Audio Version Of The Blog – 02.13.15
Posted on February 13th, 2015
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What is required in order to discover the good? Why does someone who is born into great abundance not appreciate it? You tell children: “See how much you have! How much I have given to you! When I was a child I didn’t have this.” Yet they wave you off and don’t want to hear this.
They cannot appreciate your goodness since they have nothing with which to compare it. So they don’t understand what kind of gratitude you require from them. They want to go to the movies, they can go; they want a computer, they get it; a new mobile phone, to go on vacation, whatever they want. They have everything, and so they also have no desire for anything.
You tell them that when you were their age, you built a car for yourself from a shoebox and played with this car for two years, and they laugh at you. They are right, because everything is measured according to desire.
They feel themselves on a particular level of satiation and will not move from it in any direction. First one must descend to minus infinity to be able to feel plus infinity afterward.
About this it was said in “Leviticus” 26:10: When I break for you the staff of bread, and ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread by weight, and you will eat, yet not be satisfied, meaning that nothing in the world changes except our consciousness. Even now you are found in Olam Ein Sof (the world of infinity), yet instead of that you feel this world because you don’t have the Kelim to perceive Ein Sof.
On one side there is a sack of gold coins, and on the other side there is a mountain of diamonds. In front of you is a table set with a bounty of delicacies, yet you are dying of starvation and suffer from the stench.
Everything depends upon your perceptive Kli. You are in Olam Ein Sof, which never changes. Everything depends only on desire, and desire is built above an abyss that is constantly revealed to a greater degree.
Therefore, it is difficult for our children to feel a reason for living, specifically because they have everything. Baal HaSulam tells a parable about a king who put his son in a basement for 20 years and caused him mental anguish by showing him how everyone else was successful. Others are sitting in a bar or watching the World Cup, whereas you are sitting in a dark cellar full of mice, cursing your father.
This continued until the son discovered that his father was acting from the goodness of his heart and with great love. His father was suffering himself because he had given his son grief. Whereas if you give your children everything that they want from the goodness of your heart, this means that you hate them.
Question: Does it follow that I must intentionally hurt a child in order to educate him?
Answer: You limit him because you want things to be good for him, and you are willing to suffer in order to do this. You do this for his sake so that it will benefit him in the future. It will not be good for him now, as his ego desires, but will benefit him throughout his life.
Or, you want to feel good from the thought of how much you have given him. You think to yourself: “I couldn’t afford any of this in my childhood, so my son should enjoy it.” Is this what you call love?
Tomorrow you will have to give him many times more because otherwise he will not feel that he is alive. You must build a “basement” with great wisdom and put your beloved son in there, and you will suffer many times more than he will. In this manner, you will be preparing him for a good life.
So we have a method by which it is possible to advance towards fulfillment, towards goodness, not by feeling bad, but by being aware of it. This is a very special patent. It is necessary only to understand the principle and that is enough. Then there will no longer be a need to suffer. We are not ready to go through the way of difficult suffering.
The Creator made a special system in which it is enough for us to be aware of the evil that exists in contrast to the good, in order to accept it as a tool and sense fulfillment through it. After all, we are not ready to descend to minus infinity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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When studying the wisdom of Kabbalah it is necessary to be very careful so that theory does not obscure the practical work. Yet there is a problem here…
The problem is that many people delve deeply into studying Kabbalah, detached from life, and they begin to juggle and manipulate the words: Here it is written this way, there in that way.
This gives nothing to a person. This is because with this he is not changed but only enjoys the mental manipulation of all kinds of facts, but he doesn’t get what each one of them represents.
He is simply playing with empty “boxes,” on which are written: “Atzilut,” “Malchut,” “Bina,” “Zeir Anpin,” the worlds of “ABYA” and the like. In this way he is not in their inner feeling, he doesn’t work with them with his emotions and characteristics.
So it is very dangerous to present Kabbalah to a person in this way because he will begin to be involved with it only artificially, without having a connection with the friends, without being involved with dissemination, without which he will simply “rot.” It is impossible to grow on your level without developing the lower level. All of spiritual development is latent in this because the chain must pass from above to below and from below to above.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/14/14
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The Midrash “BeShalach”: “The Egyptians were defeated by the ten plagues on the sea just as they were defeated by the ten plagues in Egypt. The ten plagues on the Red Sea are not described in details in the Midrash (“The Great Commentary”).
All the attributes and the revelations that are described in the oral Torah are necessary for one’s birth in the spiritual world just as the labor pains and the preparation process for childbirth are. Without what we call such Gevurot (rigid forces) and constraint, the connection between the mother and the newborn wouldn’t be revealed.
During this process different hormones and forces are extracted that later help a child grow. Therefore, children who are born in a natural process are more complete than children who come into the world by a cesarean section.
In other words, the exodus from Egypt cannot take place any other way since it symbolizes a person’s birth into the new spiritual world, into the attribute of bestowal, in which he doesn’t feel himself inside a body anymore, although it still exists.
Therefore, there cannot be a smooth birth, and as a result childbirth in our world isn’t smooth either. But if we didn’t intervene in the birth process by different surgical devices and catalysts, which seemingly ease the delivery process, children would be born much healthier. All these devices are unnecessary. We will gradually understand how inefficient they are and will begin to limit their use.
Question: But is the labor pain really necessary?
Answer: Yes, but it depends on the mother. If she has proper spiritual preparation for childbirth, she will not feel pain. There will be pressures but pressures like doubts and like clarifications. She will go “through the water like on land.”
On every level all the spiritual transitions are a kind of birth.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/30/14
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Midrash Sefer, “Beshalach:” When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea the Creator performed ten different miracles for them.
The first miracle is the decline of the water to the sides when the obstacles the Israeli nation faced on its way to attaining spirituality are divided into the left and right lines.
Crossing between the water that withdrew to the sides means walking along the middle line, which doesn’t really exist, since it is a person who stabilizes it by himself through the proper combination between the right and left lines.
What is more, the right and the left lines don’t exist either. There is only a big chunk of desires before you and you have to divide them by yourself, by your own attributes. I can work with this for the Creator’s sake (the right line), but I cannot work with the other attributes (the left line). And you pass in between by using both lines. This action is called the decline of the water to the sides.
2. A sheltering cover that resembles a roof was created above the Jews’ heads.
A roof symbolizes the Surrounding Light.
3. The water was divided into twelve separate passages (a passage for every tribe).
Each property of a person sees the passage between the right and the left lines differently and in a totally different perspective through its ego, according to its own powers. This refers to a person’s internal attributes that now enter the spiritual world and are born into it.
4. The ground beneath the feet of the children of Israel was completely dry.
Passing on dry land means distinguishing between the attribute of receiving and the attribute of bestowal.
5. The ground beneath the feet of the Egyptians resembled mortar. This was the revenge, an eye for an eye, directed towards the Egyptians who enslaved the Jews and forced them to produce mortar.
The Egyptians cannot distinguish between land and the upper water, the attribute of receiving and the attribute of bestowal, and therefore sink and get stuck in the mud.
6. The water becomes solid, like rocks, and injures the Egyptians that chase after the children of Israel.
It refers to the forces of Gevurot (the attributes of Dinim). Therefore the water that should be soft and a source of life becomes the opposite, a rigid force with regard to the Egyptians (the separate egoistic attributes).
7. The water that became solid formed a wall that was decorated by a mosaic.
All the unsolved egoistic attributes within a person, that are subconscious and are uncorrected, are connected to the altruistic attributes but which as yet are clarified nor classified. They are a type of knots of strings below their feet, setting sharp obstacles over which he cannot cross. This whole mosaic is inside a person.
8. The walls that were created by the water that turned into solid were transparent, which enabled each tribe to see the other tribes advance (which gave them a feeling of trust and confidence).
“The walls that were created by that water that turned into solid were transparent,” means that all the attributes can see one another, since they advance together.
Thanks to their connection, the different attributes are considered one whole. This means that they are connected and at the same time they are also separated.
Every tribe has its own role, and therefore, despite the common movement, they advance on their own. But one way or the other, the movement causes everything in the system to disappear and become one whole that is made of all the twelve tribes.
Thus the movement is common, but each tribe has its own way. It isn’t by chance that it was forbidden to intermarry between the tribes, since by that, one breaks the prohibition and the attributes. Each one can be corrected by itself.
It is only after the destruction of the Temple that the intermarriage between tribes was allowed, since there was the fall from the spiritual level.
9. If a Jew felt thirst while crossing the Red Sea, it was enough for him to stretch out his arm and the wall would melt that would provide him with wonderful drinking water.
Everyone could grow infinitely strong by the Light of Hassadim (Mercy). All he had to do was to stretch out his hand. A hand is a desire to receive and everything depends on the intention with which a person fulfills this desire.
A lack of the attribute of Hassadim, which he wants to add to himself, is felt by a person as thirst, “I want a greater attribute of bestowal. I need it like life now, like water.”
What is more, it isn’t about salt water, since we take out all the Gevurot from them, all the evil inclinations. If you advance with the right intention, the salt water becomes pure water and there are no additions left within it.
10. The moment the Jew quenches his thirst, the wall becomes solid again.
By his prayer, a person seemingly melts the wall of the frozen water, since without that, it would go back to becoming the upper attribute, the upper force.
It is interesting to compare the ten miracles to the ten plagues of Egypt, since both symbolize the same action, but on different levels. Everything depends on the desire for which it is intended: an unprepared desire, without a Masach (screen), without a yearning to advance in the direction of bestowal, which typifies Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or the opposite, the desire in order to bestow. The same action from Above invokes different outcomes.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/30/14
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“Aaron is the forefather of all Cohens in the world” because the Creator chose him to establish peace in the world and because Aaron built it to this.
Each day of his life, Aaron exerted to multiply peace in the world. The Creator ordained him to lead consecrations so he brings peace to the upper congregation. By ministering consecrations, Aaron instigated mating (Zivug) between the Creator and His Shechina; thus, bringing peace to all worlds.” [“Let There Be Light,” the book “VaYikra,” (Emor)]
Aaron is the highest step in human actions, which connects the Light with the matter of creation. It is the root, the basis, the reason, the final goal of creation.
It is not about a human being. We do not deal with notions such as “protein entities” or “discrete desires.” “Aaron” is a structure that gradually establishes the closest possible connection between the properties of bestowal and receiving.
Bestowal is a quality of the Creator, whereas the will to receive is the property of creation. So, both properties are always involved in some kind of relationship with each other since one cannot be manifested without the other and can be seen only on the background of its opposite.
Thus, Aaron personifies the system that balances both forces and completely connects them. The result is something in common so that the property of bestowal and the quality of receiving can no longer be distinguished because they complement each other. Attainment of this level is the goal of creation.
Question: How can black merge with white to the extent that it is impossible to distinguish between them?
Answer: When black acquires the properties of white or vice versa, they can reciprocally connect and complement each other.
Aaron’s work is to connect the opposite properties. It is said that he was the forefather of all Cohens (priests) in the world because he didn’t personify one single action associated with one concrete state; rather, Aaron exemplifies constant, meticulous work in all types of enormous matter that consist of two forces (bestowal and receiving), in each “knot” where both forces are correctly connected.
It is said in the Torah that the Creator chose Aaron to establish peace in the world. “Peace in the world” is a state inside a huge, complete desire. In this context, “peace” has at least two meanings:
The world is an association of absolutely different properties. “Coming to peace,” means entering into a benevolent unity with the upper. This is the purpose all Cohens work for.
[153206]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/14/14
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Opinion (N. Rubini, Economist): We have to solve problems associated with debt by relying on ourselves rather than reassigning problems to a higher level. Among other reasons, the crisis of the advanced economies is triggered by excessive debt in the private sector – households, banks, and the corporate sector. The financial crisis resulted in disproportional debt at the level of regional, municipal and national governments.
Indebtedness is not exclusively a European problem; it also exists in Chinese economy and constitutes 80% of its GDP. Transferring debt to a higher level is not a legitimate solution since there are no such things as a “Cosmic Ministry of Finances” or some kind of “Central Bank” that can step in and save everyone. We should stop pretending that we are solving the problem when we are in fact simply postponing it to a future date. The difficulties we’re experiencing now will only increase in the future and we’ll eventually hit a wall that will bring all economies to an end.
Comment: The fact is that none of the decision makers can resolve the situation because the solution lies in a new integral perception of society and economics. The crisis will force them to re-evaluate their attitude towards the world instead of looking through the panacea of obsolete theories.
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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: Rabbi Akiva depicts two kinds of people: the first are the “open store” type, which regard this world as an open store without a shopkeeper. He says about them, “The book is open and the hand writes.” Meaning, although they do not see that there is an account, all their actions are nonetheless written in the book, as explained above. This is done by the law of development imprinted in Creation against humanity’s will, where the deeds of the wicked themselves necessarily instigate the good deeds, as we have shown above.
The second type of people is called “those who want to borrow.” They take the shopkeeper into consideration, and when they take something from the store, they only take it as a loan. They promise to pay the shopkeeper the desired price, meaning attain the goal by it. And he says about them, “All who wish to borrow may come and borrow.”
And if you say, “What is the difference between the first type, whose goal comes to them from the law of development, and the other type, whose goal comes to them by self-enslavement to His work? Are they not equal in attaining the goal?” In that regard, he continues, “and the collectors return regularly, day-by-day, and collect from a person knowingly and unknowingly.” Thus, in truth, both pay their daily portion of the debt.”
It says that the righteous inherits double and the wicked lose double. After all you work and acquire vessels. You cannot remain the same way you are since the press of evolution is getting nearer whether you want it or not. If you are ready to run ahead in order to acquire the right vessel and discover the next world in it, go ahead. If not, then you are using an egoistic vessel that is very small. It seems that it is a great desire that can oppose the vessel of bestowal but in fact the size of our ego is not suitable for bestowal because it is isn’t deep enough. The Kilpot (shells) are merely a replica of Holiness.
Question: Can we say that paying the debt is the attainment of the ultimate goal?
Answer: Paying the debt is the ascent up the spiritual ladder. When a person ascends the ladder it makes no difference where he is exactly because he doesn’t take himself into account but rather takes into account how to delight the Creator. If, for example, the Creator prefers that he should remain in smallness now and serve others, that he should go through different states, then a person gladly looks for such an opportunity.
Spirituality is bestowal in which there is no egoistic account. Therefore, it makes no difference what state I am in. I value and measure everything according to the opportunity to delight the Creator, the group, or the friends. On the one side of my inner scale there is the group, the friend, and on the other side I measure my ability to do something for them. My self is actually to what extent I can bestow unto others. I only have a point in the heart and I weigh how I can delight the group, humanity, the general soul, or the Creator. The ego is erased and I disregard it, although my point is in it. This is the reason it is called the point in the heart, since my heart is an egoistic heart.
Question: I understand the idea of delighting the friends, but how do I take the Creator into account if I don’t perceive Him yet?
Answer: I begin to see my friends as one whole. When I get closer to the idea of one, I distinguish the force of unity in it.
We are all units (1). There are seven billion units living in this world (7 X 109), but I am drawn to unity, and if I reach it at least in a minimal level (1/125), I become equal to one, to the Creator. In other words, my vessel becomes similar to the Light.
Question: So why is it so important to delight the Creator and not the friends? Why is the emphasis on the Creator?
Answer: Because you have to discover His basis in the vessel, the force that operates in the created being, the one who operates your vessel. You have to adhere to it, to the Keter. We don’t attain Him and therefore we discover the commandment of love through actions. You attain something that is above you. When the human level adheres to the Creator it attains a much higher state. It isn’t just adhesion, but it is the internality of the idea of the Creator is revealed here.
We don’t know what comes after that, but apparently this is only the beginning of our evolution…
[111066]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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