Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/28/20

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Sleep Or Lesson Preparation?

laitman_962.4Question: Should I deprive myself of the pleasure of having a hearty dinner if I know that I would sleep longer afterward and consequently would have less time for the study of Kabbalah, communication with the group, and so on?

Answer: I would not recommend it.

I, for example, plan in advance what I can do to wake up for the lesson without fail. Moreover, I have to prepare for the lesson for at least an hour and a half: to read, delve into the material, prepare myself for certain sensations. Otherwise, how can I be accountable before my friends?

As I go to the students, I regard them not as pupils, but as my friends through whom I want to receive certain sensations. After all, I am not in the absolute state yet.

That is why I prepare for the lesson constantly: I familiarize myself with the topic of the lesson in advance and read excerpts on that topic. I tune myself similarly to the way a musical instrument is tuned before being played.

Moreover, you not only discuss tuning, but on the contrary, that you might not come to the lesson. Such a thing is completely unacceptable.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/12/20

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Modern Types Of Obstacles

laitman_547.04Question: What is an obstacle?

Answer: In general, there are no obstacles. What we call an obstacle is help “against oneself,” when a person is given help but in a way that is very unpleasant to one’s egoism.

The purpose of an obstacle is to teach us to overcome it, to put spiritual elevation above any earthly achievement, meaning to place the Creator above everything else.

Question: What types of obstacles are there?

Answer: There are all sorts. But usually, it is food, sex, family, pride, fame, and knowledge.

Question: Until recently, hunger was a really big obstacle. The family of our teacher, a high-level Kabbalist, was starving. What does the Creator want to tell us by this?

Answer: He tests people. Will you be eager to earn as much as possible by any means or will you be content only with the fact that you exist and somehow subsist from day to day. These are very serious problems.

Comment: But today virtually nobody is starving. That is all in the past.

My Response: Yes, these problems have been resolved by previous generations.

Question: What obstacles does an ordinary person face today?

Answer: Today we have domestic problems with sex, family.

The family is disintegrating because a person with today’s egoism cannot exist in the same shell called family for a long time. This is why both psychologists and sociologists are saying that a person will have two or three families in the course of their lifetime.

Question: People used to live in a family for 20 years while today it is unlikely that a person will stand it for 50 to 60 years. That is, today the Creator sends great obstacles through a family, doesn’t He?

Answer: Yes, but not only. I think people will draw closer to spirituality through the obstacles of a different level: wealth, fame, and knowledge.

Fame drives a person forward. Look at what happens with the government before elections. And knowledge? Look at what transpires between scientists. Although they also have aspiration toward fame, it prevails over their aspiration toward knowledge.

Regarding the general mass of people, they are primarily interested in sex, family, and money.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/25/19

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The Uniqueness Of The Force Governing Us, Part 9

laitman_562.02Under the Influence of Light

Question: How can I come to feel a gray state and want to break out of it even though everything seems to be smooth and good? Where do I get the need for something more? Where does the search for the purpose of my existence and especially the ability to connect everything with the Creator come from?

Answer: This ability comes from exposure to the surrounding light. When you engage in Kabbalah, you invoke the upper light upon yourself, and it gradually moves you toward the Creator. This movement occurs either on the right or on the left line.

The Creator sort of flirts with us here. He draws us in and out, He puts us far and near in order to bring various sensations within us in connection with Him. After all, we cannot be in one state only, either in the right or left line, but only when both are constantly compared. This is how the Creator acts.

Therefore, if striving toward Him, whatever it may be, accompanies us in the group, in the classroom, while reading the original sources, etc., then we begin to see how these states change within us. This occurs constantly.

As a result, we see that we have no other opportunity, and as soon as we break through to Him, we compel, force, Him to reveal Himself to us.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 11/24/19

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Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 12/29/19

laitman_963.6Question: I have been studying with you for a few years and my understanding of Kabbalistic terms is constantly changing. Apparently the word “hatred” is also a Kabbalistic term. How does this notion change for a person as one develops spiritually?

Answer: Usually, the term “rejection” is used in Kabbalah. That is, it is not the feeling of hatred itself but its reaction, its action.

Question: Is our goal to reach the Creator, who is love?

Answer: The purpose of our development is to reach the Creator or universal love, which are the same.

Question: Why does a loving Creator awaken terrible hatred, anger, and rage in me toward Him?

Answer: It is in order for you to resist these feelings, to overcome them, and bring yourself to the state of absolute love.

Question: Do love and hatred correspond to the pillars of mercy and justice?

Answer: No. Mercy and justice and hatred and love are very different categories; later we will later learn how to put together and thereby develop our soul. That is, we will learn to add a bit of hatred, a bit of love, a bit of every feeling depending on the circumstances, in particular combinations.

Question: It follows from the method of Kabbalah that a person cannot reveal the Creator on a deserted island? He has no one to love or hate.

Answer: Of course, one cannot. One person alone is not a man.

Question: Can one love others without love for oneself?

Answer: No, it is impossible. You can love others only when you love yourself.

Question: Can it be said that the transition from self-love to love in a ten is empathy or projection?

Answer: No. There is no need for these definitions.. They provide nothing. You will get confused with them and think we understand each other. No such words exist in Kabbalah.

Question: Who is “the other”: a single person, a ten, or the entire world?

Answer: “The other” is the ten, no less. Preferably ten.

Question: We speak about two opposites, love and hatred, all the time. Is there an intermediate, middle state where we have freedom?

Answer: Freedom is precisely between love and hatred. This is a so-called the middle part of the Sefira Tifferet.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/29/19

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New Life 1193 – Coping With Change

New Life 1193 – Coping With Change
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Relaxed satisfaction with life happens when we engage in what is important. We feel calm and comfortable about our desires, thoughts, plans, and even frustrations when we have the support of a positive environment. Women are better able to cope with postpartum depression when they are among supportive women and family. Becoming a father is also a major change for a man and community support helps. Sport and exercise help to relieve stress as well since it burns all types of waste in the body. Any change creates pressure that is alleviated with support from others.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1193 – Coping With Change,” 12/26/19

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 2/28/20

Questions from World Kli

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