2024 August — Laitman.com

August 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

From Sadness to Joy and Back

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: An elder was asked: “What is sadness?” “Being sad means always thinking about yourself,” the elder replied.

How simple it really is, and how complicated it is at the same time. Can a person not be sad?

Answer: I do not know; I keep myself occupied.

Question: You keep yourself occupied, but not to avoid sadness, right? Not for that?

Answer: No. Even if I did nothing, I would not be sad.

Question: Do you ever feel sadness at all?

Answer: No.

Question: Why? Everyone feels it, but you do not.

Answer: I do not let this feeling develop within me. That is the first thing.

Second, I find more information about development than I can absorb or encompass. Because of that, I do not feel sad.

Comment: So you always have horizons—more and more.

My Response: Yes, you could say that.

Question: The opposite of sadness is joy. Can one be joyful all the time?

Answer: No.

Question: So one way or another, should such a movement be there?

Answer: Yes, it is natural for a person.

Question: To reach joy, do you need to feel sad?

Answer: To reach joy, you need to realize that what you have is just ordinary life. Therefore, you cannot be in constant joy or some kind of euphoria. But, in principle, you cannot be sad either. You can be in a neutral state and thus feel that you are floating.

Question: And then there will be joy, and then all these states? Joy will come, and then you float again, and so on?

Answer: Yes, in small doses.

Question: Why does the Creator give us these states, including joy and sadness? Why does He give us all this?

Answer: Without this, we would not be able to notice time at all. Only through these opposing feelings: from joy to sadness, from fear to happiness…

Question: Is that why we feel that time is passing?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So what is time?

Answer: It is the alternation of such feelings.

Question: So is time the alternation of these states?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is that all?

Answer: What else could there be for a person?
[331414]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/17/24

Filed under: Meaning Of Life, News, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The Time of the Messiah

Posted on August 6th, 2024

This is the great revelation that will be revealed in full only in the days of the Messiah (Baal Hasulam, The Writings of the Last Generation).

Question: What revelation is Baal HaSulam talking about? What period of time is this, the days of Messiah?

Answer: The time in which we will be able to suppress, annul, our egoistic properties and replace them with the properties of bestowal and love in order to be like the Creator is called the time of Messiah.

This is not a specific time with a date that can now be named, but a period when humanity begins to strive to change itself from the properties of reception to the property of bestowal.

Question: Should a certain mass of people come to this or is it just a few people?

Answer: There must be a certain mass of people who understand that this is necessary.

Naturally, in accordance with this, some external forces will act to push humanity forward, but not those that are influencing us today. We will have to continue teaching Kabbalah so that it will help people get closer to the Creator by means of similarity of properties.

That is, the idea is, in principle, simple. The Creator, who is altruistic by nature, created us as egoists, and we ourselves must want to acquire His altruistic properties.
[332003]
From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

Filed under: Dissemination, Israel, Nations of the World, Society, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Become Like the Creator

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: In the article “The Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam writes that the purpose of creation is to adhere to the Creator in terms of qualities from a state opposite to Him. This is why our world and everything that happens here exists.

What does it mean to adhere to the Creator in terms of qualities? How can this happen?

Answer: First and foremost, it means that the qualities opposite to the Creator, which He does not have but we do, we must annul within ourselves, wish not to use them, and make sure they do not manifest. This is the most important thing.

To the extent that a person makes their qualities similar to the Creator’s, they feel Him.

Comment: But the Creator is concealed; we do not have such a model to observe and check ourselves against.

My Response: The Creator is the quality of bestowal and love. If we can change our egoistic qualities, which are opposite to the Creator to qualities similar to His, then in them we will feel what the Creator feels. Practically, we will feel Him Himself.
[331951]
From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

Filed under: Society, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Questions about Spiritual Work—155

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: Can we attribute anything to the Creator one hundred percent if the Creator is hidden from us?

Answer: You can attribute everything that happens to you to the Creator.

Question: Is the concealment only for the desire for oneself?

Answer: The concealment can be for any desire, even the highest.

Question: There is such a desire to open up to the Creator, to dissolve in Him, to cleave to Him, but there is not enough strength to push off and rise. Where can one find this strength?

Answer: In prayer.

Question: With our egoism, we constantly disagree with the will of the Creator. How can we agree and thank Him?

Answer: In principle, a person must agree with the Creator, regardless of their situation. Whatever the Creator gives them, they must still show love and connection to Him.

Question: You said that each time we reveal a new Creator. What does that mean?

Answer: It means that He indeed appears as something new in our feelings.
[332021]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/24, Writings of Rabash “Concealed and Revealed in His Providence”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The Direction to Altruism

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: There are two opposites in Israeli society. On one hand, we are a stiff-necked people with rigid walls separating us. On the other hand, we feel that we are one nation, and this has been preserved for thousands of years. The sense of community is strongly manifested in times of danger and tragedy.

What type of altruism, the most genuine mutual assistance, is needed for Israeli society? What should we strive for in order to direct a part of our lives toward altruism?

Answer: Throughout thousands of years we have experienced many twists and turns in our history. The most important thing for us is to be ready to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the overall connection of the entire society, the entire nation. This is what Kabbalah calls for, and I believe this is correct.
[331999]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/30/24

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization, Israel Today - No Comments →

Don’t Cut Ties with Your Friends

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: Suppose a person is ill or has lost their income, these are different levels of suffering. Does the strength of prayer depend on the level of suffering?

Answer: Of course. Every person must determine this for themselves.

Question: Is it possible to say that, according to the root of a person’s soul, the Creator pricks each of us with specific circumstances throughout our lives until the very last day?

Answer: Yes, each of us feels some sort of suffering every second. We do not even realize we are experiencing it because we have become accustomed to it.

Question: Indeed, we get used to suffering, but suddenly, some blow comes and drenches us like a cold shower. How can one cushion it so as not to suffer so much at that moment?

Answer: Do not cut ties with your friends.
[332043]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/30/24, Writings of Rabash “A Request for Help”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

You Turn to the Creator First

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: Where is the line between annulment before the Creator and inaction?

Answer: The line is in each of your actions. If you wish to work for the Creator, you elevate your actions toward Him; if not, they are directed, as usual, from above downward toward you.

You can bestow only to the extent that you are connected in the ten and directing your desire from the ten upward to the Creator.

Question: What does it mean that my actions of bestowal to the Creator should precede the Creator’s attitude toward me?

Answer: It means that you do not wait for any actions from Him, but you turn to Him first and always act this way.
[331979]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/24, Writings of Rabash “The Reward for Work in Spirituality”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work, The Tens - No Comments →

Receive the Force of Bestowal

Posted on August 6th, 2024

Question: How can we feel that the Creator is receiving pleasure?

Answer: We cannot feel this yet. If we have a clear intention to bring the Creator pleasure, then in this intention, we will begin to feel the pleasure that we give Him.

Question: Can we see this through the ten?

Answer: Yes, but not yet. You must have intentions for bestowal and connection between you. If you want to do something for the Creator and get closer to Him, then strive to find the strength within you to bestow to the Creator; ask Him for it, and you will receive this force.
[331982]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/24, Writings of Rabash “The Reward for Work in Spirituality”