Audio Version Of The Blog – 09.18.14

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Don’t Be Afraid Of The State Of Pitch Darkness

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are in advanced states and so we mustn’t forget that the moment before redemption is felt as the greatest darkness, helplessness, despair, powerlessness, and disappointment. Right before the exodus from Egypt it is pitch dark.

We advance along two lines. The Light comes, but it is felt in the desires that have not been corrected yet as darkness. Thus, people and whole groups see themselves in the worst possible state; in a state that is increasingly lower and more contemptible.

They think that they don’t deserve the spiritual revelation and that they are further from revelation than ever before, as it says: “And the Children of Israel sighed from the hard labor” in exile in Egypt. But this is the spiritual path.

We, therefore, have to distinguish between the heart and the mind. It isn’t by chance that the two Lights operate on us this way, the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma; the Light of the goal of creation and the Light of correction. When we feel that we are in such a terrible state, we still have a chance to clarify and examine it and realize that it is right. This is actually the state that helps us advance.

On the other hand, the darkness and the weakness that are revealed are a very powerful call from Above. We have to break through this egoistic shell and reach the perception of a new reality, the feeling of a new world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/14, Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

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A Transformation Of Dominance

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe subject of the second lesson at the convention in Saint Petersburg is “The Cyclical Nature of the Evil Inclination.”

In my opinion, everything is clear here. Wherever I turn, I am immersed in my own evil inclination. Whatever I do, whomever I think about, it is only to exploit this person, to benefit myself somehow, and after that forget him, in that I remove him from my mind completely.

If I become familiar with the force of my ego, I will gradually be able to feel how disgusting and despicable the discovery of this evil within me is to me, how much I would like to be released from it and transform it into good. For in fact, it won’t leave me, I simply transform it into a yearning for others, into bestowal to others, into love for them.

That is how I value my foul and terrible evil inclination, even though strangers don’t see anything wrong with it.

First, I reach awareness that I have maintained and cultivated my ego, I have thought about how I can fill it. After that, I see that it enslaves me and I don’t enslave it. So what am I wasting my life on? Now I begin to hate it, because it connects me to it, obliges me to do everything for it. I must work for its sake all the time, because it, like Pharaoh, secretly reigns over me.

And then I reach a state where I discover this control, feel how the ego is choking me to the point I can no longer remain in it; it is killing me. As a result, I am released from its clutches.

And when I am detached from it, from its control over me, I will begin to control it. I will begin to manage it with the help of the Upper Light.
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From the Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention, 9/9/14

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The Basis Of The People Of Israel

Abraham and his disciples were forced out of Babylon and wandered to a land that later became known as the land of Israel. This group of disciples aspired toward unity and cohesion in accord with the tenet, “love your neighbor as yourself.” The ego was relentlessly growing within them, too, setting them apart, but they exerted in unity nonetheless. In the words of Maimonides (Mishnah Torah, “Shoftim” (Judges), “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.”

Thus, through the connection, Abraham’s disciples, in rising above their egos,  discovered a new phenomenon: the force of unity, nature’s hidden power.

Science tells us that every substance in reality consists of two opposite forces—connection and separation—and these forces balance themselves out. But individuals, and human society as a whole, evolve using only the negative force, the ego. According to nature’s plan, we are required to consciously compensate for the negative force with the positive force of unity.

However, we don’t possess any of it. Rather, this force exists in nature and we must discover it through building positive connections between us. When Abraham and his disciples offset the power of the ego between them with the force of unity, they discovered the wisdom of maintaining balance. They called that method, “the wisdom of Kabbalah.”

The complete text of the brochure is here.
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No Distances Or Viruses Can Frighten Us

Dr. Michael Laitman Question: What kind of result must we reach at the convention? With which thoughts and feelings do we disperse? And what does this line amount to in us?

Answer: We must connect internally to all the participants in the convention so that the convention will not end. We continue to go forward, upward; within us we feel what we attained from the connection all the time, and distance only compels us to increase and strengthen this feeling. In this manner we rise to the next level.

You cannot imagine what kind of tension exists today among our groups abroad, especially in North and South America. They are preparing for the convention and are doing everything possible and impossible.

We connect and separate, again connect and separate, all the time. This separation is necessary so that above it we can maintain the previous connection.

When we disperse, each person going on his separate way, we are given some opposition, and above it, we return to feeling the previous unity. And then the unity that is multiplied by the opposition will give us new intensity, a new spiritual level.

Question: You said that in the American and European groups there are very intense tensions. But there are also other places in which there is an absolutely different attitude towards the convention. Aren’t we infected by “viruses” from them?

Answer: I am not afraid of this. The same intensity that is gathered at the convention itself becomes such a shield that no viruses can frighten us and no hackers can disturb us.

But if you have information that some groups or isolated individuals are opposed to our idea, we should try to explain to them before the beginning of the convention that unity is the condition for attaining the spiritual world. They simply haven’t heard this yet. Each one of us knows that on their own. How much time must pass until we began to hear it? So don’t be afraid; everything will be okay.
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From the Lesson Topic: “Preparation for the Convention, 9/9/14

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Preparation Determines Everything

laitman_259_01Question: To what state must preparation for the Saint Petersburg convention bring the world group?

Answer: Before the convention the entire world group must be in a state of arousal and excitement where awe, happiness, elevation, expectation and despair exist together.

This must not be something external, but internal. Each one must experience these states within himself.

Our friends throughout the world must prepare such that they will become softer, more flexible. Just as we work on dough, kneading it, so we also must work on this mass.

Besides this, we want to put ourselves under the influence of the Creator, so that He will make of us something that can be digested. This is our mission. We want to become active participants in this activity, and not spectators.

As it is said in the wisdom of Kabbalah, everything depends upon preparation.
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From the Convention Preparation Webinar, 9/4/14

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The Last Drop That Fills Our Measure

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is there any chance that a person who studies can succeed simply by the power of inertia ? He doesn’t leave because corporeal life doesn’t seem attractive either, but on the other hand, he sees that the wisdom of Kabbalah is too much for him and he cannot believe that he will ever reach the revelation of spirituality.

Answer: It is impossible to study with the power of inertia. Every moment in our life requires our energy. Therefore, if a person studies, it means that the Upper Light operates on him and sustains him. He probably has to go through this period. There are such periods in which a person becomes like a corpse, a lifeless body: He cannot live in the corporeal world anymore, but he hasn’t started living in the spiritual world yet.

Question: It seems that one can wander on the border of the spiritual world for years and not reach a request, a prayer.

Answer: No, that depends on you; it depends on the environment. Believe me, I speak from my own practical experience. The preparation period cannot go on forever, no state goes on infinitely.

Every moment you exist and somehow get closer to the spiritual advancement, the Light operates on you and fills you with the spiritual force drop by drop, like an intravenous infusion. But it has to accumulate to the right measure and therefore it takes time.

If you want to reach the spiritual revelation sooner, hasten time. But it cannot be that your measure will never be filled; there is no such thing. On the whole I have to know only one thing: How to connect the group with the goal.

I want to eat some soup and I am told: “Get a bowl!” But I have no bowl, so what can I receive the soup in? The bowl is the group. If I am not incorporated in a group, I have nothing to receive spirituality in. I have to tie the group very tightly to the attainment of the goal, to the revelation of the Creator.

We still think and hope that there is some vessel where the Creator can be revealed somewhere inside us. But there is no such place in a person. There is only one black point that cannot receive any revelation. But still, drop after drop, the Light operates on a person and he gradually begins to tie his success with the connection, with the friends.

This is already a great accomplishment; it is a switch from the earthly, corporeal individualistic path to the spiritual ladder. You already begin to subconsciously tie yourself to the group. You get closer and closer to it, and the moment the first contact, the first connection, is formed, you enter the spiritual ladder. This is called the ladder of spiritual ascent.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/14, Shamati #56

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Friends, Our Covenant Is Wonderful!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In what way should our covenant be revealed in the convention?

Answer: In warmth. Effective communication that must occur between us. It has to simply explode so that we will begin to feel a warm void among us that opens us up to one another and doesn’t let us restrain ourselves in order to express our love.

Moreover, it is mutual support, a mutual effort all over the world when the friends all over the world express their support and their awe and confirm their oath of loyalty to our covenant.

Therefore, we must feel some tension. Of course, the upper force can do whatever it wants with us, but each of us is committed to the friends, to keep all the advice and the commands of the Kabbalists and do everything in our power to keep the covenant with the others.

A person should understand that if he doesn’t accept this condition, he is not part of our stream, and he doesn’t float onward in our common general boat. He can stay in the convention but nothing will happen to him.

Everyone must realize and recognize the fact that taking an oath is the central issue in starting the spiritual path. Just like on Mt. Sinai: “Do you agree to be as one man in one heart? If not, this will be your burial place!”

If we are going to make a covenant now, it should include everyone by stretching a hand over the ocean, over the continent, no matter where. Everyone has to feel that they are with us in a continuous two-way connection.
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From the Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention,” 9/4/14

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Tuning To A New Portion Of The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we use the gathering of friends (Yeshivat Haverim) to unite at the convention?

Answer: The gathering of friends is a part of the day when we are tuning to receiving a new portion of the Upper Light because these meetings precede the lessons and workshops, i.e,. our upcoming spiritual actions.

To do this, we must get ready, unite, and remind each other about our goal that it is achieved in unity, that it is the mutual support that is our freewill, and this is our only free action; all the rest does not depend on us. The gathering of friends should remind us about this.
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From the Lesson on the Topic: Preparation for the Convention, 9/9/14

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Convention In St. Petersburg – 09.18.14

Convention in St. Petersburg, Preparatory Lesson 1

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Convention in St. Petersburg, Preparatory Lesson 2

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