Audio Version Of The Blog – .04.06.15

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/download/audio/eng_o_rav_2015-04-06_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’6.4.15′]

Developing A Second Wind For Our Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must be concerned about fuel for advancement and the quality of the work, and not just run after the quantity. Otherwise, this will lead to a great fall. We must sit together and think about a method for approaching people. The moment you seriously begin to take care of the general public, you will get a second wind. Now, you feel tired after a long run. Even though you had great success, this no longer excites you and doesn’t give you the same vigor as you had before. You have gotten used to being successful and there is nothing new about it. Everything comes to an end and you have begun to get sick and tired of it.

It is like the four phases of Ohr Yashar (Direct Light). Why can’t the first phase go on forever? This is because, after it (Aleph-Lamed-Peh) finishes, the second phase (Bet-Yod-Tav) begins. After that finishes, the third phase begins.

The Light influences the desire and constantly changes it. Eventually, it becomes qualitatively new from reception to bestowal, from Hochma to Bina. So, the same thing will happen in our work as well. It is impossible to play the same game until the end of life.

When people fall in love, they swear that they will love each other until the end of their lives, but it is clear that love will fade before we die, for we evolve quickly. In our day, development is very rapid, so people marry and divorce a number of times in their lives.

It means that each state will end and we shouldn’t wait for it to happen. Already, in advance, we should understand that even though our dissemination work is productive, correct, and good, and we cant diminish its importance, it already requires additions. It is up to us to think about the quality of the work, for every new level is attained by improving the quality.

It means that the connection with people must be more qualitative. The next stage is precisely the same as the previous one, but with a greater level of connection. We need to meet with the same people we already have contacted and begin to teach them the method of correction. It is necessary to send explanatory material to them, to have workshops and unification evenings with them, and to teach them through the television channels and the Internet to continually keep them interested. It is as if we enrolled them in a school, and now it is up to us to begin the first grade.

As a result of this, we will become a conduit that connects people with the Creator. We are not yet this conduit, rather, we have only reached the first point of contact.
[135712]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/14, The Book of Zohar

Related Material:
The Effort Is The Reward
The Universal Wonder Drug
Approaching The World With The Light

“Your Springs Shall Spread Outwards”

laitman_214Question: I want to ask you a question that has probably been asked many times, when will the Messiah come?

Answer: From a letter of Baal Shem Tov, “Keter Shem Tov”: “When I ascended there it is impossible to tell and to speak even face to face, until I entered the hall of the Messiah where the Messiah studies with all the Tanaim and the righteous and also with seven shepherds. And I asked the Messiah’s mouth, when are you coming?

“And he answered, you shall know when your study becomes famous and revealed throughout the world and your springs shall spread outwards; everything that I have taught you and that you have attained. And they will also be able to perform uniqueness and ascents like you and all the Klipot, shells (the ego) will be annihilated and it will be time of Heavenly mercy and redemption.”
[134499]

Related Material:
Expecting The Messiah
What Do They Expect From A Messiah?
When The Sources Extend Outward

Taming The Donkey

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I get to the point where I receive every feeling at every moment correctly?

Answer: The most important thing is to be detached from yourself and try to adhere emotionally and mentally to the Elyon (Upper One). I want to see myself as the Creator sees me.

Why do we love little children? It is because they behave honestly and naturally, without hypocrisy. A child wants something, he grabs it. With him, everything is simple and open, in other words, within one layer of behavior: As he feels fulfillment from nature, that is how he acts. Adults make all kinds of calculations, so they cannot tolerate themselves or others.

However, when we look at a child, we immediately see what motivates him and what directs him. We see his character. After all, he behaves very simply and in the present. This is one-dimensional behavior, behind which nothing is hidden. That is how we must look at ourselves from the point of view of the Creator and how He created me, fulfills me, and changes the Reshimot (Reminiscences) in me at every moment, thanks to which I constantly discover myself in a new situation and in a changing world.

The Reshimo defines who I am inside and how I receive the world. I must constantly realize the Reshimo as if “There is none else besides Him,” the good and that does good. In relation to my inner state, the outer world, and in relation to everything, the unity of the higher providence is revealed.

If I try to look at everything that is happening through the eyes of the Creator as much as is possible, then thanks to this, I begin to learn and become like Him, like a child imitating an adult. Apparently, the child receives no benefit from this, but in spite of it all, he wants to be like the adult. This is also how we grow.

The main thing is to divide the two layers of the skin: that which is connected to the flesh and the outer layer. We then acquire a more objective view of ourselves from the side.

All advice is derived from here: accepting the opinion of the environment, the opinion of the group, instead of my own opinion, and adhering to a friend and making my desire like his desire. In forma like this, we gradually begin to separate from ourselves and see ourselves from the side.

I ask the Light to influence me and give me understanding, feeling, and recognition of the need to do something with myself. I also want to change.

A beast adheres to the Reshimot that arise within him and realizes them without any external request. This is called instinctive, natural behavior on the level of the still, vegetative, and animate.

If I want to get away from this behavior and look at what is happening to me from the side, I begin to examine my behavior and change it. Here, I need the Light that Reforms; I need the group. This is the point from which I begin to develop on the level of Adam (Man/human), the first point from which Adam begins to grow in me above the instinctive, beastly behavior.

It could be that I continue to act under the influence of my instincts because I have no possibility of being released from them. However, I constantly try to see myself from the side, like a person who walks next to a dog and holds him by a leash.

In the meantime, we see that the beast manages the person. However, he consciously lets his donkey do this so that, in the meantime, he can teach it. When we train a wild animal, first of all, we do what it wants so that it will get used to the person next to it, and after that, we are able to mount it and gradually begin to ride it.
[134430]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/14, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Letters On Parchment
Thanks For The Shattered Desires
Updating The Action Of Creation Every Day

Do Not Quarrel In Vain

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are factions among the people of Israel who are involved in separation from the people and demonization of the nation, including even those values that make up the consensus. How do we deal with this; how is it possible to achieve unity in the face of this?

Answer: We don’t need to be involved with people and their actions, even if they represent the government. It is said in Proverbs 21:1: The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD Even if they are those who in our world are considered to be knowledgeable or influential, they are basically only carrying out the actions that are imposed upon them by the upper force. Each of them is just a puppet.

We must turn to the upper force that manages them and not take the people themselves into account. We pay attention to them only because through this, we are examining whether or not we are correctly building our relationship with the Creator.

According to this, we examine if we are correctly or incorrectly constructing our relationship with the Creator. In addition, the principle from Exodus 10:1: Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart… is operable here.

So here we simply need to work more on unity, connection, and dissemination.

We have nothing to work on besides connection within the group in order to influence the Creator. We should not relate to anything external unless they come up against us in war. War requires a response and we must influence everything else through the Creator.

Nothing influences a person directly. Disputes are useless. Discussions help in clarifying certain points so that they will be more understandable to everyone. That is another matter and for that purpose, I am ready to speak with a person, not to convince him, but to bring the message to other people.

Only the Upper Light can correct. And so we have no need for arguments; they don’t work. It is possible to persuade someone solely and only through the higher power. The Creator manages everything. The upper force, the Light, influences everyone, and at each and every moment, arranges the present state of the world among people in all kinds of forms and relationships.

So it follows that we need to turn to the Upper Light and not to the world. We also see that nobody is prepared to influence or convince anyone. Even the world leaders really discover their insignificance in the understanding of what is happening and their own abilities. They are arguing like children on the street.

Unlike them, we can influence the upper force, and through that, the correction of the world. This is our mission.

There is none else beside Him, and by turning to Him, there is none else besides you. If you want to organize the world beautifully and correctly, and prepare it for revelation of the Creator, then you are running along with the Light in the right direction.

Question: What does it mean to “influence the Elyon (upper one)?”

Answer: This means creating all the conditions for Him to be revealed. Through this I give Him contentment. And these conditions are bringing the powers of bestowal, Ohr Hassadim (Light of Mercy) to this world. After all, the Creator is Ohr Hochma (Light of Wisdom), which after Tzimtzum Aleph (first restriction) can be revealed only if Ohr Hassadim precedes it. That is what I must bring to the world.
[134151]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/01/14, Writings of  Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
A Call From The Epicenter Of Confrontation Between Forces
Gather The Harvest And Feed The Afflicted
Nature Is Above Logic

The Perpetual Fire Is A Call To Action

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book Of Zohar, “Tzav”, item 50: It will not go out. Of course the fire of Torah will not go out, since a transgression does not put out the Torah, but a transgression puts out a Mitzva, and one who commits a transgression puts out a Mitzva, which is called “a candle.” Thus, one puts out one’s candle from one’s body, meaning the soul, of which it was said, “Man’s soul is God’s candle.”

If a person sins in spirituality, he might extinguish the fire of the Mitzva (commandment) as a result. But his ego and the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) will still bring about the appearance of the candle, the connection between the Creator’s attributes and a person’s attributes. Then a person’s attribute will gradually be corrected in accordance with the Creator.

This state is often mentioned in the Torah, like in the story of the Maccabees, for example, who found only a small jar of oil that lasted for eight days, although logically, it should have been only enough for one day. This means that the perpetual fire symbolizes the continuous yearning for the goal, continuous connection, and continuous understanding, just like the perpetual fire that is lit in memory of those who are no longer with us.

This is the eternal memory that should be a call for action for us. We have to guard this fire in us and be in a continuous contact between the Upper Light, the Creator, and our egoistic desire. It is because the Light illuminates because of our desire, which gradually wanes and serves as fuel for the Light.

The Creator (the Light) appears only when we can ascend to His level and turn ourselves into a burning fire. Until then there is no Creator and this is the reason He is called “come and see,” Bo-re.

When we try to change ourselves into the attribute of love and bestowal, steam rises from the oil through the wick and the candle is lit. Then the form of the candle is not only the Creator’s form, His attribute, but also the person’s form, the form of Adam (Man/human), who resembles the Creator, since now they match and are in adhesion.

As a result, the element that doesn’t burn by nature begins to burn. Without it there is no fire, but it appears only when it yearns to reach an equivalence of form with the Creator. The Light actually appears as a result of that, because without it, there is no upper level and no upper world.

The spiritual world appears when we create it inside us from the materials we have. First it is the group that yearns for connection in order to discover the attribute of love and bestowal in the connection between them. If such an attribute awakens between us, then as  a result of the compression between us, the pressure, and the desire to connect, there is an ignition. Then the Light appears, which is the Creator’s image that appears between us.
[134097]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/27/13

Related Material:
Constant Light
A Lamp In The Human Heart
A Flame Clings To The Wick

Like A Bundle Of Reeds—Living In An Integrated World, Part 3

Like a Bundle of ReedsLike A Bundle of Reeds, Why Unity and Mutual Guarantee Are Today’s Call of the Hour, Michael Laitman, Ph.D.

Chapter 10: Living In an Integrated World
An Integrated World Requires Integral Education

Adult School: A Guide for the Perplexed

Besides the speaking, human level of Nature, all the other levels—still, vegetative, and animate—operate in mutual guarantee. Homeostasis, as defined in Webster’s Dictionary, perfectly matches the description of mutual guarantee on the levels below that of the speaking: “A relatively stable state of equilibrium or a tendency toward such a state between the different but interdependent elements or groups of elements of an organism, population, or group.”[i]

Our current, predominantly capitalistic society shuns equilibrium, mocks the tendency toward it, and dreads interdependence. In fact, we endorse and campaign for the opposite. We praise individual achievements in sports, business, politics, and the academia, and we idolize those at the top. We overlook those who contribute to the well-being of the collective and cherish individualism and independence.

But a society that functions in this manner cannot last very long. Think of our human bodies. If our bodies conducted themselves by the values that dominate our society, we would not make it past the initial cell-differentiation in the embryonic stage. As soon as cells would begin to form different organs, they would start fighting each other for resources and the embryo would disintegrate. Life would not be possible if any part of it embraced the individualistic values just described. It is because life, meaning Nature, adheres to the rules of homeostasis that we can develop and sustain ourselves, and have evolved to the point where we can ponder the nature and purpose of our existence.

Indeed, not only organisms, but our entire planetary ecosystem, even the cosmos, are in a state of homeostasis. When the balance breaks down, troubles soon ensue. An eye-opening and rather amusing report submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in October, 2003 by Irene Sanders and Judith McCabe clearly demonstrates what happens when we tilt an ecosystem off its homeostatic state. “In 1991, an orca—a killer whale—was seen eating a sea otter. Orcas and otters usually coexist peacefully. So, what happened? Ecologists found that ocean perch and herring were also declining. Orcas don’t eat those fish, but seals and sea lions do. And seals and sea lions are what orcas usually eat, and their population had also declined. So deprived of their seals and sea lions, orcas started turning to the playful sea otters for dinner.

“So otters have vanished because the fish, which they never ate in the first place, have vanished. Now, the ripple spreads. Otters are no longer there to eat sea urchins, so the sea urchin population has exploded. But sea urchins live off seafloor kelp forests, so they’re killing off the kelp. Kelp has been home to fish that feed seagulls and eagles. Like orcas, seagulls can find other food, but bald eagles can’t and they’re in trouble.

“All this began with the decline of ocean perch and herring. Why? Well, Japanese whalers have been killing off the variety of whales that eat the same microscopic organisms that feed pollock [a type of carnivorous fish]. With more fish to eat, pollock flourish. They in turn attack the perch and herring that were food for the seals and sea lions. With the decline in the population of sea lions and seals, the orcas must turn to otters.”[ii]

Think of the way we behave toward each other. We are competitive, alienated, isolated from each other, and aspire to excel over others. Keep in mind that this is not the exception, but the norm, the values we all teach our children as the “right” way to be. This is why an adult school, a guide for the perplexed adult, is necessary.

The way in which this school will operate should vary from place to place and from country to country. Each nation and country has its own mentality and culture, a different level of technological advancement and means of communication, and traditions by which people learn. For this reason, each country, sometimes each city will have to develop its own method of instruction. However, the fundamental content, the principles that all these adult education systems will teach must be the same. Otherwise the result will be disparity in the population’s commitment to mutual responsibility and the understanding of its importance to our lives.

Let’s examine some of the fundamental principles that education toward mutual guarantee should instill.

[i] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homeostasis

[ii] T. Irene Sanders and Judith McCabe, PhD, The Use of Complexity Science: a Survey of Federal Departments and Agencies, Private Foundations, Universities, and Independent Education and Research Centers, October 2003, Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, Washington, DC. url: www.hcs.ucla.edu/DoEreport.pdf

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.06.15

Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” “Come Unto Pharaoh-2”

[media 1] [media 2]

Writings of Rabash, Letter 22

[media 3] [media 4]

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Excerpt Items for Passover,” “The Exodus from Egypt,” Item 1

[media 5] [media 6]

Torah, “Shmot,” Verse 6, Item 2

[media 7] [media 8]

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Freedom” 

[media 9] [media 10]