Question: To what extent does how deeply we can understand the teacher and accept his methodology depend on us?

Answer: You need to accept that the implementation of the methodology you are studying depends on you and only on you.

Therefore, as long as you get closer to each other and unite more strongly with each other, you will be able to rise above the conditions that are set for you in order to achieve the goal of creation.

We are not that far from it. We just need to put our hearts and minds in order. We do not have much work left after what the previous great generations have already done.

In order to organize the heart and mind, we must overcome the little natural rejection that still remains in us and ensure that our hearts connect. Then the upper light will enter into them, and from this feeling we will attain everything.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“

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Question: The fact that everything comes from the Creator is clear; this is the law: He created the universe and rules in it. But what is the greatness of the Creator?

Answer: The greatness of the Creator is that He restricted Himself in all cases and reveals Himself to us from such low, small, lowly states in our eyes so that we can raise Him in our imagination and thoughts to the highest degree.

But the further we go, the more we see how insignificant He seems to us. Therefore we forget about Him and neglect Him.

The main thing for us is just to raise Him to the highest degree, the degree where He really is and which we are able to see.

Question: If we reveal the greatness of the Creator, will we be able to love Him without egoism?

Answer: Yes, we will. Only the greatness of the Creator, which we wish to reach, will raise us to the highest degree. As it is said: He will raise a beggar from the dust. That is, He will be able to lift us from the lowest depths.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “In the Place Where You Find His Greatness“

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Question: When I am in a state where I need nothing but unification, does my ego automatically annul?

Answer: The ego never automatically annuls. It is only due to consistent actions carried out by all of you that are specifically based on the unity that you find yourselves in one heart.

Question: Is the connection between friends a connection between souls?

Answer: Yes, the Creator provides this connection. He glues together parts of souls that were dismantled after the breakage of Adam’s soul, and gives them the opportunity to reconnect.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Concerning the Revealed and the Concealed“

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To reveal the Creator, it is necessary to fulfill the commandment “Love your neighbor” because thus we coincide with Him in properties.

And when the Creator reveals himself to a person, he can directly fulfill all 613 commandments on a spiritual level. These are the laws of communication because we cannot be in touch with the Creator if we do not feel Him.

Nevertheless, in our world, as a consequence of root and branch, there are also some specific actions that sometimes we can perform and sometimes not depending on the historical period.

Question: Why is it that what we must do is called a commandment and not an action?

Answer: Because these actions were commanded to us. Kabbalists who feel the upper world (the world of forces and influences on us) combine these forces into one common whole, into one system, and call it a commandment. And “It is commanded” because we, as people, must fulfill 613 commandments.

These are the laws of a higher nature.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

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Question: What is special about Baal HaSulam’s method?

Answer: This is a practical method that he developed for our generation and described in all his works. Therefore, we study his writings and strive to become similar to the image he described.

The main principle of this method is connection between people, such closeness between them that each person feels the other as himself. Through this connection, they can rise to the attainment of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 12/5/23

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “What Is, ‘Praise the Lord, All Nations,’ in the Work?”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Selected Highlights

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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “The Emergence of the Spiritual Land of Israel in the Heart”

In recent months, Israel has been a land filled with expressions of both brotherly love and selfish struggles, playing host to a constant conflict between goodwill and animosity.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, “land” (Heb. “Eretz”) means “desire” (Heb. “Ratzon”), which is also referred to as man’s heart. In this desire—heart—resides the people of Israel and the nations of the world. These desires, however, like neighbors, struggle to coexist peacefully: either the nations dominate or the people of Israel prevail in the heart.

Initially, the heart was like a wilderness, controlled solely by self-serving desires, which consumed everything within their grasp. Kabbalah defines the self-serving desires as “the nations of the world.”

As humanity evolved, a small desire emerged called “Israel,” which stems from the words “straight to God” (Heb. “Yashar El”). Kabbalah usually refers to God as “the Creator,” and defines it as the quality of love and bestowal that creates and sustains the universe, including us humans. In other words, we initially develop as the nations of the world, i.e., in self-serving desires that make us prioritize personal benefit over benefiting others and nature, and the desire called “Israel,” which means a desire to benefit others and nature, emerges in us at a later evolutionary stage.

Conflict erupted when the desire called “Israel” emerged among the desires called “the nations of the world.” We started fighting with ourselves in order to overcome the heart, to relinquish control from the selfish will and let the higher power of love and bestowal guide us and reshape our heart.

This inner battle persists until efforts to overpower selfishness tip the scales, granting victory to the upper Divine will, letting love and bestowal rule over the heart. With this triumph, the heart becomes “the Land of Israel,” as it then gains the intention to be aimed “Yashar El” (“straight to God”).

The means to achieve this devotion to the Divine will is in the people who share the initial desire to reach a state of mutual love and bestowal among all people, and who are willing to support and encourage each other to combat their self-serving nature. Through the amplification of such an influence, these people come to reach a state of “love your neighbor as yourself” as they let the quality of love and bestowal guide their hearts at every front. When they reach this state of utmost harmony, the entire Land of Israel within will emerge in its purity and sanctity, dedicated completely to the upper force of love and bestowal—to God.
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From a letter:

Hello! My neighbor Irina is studying Kabbalah with you. She sent me a quote yesterday. She knows that my husband and I are having difficulties, to put it mildly, and wants to help us. So, I decided to write to you. The quote is as follows:

“’Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ That is, this one is worthy of being dedicated to the man, and the man is dedicated to her.

“Therefore, a man should love his wife as his own body and respect her more than his own body, have compassion for her and cherish her as one cherishes one of his own organs. And she, too, must respect and love him as her soul, for it is from him that she was taken” (Rabbi Abraham Ben David, Baalei HaNefesh).

I looked at Wikipedia, this is a Jewish sage. He lived in the 12th century. Tell me, is this suitable for us today, the way we are? Or is it only for the 12th century?

My Response: I think this attitude is more or less suitable at all times.

Question: Then she asks: “Explain what it means to hold fast to his wife and become one flesh?”

Answer: To take care of her. The way you take care of yourself, take care of her.

Question: This passage from the Torah says: a man will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. That is, he will already care for his wife. Is this called “to hold fast”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: The second question is: what does it mean that we should be dedicated to each other? The word “dedicated,” what is it? Is this fate? What is it about?

Answer: Of course, this is fate. You see how people get closer to each other, get to know each other, how they gradually feel that they are good together. This is called “dedicated.”

Question: Is there some kind of hand in this that brings people together?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Do they not just meet by chance?

Answer: No. There is no chance at all.

Question: Is this what is called “dedicated”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Next, she asks: “What does it mean “must love as oneself”? It sounds like an order that I am obliged to do this. Is it possible to oblige a person to do this?”

Answer: A man and a woman should see this goal before them: to love the life partner and companion so that they take care of him or her as of themselves. At least as much as possible. Both he and she have this task.

Question: “What does it mean that I should respect and love him as my soul? I don’t even know where my soul is, or if I love it at all. What does it mean to love like my soul?”

Answer: Like your life.

Question: One more question: “What does it mean that I, a wife, am taken from my husband? It is written, for it is from him that she was taken.

Answer: It is believed that a woman who lives with a man, as it were, becomes a part of him. It is called that she is taken from him.

Question: Her last question is: “In general, how to live together without getting divorced?”

Answer: It depends on people, and how seriously they take life. If they feel responsible to their children, and for each other, then they will manage.

Question: You know, today divorces take place all over the world.

Answer: I do not understand this because I believe that there should be no divorces.

Comment: You see, it is not for nothing that her first question was: “Does this apply to the sage of the 12th century or to us too?”

My Response: I think it does not matter what time it belongs to, but there should not be any divorces in general.

Comment: This is not the first time you have said this. Do you know what the comments are about this? “What if he is like that? What if she is like that? What if he drinks? What if he beats me?” And so on, a lot of them.

My Response: I cannot comment on all these screams, but I believe that there is still no place for divorce. Especially for the sake of children. It always hurts a lot.

Question: When you say that, do you mean a family that has children?

Answer: Otherwise, it is not a family, between you and me.

Question: Do you not mean that if it does not work out?

Answer: If there are any problems, it was already there initially.

Question: In principle, if they have children are they a family?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Can you suggest some kind of exercise for people who are in a state of anxiety: “What if it happens? What if we get divorced? We are moving toward this; we are getting closer to this.” What should they do? How can they sit down together and talk?

Answer: This is a problem and a long period of re-education. I think this is not easy. But still, divorce is the very last and, I would say, unacceptable step. This is something that cannot be crossed.

Question: If this enters into them, if they somehow absorb this into themselves, will this allow them to begin getting closer to each other from this moment on?

Answer: Yes. That is, it is important to discover and work with the point that there can be no divorces.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/20/23

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Hence, one needs to pray pleadingly that the Creator will show him the truth by adding to him the light of the Torah (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 47 “In the Place Where You Find His Greatness”).

Question: It turns out that a person asks the Creator to reveal the truth to him, meaning, his evil inclination. This is a prayer from the left line. Is such a prayer correct?

Answer: No, we must ask the Creator to reveal the truth to us and shed light on our present state.

We need to relate all states, whatever they may be, to the Creator and try to see through them how the Creator wants to bring us closer to Him.

We need to reveal a constant connection with the Creator. That is what we have to think about and ask for.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “In the Place Where You Find His Greatness”

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