don’t feel that I lack the next level and actually see that I don’t miss it in any way. According to my nature I am ready to remain on the corporeal level forever. Without this feeling I cannot reach the recognition of the negative form.

This teaches us that the form of the absence is but the negation of the presence. And we know the form of the presence, redemption,  from the verse, “and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor… for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” Hence, the form of the previous absence, meaning the form of exile, is only the absence of the knowledge of the Lord. This is the absence of the Aleph, which is missing in the Gula (exile), and present in the Geula (redemption) —the Dvekut (Adhesion) with the “Champion of the world.” This is precisely the redemption of our souls, no more and no less, as we have said that all the letters of Geula are present in Gula but the Aleph, which is the Champion of the world.

If all we lack is the revelation of the Creator, the force of bestowal, not for our own pleasure but because it’s a more sublime attribute, we are ready to advance to the state of redemption.
[132160]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/31/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
When The World Shrinks To A Point
Overcoming A Potential Obstacle
Grow To Be Human

A Kli For Receiving The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Rabash writes: This is like the Light and Kli—the suffering that is endured for something is the Kli that can receive Light if he will free himself from the suffering. (From the article, “What Is the Blessing,”…who has done miracles for me in this place in the work.) How can I free myself from suffering even before I receive Light? I thought that the Light is specifically what releases us from suffering.

Answer: The Kli for receiving the Light is not the desire to be filled with pleasure but the desire to feel how others have enjoyment from me. My pleasure is in this. But I don’t work for its sake. Pleasure for me is only an indicator, a means for measuring that I have really attained bestowal to others.

This is called “freeing myself from suffering,” for I have no other thoughts or intentions regarding myself. I am concerned only for what is outside of me; therefore I merit discovery of the Creator.

These sufferings of love are when I am not in the desire to bestow. I suffer from this, and not on my account. If you suffer for yourself, you are found in this material world and are not directed towards the Creator at all. Being directed towards the Creator means that you want to be like Him, identify yourself with Him, and take an example from Him. And to be like the Creator means to think about what is outside of you.

My suffering becomes completely different because it becomes sufferings of love from my lack of ability to bestow to others and from concern that by bestowing to others, I am doing this for my own sake and not for His benefit, meaning not for the sake of bestowal, and without an intention to receive a reward. I demand the power from the Creator to help me to become like Him.

Question: And the Creator always helps in a case like this?

Answer: If you are really asking for this, He must help. You simply have never asked. You only need to want to be like Him, at least somewhat.
[132165]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/02/14, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
A Vessel For The Light Of Life
Love Is A Vessel For The Light
A Violin Tuned To The Creator

Whoever Is Born Today Is Not Responsible For Yesterday

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Does a person need to do some kind of work with disappointment, with his heaviness of heart, or should one simply be sorry and that’s all?

Answer: In general I would not recommend entering or deepening this sorrow, but relating to it with maximal simplicity, as if you don’t remember anything and don’t feel anything of what was. Every day you must be a new person.

It is written, “A fool sits with his hands folded and eats his own flesh.”  “What did I do and why did I behave like this, oh, oh, oh my, ay ay! How badly I behaved, what I have done!” This is foolishness, especially because of your lack of faith in what the sages said, that everything is managed from Above and that the Creator in advance has arranged the results of all of your actions.

So we follow a different line and never look back. Certainly this is not always successful because suddenly thoughts arise about how much harm you caused, what you did, and you begin to eat yourself up. You are given these states intentionally because you must rise above them.

Everything that a person did in the past sinks into the past; everything is done according to the instruction of “There is none else besides Him.” It’s forbidden for you to get involved with this and think that supposedly you could have changed something in the past and brought about other results. Everything went out one hundred percent correctly regarding what had to be; and at the end of correction, it will be revealed how correct this actually was.

Believe me, I have experience; it’s forbidden to think that something in the past depended upon you. Nothing depended upon you! So at every moment, you need to become a new person, “I was born just now; what do you want from me? There is nothing to demand of a newborn.”

You were born and will begin the work anew, clarifying: “Who am I, what am I, and who is this higher power that I must resemble? Ah, so I have a group, how nice! What do I need to do with the help of the group? Connect with them? Okay, I will connect. What for, why, and how do I get that?”

At every moment you begin to clarify from a clean slate, and don’t carry anything from the past with you. At every moment a new Reshimo is discovered within you; so how is it possible to continue something? It has already transformed, just like digested food; it’s impossible to begin to digest it again. You must want to become completely new, like a fetus.
[132706]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/14, Writing of Rabash

 Related Material:
Lessons Of The Past For The Sake Of The Future
It Is Pointless To Regret What Was Swallowed In Ein Sof
Advancing By “Entrances” And “Exits”

Under The Domination Of The Force Of Mercy

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, (Leviticus) “VaYikra,”1:4: He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, that it may be acceptable in his behalf, in expiation for him.

Hesed, the right hand, should be above all our thoughts and feelings because bestowal, love, and compassion are above everything. On the whole, Hesed (mercy) is regarded as a weakness in our world. If someone loves me so much that he always feels merciful towards me, I begin to take advantage of it egoistically, and very soon begin to “sit on his head.”

But in the spiritual world, it is the opposite. Mercy (Hesed) is the greatest, most sublime attribute. The whole spiritual world is founded on it.

A person who attains this attribute brings all his desires and intentions (“head” is the intention) to the level of above reason. He works in faith above reason and aims his intentions only for bestowal.

Thus, the Torah tells us that the Creator puts His hand on the head of the burnt offering as if He gives it an intention. This means that all the thoughts and desires, the mind and the heart, are dominated by a new force that has been given by Him, the force of mercy.
[132721]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/13/13

Related Material:
The Greatness Of Hafetz Hesed
The World Is Created With Mercy
Hot Air Balloon Flight To Freedom

From One Moment To The Next

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe highest level a person attains is called Moses, and only from this level does a person begin to understand how to connect all the desires inside him in order to work for love of and bestowal to others, and through that, the Creator. This means that only the level of Moses can attain this state of the soul when it is clear how it should be stabilized, connected, and collected.

Collecting all the parts of the soul requires a special penetration into the senses, into the attributes of the egoistic material that leads to the understanding of how it can be presented and connected so that it will work like the altruistic attribute of the Light. This is the work of Bezalel.

Moses is the attainment of the Creator, while Bezalel is the realization of the form and the image of the Creator inside the egoistic desire. Bezalel is in practice, but in practice with a wise heart. There is the wisdom of the mind, attainment, which is Moses and there is the wisdom and the work of the heart which is Bezalel  (which means in the Creator’s shadow in Hebrew).

Moses creates a shadow of the Creator and Bezalel attains this shadow and sculpts the ego from it, and from the ego, the resemblance to the Creator. This is like projecting a picture on a wall and then drawing it. But all the work is done inside a person.

At the same time we don’t create anything new, but simply take our ego and sculpt it into different forms like clay by putting the focus on the importance of certain forms instead of others. If in the past I used myself for my self-benefit, if I abused or stole, now I do the opposite, I use myself for your sake.

There is a change of variables by which everything changes from for my own sake to your sake. Who is ahead, who is more important, determines the whole difference between the worlds.

Question: If I hold on to Moses inside me, will I never leave it?

Answer: This cannot be because the desires and the attributes in you change. This means that you have to hold on to Moses every second. Every moment is different from the next in that the desires change and each time you have to hold on to him again.

The same thing happens in our world, but we simply don’t pay attention to it. In spirituality all the work is done from one moment to the next, from ascent to descent.
[132885]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/13/13

Related Material:
A Real Picture Of The World
In The Creator’s Shadow
The Wisdom Of The Heart

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.22.14

Preparation for the Lesson

[media 1] [media 2]

Writings of Rabash, Article 13

[media 3] [media 4]

Workshop

[media 5] [media 6]

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Parashat,” “BeShalach

[media 7] [media 8]