The Wisdom Of Connection In An Era Of Isolationism

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn everyday life we generally hide our egoism. If I depend on my enemy completely, my ego begins to disappear and hatred evaporates. There is nowhere to escape to and I start to look for how to love him and cause him to love me. The self-preservation instinct begins to work, and I cannot hate someone when my life, the most precious thing I have, depends upon him.

But in our case, we are not succeeding. The hatred is being revealed between us more and more and the separatist movements are taking over the world. The more that our world is discovered as whole and mutually connected, the stronger the opposite trend becomes.

Each one aspires to isolation and ultimately we will reach the same situation as in ancient times, where every city and area became a separate nation. The whole world will be divided into such kingdoms.

On the one hand, egoism is growing, feeling its limitations and areas of control with more precision. And in this way, it separates itself from the others. As a result of this, the world in which seven billion people are living will create 10,000 nations that cannot get along with one another.

Even solitary individuals are no longer able to get along with each other. There was a time when families would live in one room: parents, children, grandchildren. And today two people cannot live in peace in the same apartment. This is called hatred.

To the same degree that our interdependence is appearing, the desire to shatter this dependency, separate and move away from each other is appearing as isolationism and separation. These two tendencies will not disappear and will develop more and more within human society, and there is no way to resolve this! Both will grow to the skies and there will be no possibility of solving this conflict.

The art of connection is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. Ultimately the relationships between everyone—children, adults, in schools, at work, in international relations and within society—will reach such a state that we will not be ready to speak to one another and will need the wisdom of connection!

This wisdom will be required simply to be able to arrange normal relationships at work, in school, in the family and in all areas of our lives. People will need this wisdom because hatred, rejection, the inability to speak to one another or even look at others will reach such a threatening degree that we will not be able to bridge this gap.

It will not be possible to overcome the lack of desire to see and feel others. A person will search for isolation so that nobody will be near him, and he will not want to get close to anyone. But on the other hand, he will have to sit in class at school or university and be in connection with others.

Today, one person cannot do anything; even scientists carry out research in large groups. In addition, in our jobs everywhere, we need to connect in teams. But a person will lose the ability to cooperate even with one person who is like him as this hatred will grow to such a degree.

So the wisdom of connection will be very much in demand. The whole world is going to need it.

We need to understand that all of the spiritual worlds: the five worlds, Olam Ein Sof (world of Infinity), the entire ladder of levels, and the Partzufim are revealed in us through the unnatural connection between people. According to nature hatred and interdependence are revealed in us. But if we arrange for a connection between these polar opposites, the hatred and dependence, and communicate with others above our intellect, desire, and all calculations, we will discover new relationships and a new world.

Now we feel this world through our five senses, meaning the five kinds of egoistic connection between us. We see everything through our egoism, meaning that in every situation we search for the opportunity to be confident and enjoy. Thanks to the wisdom of connection, the wisdom of Kabbalah, we will reach new relationships above the egoistic relationships, which are relationships of “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (“Leviticus” 19:18), and within the connection between us we will begin to discover the five additional senses: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut.

Within these senses, we will discover phenomena called spiritual worlds, until attaining the complete connection called Olam Ein Sof. The spiritual world is revealed in the connection between us, in the levels of our relationships that go from total detachment to complete adhesion. This is the ladder of spiritual levels.

To the degree that I try to develop love above my egoism and hatred, I discover the levels of the spiritual worlds. So it isn’t necessary to search for the spiritual world in any other place, such as in books or mechanical actions with the hands and feet. Everything depends only on work in the heart and how much I can connect emotionally with others above the rejection and hatred without wanting to delete or annihilate it.

After all, everything is built precisely above the hatred, as it is written, “Love covereth all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12). So with love built above the hatred, I will discover a new world called the world of men. After all, we are all within this world and will be connected as one and receive the form of Adam – man  (Domeh – similar to the Creator).
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From the preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/14

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Who Can Pass Through The Clouds Of Glory?

laitman_749_02The clouds of honor are the general Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that sustains the whole nation on a certain level of bestowal and love, mutual connection, and holiness.

It is only natural that the part of the nation called Erev Rav (mixed multitude) would be kept external to it since they yearned to serve around and inside the Tabernacle, but only for their own sake and so they continuously grabbed from the spiritual source for themselves.

Until this very day this part of the nation has the same attributes and their whole life is based on small spiritual thefts. This is the reason that they cannot pass through the clouds of glory that keep them away since the clouds are the attribute of bestowal, self-sacrifice, and love for others. When the Erev Rav see that they need to work for others they are instantly repulsed by that and don’t want to get inside. So this is the protective Masach (screen).

A person doesn’t need to protect anything. He simply knows that if he enters through that door he will automatically have to think only about others and not about himself, not about his family or anything else! Does he agree to totally change his internal intention?

When a person gets closer to the spiritual work he sees that it is even scarier than being burned by fire because jumping into a fire means death. He feels that working for others every moment of his life is worse than death and he is repulsed by it. Only the Light can come, correct, and change a person’s intention.

Question: Is the role of the nation of Israel to get closer to the clouds of glory and enter inside?

Answer: No, at the moment we are not in the camp; we have to create it. Our role is to get closer to one another. Of course, we can say that this road is always open to everyone. But there are certain laws in our nation that we will reach it sooner than others, although the road is open for everyone and there are no obstacles except our inner problems.

The same people who agree to fulfill the Creator’s desire but only for their own sake so that they will feel good in this world and in the next world are called Erev Rav and they will not be able to reach the new state. They will be the last to reach it only after the whole nation acquires the attribute of love and bestowal, the attribute of unity and mutual guarantee. This will affect them and they will be corrected under the influence of the Surrounding Light.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/24/14

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In Order To Not Be Thrown Out

laitman_249-03Question:  Since the last convention, I have missed many lessons and been late to many lessons. The worst thing is that I don’t feel ashamed of that… What should I do?

Answer: You will be able to survive only if you begin to spread the method of connection among the masses, just as is done in our groups. At the moment everything that you do is for your own sake and as a result you will simply be thrown out like dumped waste.
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The Chemistry Of Love

laitman_250In the News (from boyko.ru): “According to a recent study a person’s emotions are nothing but chemical reactions. The feeling of falling in love is aroused by amphetamines and then the body blocks them and releases endorphins which invoke loyalty and dedication.

“Love is a chemical reaction that lasts between 2-4 years. It isn’t a sublime emotion but merely the result of the breaking down of certain chemicals. It happens in the duration of 2-4 years and then a person’s body blocks this reaction in order to protect itself.

“Falling in love is a result of the secretion of amphetamines in reaction to a certain ‘beloved’ person. They actually create the feeling of euphoria and happiness that lovers feel. These substances include noradrenalin and adrenalin which are natural energizing substances. This is why a person feels that he can move mountains in the name of love. When lovers break up the period of the secretion of amphetamines grows longer, but at the same time when amphetamines break down they release dangerous substances including ammonia.

“These processes have a negative effect on the central nervous system and after 2 to 4 years the body gradually suppresses these reactions in order to protect itself. The amphetamines are replaced by other hormones, endorphins, which are commonly known as the happiness hormone and thus being in love is replaced by dedication.”

My Comment: If we study our emotions more deeply, meaning the reactions of our desires, we will discover that it all results from the influence of the Light on the desire, and the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how we can manage the influence of the Light on the desire.
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 05.17.15

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Rungs of the Ladder,” Item 22 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Mutual Guarantee” 

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 9, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 7

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar” 

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Audio Version Of The Blog – 05.16.15

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
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Why People Become Disappointed In Religions

laitman_627_2Question: Why in our time do people become disillusioned with religions?

Answer: A person discovers that no religion can give him fulfillment. After all, all religions appeared due to the fact that the nation of Israel fell from the height of love of others into the unfounded hatred, having lost connection with the upper force of nature.

In response to the darkness, humanity developed religions: Judaism first, then Christianity, and then Islam. These religions did not occur by chance, but each has its own root. Christianity belongs to the left line, Islam – to the right line, and Judaism – to the middle line.

That is how they relate to the spiritual roots because everything in our material world stems from spiritual roots. It is written: “No blade of grass grows until its [guiding] angel above strikes it and says: ‘Grow!’” Therefore, all the phenomena of the world stem from the upper world, and there is nothing new in our world.

Religion is designed to give a person some image of the upper force when he is not aware of it and does not understand it. It helps a person to examine his nature.

Religions have given impetus to the development of philosophy and science. First science was developed by religious people, and only in a few hundred years was it separated from religion and became accessible to everyone.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 5/7/15

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Processing The Emptiness In The Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Numbers” 1:52 – 1:53: The children of Israel shall encamp, each man by his own camp and each man by his division. The Levites shall encamp around the Mishkan of the Testimony, so that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel and the Levites shall keep the charge of the Mishkan of the Testimony.

It says in Midrash Raba that when Moses counted the Jews, dividing and classifying them according to the tribes, the Creator taught him how to become one camp and how to advance, which means how to put the ruined vessel back together.

Four types of egoism on three lines make up the 12 tribes, the 12 parts of the spiritual vessel. The shattered vessel must be corrected by uniting all the parts into one as the people advance in the desert, which means according to the revelation of the ego in every camp and in every tribe.

The Creator teaches the nation how to gather everyone so that each time they absorb new corrupt emptiness, process it internally, and correct it into the attribute of bestowal. This is the advancement in the desert in 40 years (levels). This is how the corrected part from Malchut to Bina must be the accurate unity of the nation and thus conclude the building of their connection with the Creator.

The movement of the camp in the desert symbolizes the processing of the emptiness. This is actually a very unpleasant movement forward since the desert is swarming with scorpions and snakes, the sun is burning, there is no food or water, and everyone is covered with sores. In other words, the desert symbolizes a person’s growing, burning egoism. People feel the connection between them like a sore that touches another sore, and the pain will not let them unite. They must ascend above it, and although the Light that comes doesn’t heal the sores, it formats them into one general, healthy body. The pain and the sores turn into one unified vessel in which pleasure is revealed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/24/14

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The Gifts Of Abraham

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In what way are the spiritual methods of the East different from the wisdom of Kabbalah? After all, they apparently speak about similar things.

Answer: There are 3,800 religions and faiths in the world. All of the main religions actually came from Abraham who lived in ancient Babylon close to 3,500 years ago.

Abraham taught his method, meaning the wisdom of Kabbalah, to a small group that he called Israel. And he gave gifts, or other forms of faith, to the rest of the people. The Torah says that Abraham gave gifts to the children of his concubines and sent them eastward, where all of these methods reach back to us.

The difference is that the method of Abraham possesses the ability to correct a person, something that doesn’t exist in any other method. The wisdom of Kabbalah makes it possible for us to attract the good force towards us that is concealed in nature and that will correct our hatred towards each other to love. This good force is added to our egoistic nature and we become bearers of two forces. The integration of these two forces makes it possible for us to work with them, develop correctly, and discover an additional form of reality that is found outside of us.

Modern physics talks about the existence of a reality such as this. Besides the universe, the world that we see now, there are other forms of reality. The wisdom of Kabbalah makes it possible for us to go out beyond the framework of the limitations of this world and see higher worlds. Possibilities like this don’t exist in any other method because they don’t contain the Light that Reforms. The uniqueness of the Torah is that it contains a force that corrects our nature and raises us above the ego to a nature of bestowal and love, in that it opens our eyes, as it is said, “You will see your world in your lifetime” (Berachot 17a).
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From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 5/03/15

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When You Diminish The Importance Of The Rav, You Fall

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt all times until today, humanity has the same structure of a Rav (teacher, guide), a group of Kabbalists, and all the rest of humanity. All of the work advances according to the explanations of the Rav, and the group carries them out. First, there is connection within the group, and only after that is it possible to disseminate it to the rest of humanity, in circles.

But the method remains the same method, includes the same stages, and makes it possible to realize them only on condition that we elevate the Rav. Of course this is not talking about the external form as in other doctrines. Rather, it is about realization of the advice of the Rav about how to reach adhesion with the Creator. This is called honoring the Rav, for he is on a higher level than we are. We honor his direction, his words.

When we build the right relationships between us; in other words, we realize the Torah to the point of realizing its main general rule, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” we advance. And as much as we diminish the greatness of the Rav in our eyes, we fall.

In addition, to the degree that we raise or lower the greatness of the Rav in our eyes, accordingly we are found in ascent or descent. So, it is said, “A student that is exiled—he exiles his teacher with him” (Makkot 10a). It is up to the student to know that the assessment of the Rav, the assessment of the method, and the way of correction depend completely on the assessment of the importance of the means for attaining adhesion with the Creator.

Also, when the student works on the greatness of the means, accordingly he can attain the goal, which is the greatness of the Creator, the greatness of the characteristic of bestowal, love, and connection. All of this depends absolutely on the work on the greatness of the Rav and the friends. We attain the goal within the connection between the friends who build the right network of connection and a detailed understanding of all of the parts of the connection. If a person is not ready to bestow upon his connection with the friends, but succeeds in integrating into it and rising above his ego, this is called Ibur (conception), the state of the embryo.

In this state, greater and greater internal resistance to connection is constantly discovered, which is called a fetus, and each time he must nullify himself regarding the role of the group, regarding its greatness, and regarding the greatness of the Rav, and thanks to this, he continuously develops until all the stages of conception are completed. After that, there is the period of feeding (Yenika) when he is prepared to receive and to give, to participate more actively in connection, feeling how practical and true it is. That is how he finishes the feeding years and reaches a state where heavy, receptive vessels are awakened in him. Then, he can participate actively in the work, building new connections, clarifying and creating the characteristics of bestowal and love, which is called discovering the Creator among the friends.

This form begins to be clarified more and more all the time. In the beginning, it is only through the Achoraim (posterior) because it is impossible to see the face of the Creator until the completion of correction, and after that even the face of the Creator will be revealed, meaning that bestowal and absolute love will be revealed among us within the corrected vessels.

All of this will happen only on condition that the person values the Rav and the group and works on their greatness, trying to move through the ascents and descents. If he succeeds in ascending, he is immediately given a descent, adding another layer of the desire to receive so that he will rise more and more.

Only in the connection between the friends is it possible to see the entire field of work, the place in which the condition, “There is none else besides Him,” is realized—meaning the Light, the form of bestowal, and the general rule, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the vessel. Everything is revealed only within the group that is directed to the Rav.

It is written, “Love of friends is enough for us,” but “a student that is exiled, the teacher is exiled with him,” this means that if the student succeeds in rising above the exile and contempt for the Rav and the group, then the love of friends completes all of his shortcomings. All corrections are included in the love of friends.

If we succeed in keeping our attention within the area that is found between us—which is what we must fill with bestowal, with love and mutual help, so that “from the love of man to the love of the Creator”—to that degree, we advance. The main thing is not to forget that all of this is revealed within the connection between us.

All of the levels of the characteristic of bestowal that we acquire—Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya and Yechida—must be discovered among us, and the more we come closer to one another, we ultimately discover the high totality in the connection between us that is called the Creator. His form is the level of Keter, Yechida in all states. If in each and every state we reach the last level, Yechida, then we feel the presence of the Creator.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/14

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