Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/10/24
Posted on December 10th, 2024
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 22
Is it Possible That an Intellectual or Physical Action Could Lead to a True Inner Desire?
We are unaware of our heart’s deepest desire and do not feel it. We sense a middle desire, which usually manifests as a desire for various things we are ashamed of. We also feel an outer desire, from which arises our plea to the Creator, in which we as if ask for the strength to bestow and to be brought us to the states described in Kabbalistic books.
But why focus on the outer desire, which is merely flattery and falsehood compared to the middle desire, which seeks only earthly and material pleasures? It is because even in this falsehood where we know that our heart seeks materiality, yet it still deceives us that it is crying and asking for spirituality and the ability to bestow, this is still considered a prayer. This prayer is based on “faith in the sages,” where we believe the words of the author even though we do not fully understand them, and this faith holds effect. Why? It is because this is a person’s only true free choice.
What is an external prayer? It is what we would ostensibly like to become. We believe that we want to love our friends, to be united with them in desire, in an embracing unity, and so on. If we look at this “ostensibly” from a different perspective, slowly, we start realizing that we want to receive it for ourselves, even if it is not our innermost, true desire.
Our inner heart was created by the Creator, but we want to absorb, receive, and somewhat agree with the external, artificial, and false desire. We wish it would be so. Here lies our free choice in our future inner self, in the way we would like to see ourselves. Although this desire is currently artificial and false, it is treated as a real desire from above. The inner, animalistic heart and even deeper, unconscious desires belong to the Creator. The person is completely disconnected from them, and has no control over them.
Therefore, even while considering the external, flattering, and hypocritical desire, we receive a correction from above, which advances us to the correct image and form. The Creator always responds from above, reflecting the gap between our concept of the good that we wish to become and the true goodness meant to sprout within us. This is the gap between the external prayer as expressed and its falsehood as revealed in our heart.
As we gain awareness of the gap between the middle and outer prayers, between who we truly are and who we wish to be, we can better understand the Creator’s response, accept it as a correction, and align with it.
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 20
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 19
Intellectual role-playing games have become an alternative to traditional festive gatherings. Clerks, managers, doctors, and teachers enthusiastically prevent explosions at nuclear power plants, catch maniacs, and chase after secret submarine blueprints. In short, they fully immerse themselves in quests.
As children, we read books and watched movies about heroes, and dreamed of becoming like them. But later we realized that life leaves little room for cinematic heroism or even simple adventure. So why not play out the impossible?
But there is another side to this: a true hero should be an example to follow, should they not? And not just an example of parachuting from planes with umbrellas or performing stunts. No, a hero should be relatable to us. Moreover, beyond fighting enemies, societal problems, or disasters, they should overcome something within themselves—for the sake of helping others.
Such a hero inspires admiration, the kind that comes with goodwill, because they bring good into the world. More than that, they represent what we wish every person could be.
We all need a meaningful image of a hero who knows how to give themselves to others despite the challenges. And let everyone imagine themselves in their place; let everyone aspire to be like them. Then, when I step out of the theater or leave a role-playing game and return to real life, I will act the same way.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/29/18
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Question: Loneliness is a very pressing issue. England even has a Loneliness Minister. But Hemingway’s perspective is different. “Hemingway reflected on loneliness in his Nobel Prize acceptance letter, saying, ‘Writing, at its best, is a lonely life… He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone…'”
Why do people value loneliness so much? Some suffer from it and do not want to be alone, while others cherish it. What is it about loneliness?
Answer: In loneliness, there is the sense that you owe nothing to anyone. And generally you feel satisfied with that.
Comment: You have often said that you could just sit alone in a room.
My Response: Yes, it depends on one’s character.
Comment: But you were still compelled not to be alone.
My Response: Well, what can you do?
Question: Is that a burden?
Answer: I think it is a burden.
Question: And how did you accept it?
Answer: I was forced to do it.
Question: Can you describe how you felt that call? You could have just stayed, written books—you seemed to have planned that.
Answer: No, people came—some, then others. Gradually, I was compelled. What can you do? If not for this higher obligation, I would not have done it.
Question: Can you say what you would have done if you had not been compelled?
Answer: I would have written books, maybe occasionally given lectures, and then I would go back to my place.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/28/24
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Comment: Broken relationships ruin people’s entire lives, and they can be confusing due to micro-misunderstandings. What is the right thing to do to prevent resentment and broken relationships, and conversely, to improve them?
Psychologists recommend trying to understand your counterpart’s point of view because the result of an action is not always intentional and that there is difficulty with some micro-manifestations because we all apply different standards to their assessment.
My Response: Where are the standards here? It is my standard: how I see others and try to measure myself in correspondence with them or how I see myself and try to measure others in correspondence with myself. This is completely wrong. It is like putting on a dress. If I put it on, my belly will stick out, my arms and legs will look thin, and the dress will seem ugly to me.
There are no general standards here. There can only be one standard: for the good of one’s neighbor. That is all. I do not perceive anyone in any way, neither myself nor anyone else. I am interested in only one thing: whether the phenomena that occur are for the good of man.
By “man,” I mean all of humanity, the general image of man. I do not in any way try to measure myself in correspondence with one person or another, then I will definitely get lost.
Question: How can we correctly understand the point of view of another person and determine whether it is correct or not?
Answer: I cannot understand another person. How can I understand him? How can I get out of myself in order to understand another person?
We simply must act in a way that is good for another person—for everyone! That is, in addition to what is necessary for my existence, in everything else that depends on me, I must act for the good of others.
This is natural. Very often due to our habits, we make some movements, gestures, or say some words or expressions that others may even find offensive.
We may not even feel or understand this. We must tune our hearts. The heart must be tuned to kindness to another person! Nothing else will work.
If a person is warmly tuned to another, it will still be perceived correctly. Even if he says something wrong and fails to express himself somehow, the other person will feel him.
Direct your heart to another person, to all people, to good! You need to get used to this. You need to educate yourself to do this. It is necessary to maintain the same attitude toward the environment, toward the surrounding society, and then everything will be fine!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/28/19
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Question: What can we add to the merits of the holy forefathers in our generation?
Answer: Whatever we feel, our questions.
Question: What must our generation prepare for the next so they can complete the correction?
Answer: We must address what is revealed to us as deficiencies in our state or in our vessels, strive to correct them, and leave them for the next generation. To properly utilize the achievements of our forefathers, we must pray that our deeds align with theirs.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/24/24, Writings of Rabash “Abraham Begot Isaac”
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Question: The Riga-based writer Mikhail Dymov asked students from Riga schools, aged 6 to 10 to write to the Almighty and ask Him pressing questions and to ask for the most important things. And so the children asked the Creator.
If you don’t mind, I ask you to imagine yourself in the place of the Creator—what would you answer the children?
Lena, a first-grader—a first-grader—asks: “Why is the world without tenderness?”
Answer: Yes, this is how our world is. There is no tenderness in the world because people do not love each other.
Question: Then why was it created?
Answer: To bring the world as close to this as possible. That is something we must achieve on our own—independently and thoughtfully.
Question: What does it mean for life, for our world, if a first-grade girl is asking such a question? Please explain.
Answer: It means the world is already becoming serious and ready for corrective action.
Question: Even if such questions reach the youngest children?
Answer: Of course, yes.
Question: So do you believe that children feel more deeply than adults? Perhaps she sees this in how her parents interact or in interactions around her?
Answer: She sees it exactly as she sees it.
Question: And we fail to see it?
Answer: We do not see it.
Question: What is happening to us? Over the years does something gradually dim our vision?
Answer: We get used to and resign ourselves to what exists, and we do not want to see the bad because it feels unfixable. And so we live like that.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/4/24
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Question: We often hear a friend say: “I cannot give any more.” How should we work with this “I cannot”?
Answer: Offer your help. By helping them, you help yourself. So there is no need for either of you to think that you are taking away part of their work or pushing them forward. All of this comes purely from the attribute of bestowal.
Question: In the Psalms of David, the phrase “Seek My face” is often repeated. Does seeking the face of the Creator mean seeking joy?
Answer: Seeking the face of the Creator means seeking His revelation. It is more than joy.
Question: When we are in a state of descent, we most often feel bitterness. How can one find joy in such a state?
Answer: Think about the proper state: the Creator lifts you up, you connect with Him, you feel how He embraces you and holds you like an infant, and you cling to Him and find joy in that.
Question: All sources say that in the multitude of people the greatness of the Creator increases. How can each ten include the global group in its prayer to increase the joy of the Creator?
Answer: In your intentions and nothing more.
Question: We speak of the need to feel joy and love for the Creator. What should we do to bridge the gap between hearing about it and actually experiencing it?
Answer: You need to lift your mood automatically, both for yourself and for others, through yourself. Try it and you will see what it brings.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/24, Writings of Rabash “Joy that Comes from Dancing”
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Any culture is the filling of a nation. Kabbalah is a very important part of the culture of Israelis as it is essentially the foundation of the Jewish people.
On what basis did this group emerge three and a half thousand years ago under the leadership of Abraham? The basis is the unification of completely different people—descendants from various nations whom Abraham gathered together, created a group from them, and called it “the people of Israel” because Israel means straight to the Creator, because this group is aimed precisely at attainment of the quality of bestowal, and connection.
In fact, the Jews are not a nation, but a collection of representatives of all the nations of ancient Babylon, a few from each nation. Therefore, we see how ready they are to distance themselves from one another.
They do not feel a biological connection between them. Only when an external danger arises do they involuntarily unite because for them that is common. If the world did not have a special attitude toward them, they would not think about uniting at all and would not even look at each other, because biologically they represent completely different roots. They are united only by the external hatred of those around them.
That is why if the Jews themselves do not want to unite, then hatred toward them arises among the nations of the world, and then they involuntarily draw closer to one another. But this unification is not for the correction of the world, but only for a certain correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/19, “Questions and Answers”
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Question: What can a person do if he has no desire (Hissaron)? How can he listen to two other voices: bestowal for the sake of bestowal and reception for the sake of bestowal?
Answer: If a person has no desire, no Hissaron, he will not listen to anything.
The most important thing is to develop a desire to hear the Creator, to feel Him. If such a desire does not exist, we cannot do anything except pray for the Creator to grant us this desire in which we can discover what He wants to give us.
We must strive to receive from the Creator, not because we want to receive for ourselves, but because He desires it.
Question: How can one receive what the Creator wants?
Answer: It is said that a person can reveal his desires to receive from the Creator only if his intention is to use this reception to bestow to the Creator. That is what is called receiving for the sake of bestowal. That is the mindset we need to cultivate.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/24, Writings of Rabash “The Discernment of “In Everything”
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