Audio Version Of The Blog – 8/4/24
Posted on August 4th, 2024
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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that there is a law that the branch is close to its root. He hints that we are the consequence of some upper force, which is the root cause. If the Creator is one, unique, and unified, then the urgent need for individualism manifests in us. So what is the problem?
Answer: On one hand, we are given egoistic properties and we inevitably fulfill them. On the other hand, we must rise above our egoism to altruism. And we cannot do it.
Moreover, our ego drives us into a corner as we are eager to fight with each other and make our lives miserable.
Question: We see that egoism constantly develops and narrows. Is there a limit to its development or is it endless?
Answer: No, we are gradually beginning to understand the narrowness and baseness of egoism. It does not allow us to exist in joy, correct communication with each other, in mutual assistance. Egoism manifests itself in a negative form.
Question: Let’s say that in 200 years, it will stop developing. Can we say that egoism will stop growing at some point?
Answer: I cannot say that in 200 years it will stop. Egoism develops along with us and forces us to be more egoistic each time. When this stage of egoism in us ends is not written anywhere and it may not end. It will be eternal to the extent that we must limit it.
If over time we understand how much it brings us down and does not allow us to create the right society, family, ourselves, and children, then to the extent that we begin to comprehend its harm, the terrible, narrow, vile life into which it plunges, we can act against it.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24
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Question: What is the process of realizing evil? Let’s say the first stage is when I begin to separate: there is me and there is my ego that I have received from above. I no longer associate myself with it. The second stage is when I start feeling ashamed by it and feel its evil. The third stage is when I want to get rid of it. Is this correct?
Answer: Yes, but these are long processes. There are many more steps here and we have to go through them.
Question: Is it possible to learn the realization of evil or does it happen naturally within a person?
Answer: It is possible and necessary. If we do not study it, then we will be going through all of this by the forces of nature. It will start forcing us, pushing us, and beating us, and we will still have to change
Question: Where in society can one get an example of ideal relations?
Answer: There is nowhere in society that one can get such examples. We have to start from zero. After all, there are four types of egoism in every person. We gradually have to correct each type from zero to the fifth level.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24
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Question: It is said to buy the truth and not sell it. How can one internally attune themselves to properly transmit divine truth through themselves without losing it?
Answer: This happens when you understand everything you feel and receive from the Creator, and you wish to correct it to return it to Him, to respond to Him. Moreover, the response must be correct and very heartfelt, as you want to cling to the Creator with all your heart and soul.
Question: Is the truth an all-encompassing global love, and can we only feel it through the heart by letting go of everything else?
Answer: Yes, but much effort and scrutiny are necessary to reach such a state. However, once this is all attained, no further scrutiny is required.
Question: Where does the desire to buy the truth come from?
Answer: From the connection with friends when you lack the opportunity to cling to the Creator, to the states you are going through, to understand them more deeply.
[331822]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/24, Writings of Rabash “Man’s Greatness Is According to His Work”
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Question: Can people realize the evil of their egoistic nature without knowing about the upper force that created this evil?
Answer: Of course. This information is not necessary for some people. They can simply receive a proper upbringing under which influence they will change.
Comment: But it is said that the Creator created evil and the Torah as a means of correction. It turns out that one cannot manage without the Torah.
My Response: The Torah is the upper light, the highest altruistic force, which we must draw to ourselves. Then it will correct us. Without this, it is very difficult.
Comment: So without the Creator, it is impossible to recognize evil.
My Response: Generally, yes.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24
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Question: If we only have the desire to receive, where does the impulse of the desire to give to the Creator and nullify come from? Due to what forces? And how can we capture and use these forces?
Answer: We have these forces in the required quantities. Don’t think about where they come from. Or you can ask the Creator or even without asking, tell Him that you want to do this and that for Him.
Comment: My desire is very selfish.
My Response: So what? It is ok. The main thing is to calmly and freely turn to Him.
[332027]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/24, Writings of Rabash “The Reward for Work in Spirituality”
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Question: When does bestowing to the Creator come from inner resistance and when out of gratitude? What is the difference in these forms for the Creator and for a person?
Answer: The difference is very significant. Bestowing can come from internal resistance or above internal resistance, meaning, without it, or out of gratitude. These are three different states of a person in relation to the Creator.
What is preferable? It is preferable if a person feels that as if he has no connection with the Creator at all.
He needs to overcome himself in order to start feeling a connection with the Creator, and then draw closer to Him, check, think about what he can do for the Creator. And then ask the Creator to help him pull himself out of this state, lift himself up in order to turn to the Creator with a request, and thus move forward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/24, Writings of Rabash “The Reward for Work in Spirituality”
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Comment: We conducted a workshop on the topic “Why do prayers fail?” But if my prayer is for my friends to reveal the Creator, I won’t know if they have revealed Him or not.
My Response: You’ll be the first to know about it. That is what it says in Rabash’s article: “The one who prays for his friend is the first to receive.”
You should know the first twenty articles of Rabash by heart! There are also other articles.
Question: I know that. The question is something else. You said I should forcibly think about the good of the friends, imagine the most ideal state, and ask the Creator for it for my friends. If I pray for the Creator to unite all my friends constantly and return to this thought many times during the day, what is wrong with my prayer?
Answer: Who said it is wrong?
Comment: If it is not answered, it is incorrect.
My Response: That is what is wrong, you are waiting for an answer to it. So you are working for a reward.
If you repeat the same prayer all the time and clarify what else you can add or remove from it so it comes as much as possible from the depths of your heart, this is your reward.
Question: So the reward is that the Creator gives me the opportunity to ask and constantly returning to this request during the day?
Answer: That is why it is said: “Schar HaMitzvah–Mitzvah“—”The reward for good deed is a good deed.”
[331991]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/23/20, “Preparation for the Convention”
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Question: If you look at the process that is happening now in the development of humanity with slightly different eyes, is it correct? We see how people’s lives have become easier. Society limits egoism. If earlier you could go out and do whatever you want with impunity, today the individual is very much protected. In principle, this is correct, is this progress?
Answer: This is progress, but of course it is still not enough.
Question: Yes, this still does not lead to the recognition of the evil of human nature. From the point of view of what Baal HaSulam writes and what we study in Kabbalistic sources, recognition can only exist when there is some kind of standard. What could this standard be? What should we look up to?
Answer: Kabbalists describe this as an example of the last generation, as an example of human society reaching some new milestones so that we climb them like degrees of a ladder, and at each degree we master new rules, new obligations, new types of connections between us.
We cannot yet implement the principles set forth in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Last Generation,” but we can compare our current state and relationships in society with the way it should be.
Question: In other works, Baal HaSulam writes that the Creator Himself is the standard. But we cannot take Him as an example since He is concealed and everyone deciphers the Creator as they wish.
Therefore, I ask: How can a person come to the recognition of evil if he has no standard, no society with correct ideas from which to take an example?
Answer: No, we will gradually build such a society, starting with nurseries, kindergartens, schools, and ending with higher educational institutions and society. We are trying to introduce an educational image, an educational force into all these institutions, to give them the right leadership. Still, the world is changing.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24
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Question: Effective altruists believe that the lives of future generations have the same value as the lives of people currently living. Therefore, they focus their activities on reducing future risks to human development.
That is, I can equally invest in improving life now or, say, in two generations. Is this the right approach?
Answer: No, we must strive for greater productivity from our investments. So, I do not think it should be like that.
Comment: If we expand this question from a business point of view. There are local goals and global, strategic goals that businessmen try to calculate for a long period of time. That is, strategically, I want to calculate something that will take a long time and will bear fruit perhaps in a generation or two.
Answer: I believe that it is impossible for us to calculate this now. Maybe this will be possible with the development of artificial intelligence. But even this is just the beginning of a new movement.
I think that so far, we have no serious grounds for this. We are unable to assess the future in a generation or two.
Question: Is it better to really invest in what you have now rather than make illusory plans for the distant future?
Answer: Yes, we see that in our time, no matter what we invest in, there is a certain percentage that is not fulfilled and do not provide profit in any form.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/30/24
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