Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/15/24
Posted on February 15th, 2024
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Does Attitude Shape Behavior?”
There is an allegory of a sage who sat at the city gates as a man passed by. The man turned to the sage and asked: “Tell me, what kinds of people live in this city, good or bad?”
The sage replied: “Tell me about the city you’re from, what kind of people live there?”
“They are evil, cruel, and selfish,” the man replied.
“The same people live here,” the old man answered, and the man left.
Later, another man approached the gate. He asked the same question. The sage replied in the same way: “What kind of people live in your city?”
The man answered: “I have a lot of friends left in the city, and the people there are good and kind.”
The old man said, “You will find the same people here.”
In general, the kinds of people and their behaviors in our vicinity depends on us. That is, the first man stated he saw bad people, and he was told that the same awaits him in the new city. And if he had seen people as good, then he would find similar good people in the new city.
How does this mechanism work? It is based on our attitude toward society. How we relate to society is how we feel. Even if people hate us, then why do they hate us? Hatred does not just appear out of nowhere. It is rather a result of our behavior. Therefore, if we see people who hate us, we should introspect as to why that is the case. Without such introspection, we then simply justify ourselves.
We should, however, aspire to find positive feelings in ourselves and the same ones in others. Therefore, if we find out why others hate us, within ourselves, and try to change something about ourselves, then we will find how the haters themselves will change. Another way of putting it is that if we seek to help, support and encourage everyone around us, then we will see positive changes in them too.
We all play host to egoistic natures, where we each prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others, but we can seek how to show examples of an attitude that is above egoism, where we try to flip our priorities to primarily benefit others.
However, what happens if we might become infuriated at a certain act of hatred toward us and want to respond accordingly? The advice is not to do so—to rather let that rage extinguish within. It might sound forced, because despite the fact that we want to respond with our rage, we do not. In the end, though, not responding in such a situation will have a better outcome.
There are sayings that if we repress these feelings of anger and not respond in such situations then all that rage springs back much harder in other ways later. But that is when we do not apply effort to process the situation by understanding how nature is operating through the it. If we apply ourselves to such exercises consistently, then we will prevail to see more harmonious and peaceful outcomes in human behaviors thanks to an upgrade to more mature human attitudes.
We should thus develop habits of self-examination and introspection in order to develop a mature attitude to people, where we learn to forgive them, and then we will see how life will work out much more positively.
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Question: Are “righteous” and “clean” two degrees in our work?
Answer: Yes, these are two states. In the Shamati article 135, it is said: “The clean and righteous do not kill,” which means do not kill within yourself your correct sensations.
Question: If I cannot understand the article, but feel that there is something special in it, can I ask the Creator to reveal it to me?
Answer: You can always ask the Creator. As a rule, He has to answer, not exactly as you want, but He will answer. So ask as much as possible.
[325038]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Clean and Righteous Do Not Kill”
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Question: If someone leaves the ten and justifies his departure by the fact that the Creator decided so, what should be done in this case?
Answer: The Creator does not decide anything for a person. He only moves him away a little to give him the opportunity to get closer.
It is like flirting. The Creator kind of pushes us away by giving us the desire to distance ourselves, but in any case it is flirting. It is just to draw us closer.
We need to be very sensitive to the fact that holiness is running away, and immediately ask the Creator to bring us closer.
Keep making efforts and pray all the time that the Creator will show you His true attitude.
[324875]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Is ‘Hurry, My Beloved,’ in the Work?”
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Question: Do we all go through the same states or can we connect with friends who have experienced certain unpleasant states and go through them easily and quickly?
Answer: You can learn this relatively, but in general it still will not save a person. One must decide how such states will pass. Of course, if a person is associated with a group, then he or she passes through them quickly.
In principle, you should help your friends in everything and at the same time check how much you can help yourself.
[324879]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “If I Am Not for Me, Who Is for Me?”
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Question: Can a sense of shame help you escape from honor?
Answer: Sometimes by running away from honor, we can get the opposite effect. A person can begin to think that he is entitled to even greater honors: “Look, I ran away from them; now I should have more!”
And here we have to make the right calculation. The main thing is to annul yourself before the ten and ask the Creator for a self-account.
Question: We understand that for egoism, the most important indicator is honor. And what is the most important criterion for a Kabbalist to advance toward bestowal, which is akin to honor?
Answer: There are several aspects to this. The question is how much we can unite in order to provide a place for the Creator to be revealed between us. This is important.
[324882]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/3/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Honor”
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Question: What should we do if someone wants to exit the ten, and says that this does not suit them? How should we treat this?
Answer: Leave him and continue your movement without him. In Kabbalah, we should not force anyone. As it is said, there is no coercion in spirituality.
But this person will not move forward without being in the ten. This is the law. Some people have been in the group for ten years and it is as if they are not in it.
When a person wants to disconnect from holiness, it is holiness that precedes him and throws him out of the group.
[324817]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Is “Hurry, My Beloved,” in the Work?”
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Question: In order to bring contentment to the Creator, should my efforts at the beginning of the action be felt as my own or as the Creator’s desires? That is, should I feel that He is acting and I am with Him?
Answer: No, you should feel them as, your efforts.
The required amount of effort depends on the level of a person’s soul, on how he attracts the Creator, on the way he comes closer to Him, on previous and future states, and on many reasons that we do not have the opportunity to explore.
[324825]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “If I Am Not for Me, Who Is for Me?”
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Question: What is the difference between restricting and annulling yourself?
Answer: Restricting egoistic desires or annulling oneself is the same thing.
Question: How can you work in the group with the Sitra Achra (egoism)? Is it possible to scrutinize my states in the ten if I do not have this perception and have doubts?
Answer: You will not scrutinize it anywhere except in the ten, only in the ten.
Question: What does it mean to accept all the degrees that exist in the world?
Answer: Everything that comes to me I must return to the Creator.
Question: At our root in the Creator’s plan to delight His creations, there are degrees of creating the desire to receive, active and actuated, shattering and correction, work and reward. If we are to be like our root, is it necessary to be aware of these degrees and realize every desire according to them?
Answer: As far as we understand them, we are realizing them. The main thing is that we should be like those influences of the Creator we will receive.
Question: What are we missing in developing hatred of egoism?
Answer: Seeing how much egoism prevents you from achieving the best possible degrees.
Question: Is business possible within a group of friends, and what can it lead to?
Answer: No, by no means. Business within the group is prohibited. The connection should be only spiritual.
Question: It says: “Anyone who is proud, the Creator says, ‘He and I cannot dwell in the same abode.” What does it mean to be proud? We are so small, we are learning to annul.
Answer: Precisely because we are so small, we like to be higher than others.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Does It Mean that the Sitra Achra Is Called ‘Malchut without a Crown’?”
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Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Foreword to The Book of Zohar“
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3rd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 2, Part 7, Item 40
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Selected Highlights
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