Audio Version Of The Blog – 03.08.16
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Question: If everything stems from the Creator, how do Kabbalists find the strength to justify Him as the good that does good?
Answer: As long as we are in our egoism we cannot justify the Creator as the good that does good. If a person earns something egoistically and receives a certain filling, he feels good, but if he scrutinizes things correctly and sees that it is harmful, he is not able to bless the Creator and to thank Him anymore. Even when a person receives blows instead of pleasure, he cannot thank the Creator.
But if a person feels such blows as orders, as a decree to get closer to the Creator, he appreciates them in a totally different manner and reaches a state in which he thanks the Creator for them, which means that he seems to kiss the stick the Creator hits him with. It all depends on the awareness of the goal.
In other words, as long as a person identifies with his egoism, he feels the blows on himself, but the moment he ceases to feel his ego, he ceases to notice the blows he receives because he relates to his ego like to an animal by his side.
I am the human being and the animal is beside me, and it feels the blows while I don’t. We have to reach this state where I am separate from this animal, from the ego, and then the human being in me will be happy while the animal will suffer since this is what it was created for as Baal HaSulam says. A person is even happy when his animal suffers since it is actually thanks to the suffering of the ego that he ascends above it.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/3/16
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Question: The Torah attributes stars to different astrological signs. Does the Creator manage people’s souls by the stars? What is the relationship between the soul and the stars?
Answer: There is nothing special about the stars. It is simply an allegory and that’s all. There is no power in the stars and it makes no difference whether a certain star is destroyed or remains. These are simple inanimate systems that have no effect on anything that is spiritual and upper.
Astrology first appeared a long time ago because people wanted to know where they are, how they should behave, how to measure time, and what to do.
In ancient Babylon astrologers could tell a person’s character and what will happen to him according to the stars. In those times people were much more sensitive and closer to nature and could say a lot about a person according to different signs. But this isn’t the system of the upper management. This is the system of our corporeal existence that could make life safer and more comfortable.
Today it is quite meaningless since we have lost our sensitivity to nature and there are no sages like the ones who lived in the past; they couldn’t help us anyway today. We are so negative in our thoughts and desires and so polluted by different chemicals that nothing can help us.
Comment: But people are still interested in the predictions of the Bulgarian Baba Venga and others.
Answer: This is only natural, but it isn’t the wisdom of Kabbalah and they cannot teach us anything correctly either. They can only accurately predict something in advance, but they cannot change anything.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/27/15
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Question: Humanity must undergo a sufficient amount of afflictions for the spiritual awakening and revival to begin. Does this mean that the worse things become, the sooner people will be ready for spiritual awakening and revival?
Answer: Why should we wait for the external revelation of evil? Let’s look inside ourselves and discover so much evil there that it will be enough to ascend, so we need not wait for ill-fate.
Question: Does this mean that the moment we discover our own evil, we will want to escape it?
Answer: Of course, a child, for example, can wait until he is punished and only then begin to do his homework. But he may realize that it is better to do his homework right away so that he will not be punished and then he will be free to run off to play.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/27/15
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Question: It is written that a soul that has sinned will surely die. How is it possible to understand this?
Answer: A soul is an altruistic desire, a desire to bestow, to give pleasure, a desire to connect with others.
If it sins, in other words, if it begins to receive for itself and not to bestow to others or to the Creator, then it “dies,” meaning that it transforms into an egoistic fragment that must be reborn and attached with the single general soul again. This is called “revival of the dead.”
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/20/15
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Question: When one is creating a partnership, is it necessary to inform the partner immediately that you are studying the wisdom of Kabbalah?
Answer: Yes, certainly. From the moment you get to know the person for the first time, you must feel his attitude toward this. It is even better to remember that, as a general rule, it is doubtful if a person “from the outside” will be compatible as a partner for you. It is preferable to choose him from our groups throughout the world.
Question: Why does a man need to provide for his wife?
Answer: That is customary in all cultures. A woman is the home. She must give birth and educate the children, and be involved with home economics, whereas a man must “go out to hunt and bring home the mammoth.”
Question: Does sex interfere with spiritual growth?
Answer: No.
Question: Why have men and women been compelled, as becomes clear in old age, to be involved with unimportant things for their entire lives?
Answer: It depends on how they carry out their lives. They can live on an animal level; they can live like angels.
Question: Can I unite with my wife without being present in a group?
Answer: You can, but this is not easy.
Question: According to what criteria should a Kabbalist choose a husband?
Answer: It is according to maximum purposefulness, loyalty to the group, studying, and things like that. If you are ready to choose, choose like that.
Question: If a man doesn’t provide for his wife materially but is involved with spirituality, must he provide for himself?
Answer: As a general rule, in our day, a man cannot provide for his family. We have been put into such circumstances that two salaries are necessary to provide for a family. There is nothing special about this. So, a woman doesn’t need to set conditions for a man to be involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah only after he provides for her. If a husband works normally and gets paid, you can’t demand more from him than this.
Question: If a man needs a woman in order to advance spiritually, does the Creator bring him to a partnership or is this a person’s choice?
Answer: No, a man himself must try to find a wife, a woman who is next to him. This is so that you will feel that you have obligations and concerns about someone and that, together, you constitute a couple. This is very desirable for spiritual development.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/6/15
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New Life 695 – The Influence of Intention on Reality
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe
The more a person directs himself, the more he prepares himself, the better results he will get. Kabbalists have other intentions; they work with a unique power, the upper force that depicts all of reality for us. In every situation they experience, whether it is internal or external, they must determine that “There is none else beside Him” (Deuteronomy 4:35) and that He is good that does good.
Kabbalah teaches us how to build intentions and to begin to identify the higher power, transcending feelings. When we recognize the force that is acting within all of reality, intentions of bestowal and love for everyone, of “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), that is born in us and the desire to sustain everything, disregarding nothing, and relating to everything with goodness. All of reality is created from a single force of bestowal and love; we have the ability to recognize this while we are alive. This supreme intention is called, “And you shall love your friend as yourself,” and loving means wanting to benefit, an intention which is found above a desire for pleasure and which manages it. This is an intelligent act clothed in emotion.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 695 – The Influence Of Intention On Reality,” 2/18/16
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Preparation for the Lesson
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Shamati #33 “The Lots on Yom Kippurim and with Haman”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 25
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“
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