Audio Version Of The Blog – 3/6/24
Posted on March 6th, 2024
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “The Fight for Positive Connections: Approaching Every Moment as a New Battle”
A man walks through the market, and a dealer in fighting roosters shouts out at him: “Buy my rooster! It fights to the death!”
“Why do I need a rooster that fights to death? I need one that fights to win,” the man replies.
Our whole life is full of fights, and whether we fight to the death or fight to win, it is more important to understand why we fight to begin with: what is the purpose of our lives and all the conflicts we endure?
We should imagine their winning and losing scenarios, what it would look like to win or lose the myriad conflicts. The fights get worse the more we evolve. In the process, we will destroy many of our enemies, as well as many of our own, and on a global scale, we will leave behind a lot of devastated countries, people killed and many struggling from other outcomes of these situations. Much of our victories in life thus often turn out to also be our defeats.
A true victory is when we realize the need to positively connect with each other, and to organize ourselves through positive human connection, without capturing or threatening anyone in the process. We then each become victorious over ourselves. That is, our egoistic and divisive inclinations that drive us to various battles against each other suffer defeat from the positive human connection that we build above it.
Every moment in our lives is a fight, and we should treat each moment as if it were our last. We should be aware of how long we have to live, whether we will live to the day’s end or not, and then consider what will happen if we die, what calculation we will leave this world with.
We usually do not ask ourselves such questions, but we should. Just as there is a beginning and end to every day, so there is a beginning and end to our lives.
We can and should think about what we will do in our lives because in the end, we do not know what will happen to us. Doing so requires training to look at life in a way where we relate to every moment as our last, and we can then make ourselves very useful in life. More succinctly, we should wish to leave a good impression of ourselves in the world, to enact as much good in the world as possible.
If we calibrate ourselves and act accordingly in our lives, then our contribution to building positive human connections will bring much benefit to the world, and these connections will remain after each and every one of us.
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Question: It is said that spiritual phenomena change according to the state a person is in, and a person experiences a different form each time according to his or her imagination and sensory organs. We are developing the sixth sensory organ, which according to sensations is also divided into five parts. Is this why we perceive spiritual phenomena and objects differently?
Answer: We are all created in a common likeness and we have the same senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Nevertheless, they give their unique reflection and their perception for each person.
Let us say you put a candy in your mouth and you describe what it is like: sweet, pleasant, invigorating, and so on. But I do not understand this because this is only possible if I can feel the same perception of this candy in my sensory organs.
We have no other way to compare the sensations of one person with the sensations of another.
Therefore, it is said that everything we attain, that is, that we receive and reveal, happens only in relation to our properties.
Question: At the same time, the great Kabbalists, who were in a state of attainment, perceived spiritual objects and phenomena in the same way. Does it mean that we will never reach the same feeling that the Kabbalists reached?
Answer: While we are each in our own perception, yes. But as we develop, we will begin to understand the limitations of our receiving, we will begin to develop our feelings more and more, and thus we will become closer and understand each other more.
When this will happen is difficult to say. In the future, we will reach a state where our feelings will be equal and we will have exactly the same perceptions.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/21/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “All the Worlds”
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Question: If the state of smallness (Katnut) is the foundation of the degrees and should be constant, while the state of greatness (Gadlut) is only an addition, how should one constantly prepare for the state of smallness?
Answer: We attain the state of smallness from understanding that, first and foremost, we must justify the Creator for all His actions toward us. Then we should strive for the state of greatness (Gadlut).
The correct state of smallness is reached when we do not ask for more than what we need to justify the Creator in all His actions.
Question: Can the correct outcome of this state be a prayer of gratitude?
Answer: Yes.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Matter of Limitation”
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Question: A man is walking through the market, and a dealer in fighting roosters shouts to him: “Buy my rooster, he fights to the death.”
“Why do I need a rooster that fights to death? I need one who fights to win,” the buyer replies.
Basically our whole life is full of fighting: small and big fights and so on. Are we fighting to the death or to victory after all?
Answer: If we only knew. The most important thing for us is to understand what is required of us.
Question: So by and large we don’t know the purpose?
Answer: No, we don’t know.
Question: Then how should we conduct these battles? Let it be our cockfights, but how should we conduct them?
Answer: We just need to imagine what we want to win, what will happen when we, we or our rivals, enemies, win. It is only going to get worse. Along the way, we will destroy many of both. As a result, there will be devastated countries, people killed, and so on.
Question: Is this a victory or defeat?
Answer: Whether it will be a victory, I do not know.
Question: So often, and maybe even almost always, our victories turn out to be our defeats?
Answer: Yes.
Question: So, what will turn out to be a victory then?
Answer: When we realize that we need to get closer, connect, and put things in order together in ourselves and in the world around us.
Question: Without capturing anyone or anything? Without threatening anyone?
Answer: No, those who capture usually lose.
Question: Do we defeat ourselves with this?
Answer: Yes, victory is a victory over oneself.
Question: Can we say that every moment in life is a fight?
Answer: Yes.
Question: You once said that every day, every moment, should be spent as if it were the last.
Answer: Yes. A person should be aware of how long he has to live, whether he will live to the end of the day or not. What will happen if he does not live; with what calculation he will leave this world? That is the way you have to live.
Comment: Usually a person does not ask such a question.
My Response: But it is not clear why. After all, for all of us there is the beginning of the day and the end of the day. So why can’t there be a beginning of life and an end of life.
Question: Now, in a moment? Do I really have to keep this up all the time? It’s impossible to live like this!
Answer: On the contrary, it is very good.
Question: I should think about what I will do because at the end of the day it is not known what will happen to me?
Answer: Yes, everyone can do it. You just need to train a person to look at it normally, and then he can do a lot of useful things in his life.
Question: And what conclusions do you think he will draw then: How am I going to live this day if it’s going to be my last?
Answer: Think about your attitude to everyone, to the world in such a way as to leave a good impression of yourself in the world.
Question: What does a good impression mean to the world?
Answer: To do as much good in the world as possible.
Question: What is the benefit to the world?
Answer: The benefit to the world is the good connection between people that remains after you.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/4/24
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Question: Sometimes it seems that you exert a lot of effort but the Creator, on the contrary, moves away from you. What does this mean? Does it mean that the Creator wants you to put more effort or that perhaps the efforts are incorrect?
Answer: No, the Creator has actions that are similar to the movement of a fleeing deer, as it is said: “My beloved is like a gazelle.”
It seems to us that the Creator is running away from us, but it is similar to how a deer runs away from a hunter and turns back to see if the hunter is chasing it or not.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/19/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Completing the Labor”
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Question: At what point does the attainment of the upper world take place?
Answer: Attainment of spirituality takes place when the Creator wants it to be revealed to a person. There is no definite moment.
Question: What should we strive for more: to correct our nature or to attain?
Answer: It is the same thing. Correction is the means, and attainment is the consequence. The degree of attainment depends only on a person: how much he wants to rise and become like the Creator.
Question: What do we attain when we connect with the Creator?
Answer: We attain our common Kli, the influence of the Creator on it, and how our common Kli in turn affects the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/21/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “All the Worlds”
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Question: What should the prayer be like so that a person receives mercy from the Creator?
Answer: Prayer should come from the heart.
Comment: But we always pray from the heart.
My Response: Precisely this “always” kills everything. The quality of prayer depends only on your heart, on whether you are thinking about how to turn to the Creator.
Prayer is an effort. But it depends on when and in what.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/19/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Completing the abor”
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Now you can understand that sleep [Tardema] in Gematria is “translation” [Targum]. It is also the letters Tered MA [MA will descend]...(Rashbi, Zohar for All, “Heaven and Earth”).
Question: What is the significance of the numerical value of words?
Answer: Language is a code that contains many different symbols.
We know that the Kabbalistic sources are written in Aramaic and Hebrew. And here we are also talking about the fact that there is a simple language, a written language, and a numerical language, which all indicate how words can be combined to form other words.
This is a very broad concept including how letters form words, how words form sentences, and how we can use sentences to manage the world.
The numerical value of a word implies that I can represent the word as a number or a specific set of numbers.
Question: So, could the Torah be written in the form of numbers?
Answer: Of course. How do programmers compose instructions for a computer? They write various letters, symbols, and then input them into the machine. The machine, understands these symbols, reads them, and executes the program.
Question: The thing is, the letter itself appears as a combination of certain symbols and has a specific form that expresses the relationship of forces. But what does the number mean?
Answer: The number indicates on what level these forces operate. So when a Kabbalist reads that some character in the Torah lived for 900 years, it signifies the spiritual level of that character.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 1/21/24
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Even [stone] is called “faith” (stones to weigh with) (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 170, “You Shall Not Have in Your Pocket a Big Stone”).
Question: It is said: “Let there not be in your pocket a great stone or a small stone.” Does this mean that there is a preferable level of working with faith: above it or without it?
Answer: You do not need to pay attention to whether the stone is light or heavy. You need to learn to handle any load with faith above reason.
A person should always be prepared to have a stone with which he can weigh his wrong thoughts. And it does not matter what it is: big or small.
Question: Does this mean that we take these stones from the outside and not from our acquisitions?
Answer: We take these stones from our egoism.
Question: What does it mean that faith must correspond to the will to receive?
Answer: The point is that you answer any questions that arise in your mind based on faith, faith above reason. Therefore, you should ask the Creator to shine His light upon you, your egoism, and your desire, and then you will be able to be in faith above reason.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “You Shall Not Have in Your Pocket a Big Stone”
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