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Posted on December 30th, 2024
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 33
Where Should We Place Our Focus?
We should look only within ourselves, at our own qualities, and not at the world or others, which we cannot truly understand. Even when looking within, we must do so from a perspective that is aimed at correction. If we cannot examine ourselves from this perspective, we should not delve into our own qualities until we have prepared ourselves for proper self-reflection. Doubts, fears, and caution help us accurately perceive our current state and our resources.
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In each state we have two lines: the Creator and the created being, bestowing and receiving.
These two lines are opposite to each other; it is impossible to find any connection between them. And the more we advance, the further these lines diverge.
The middle line, which lies between them, is not exactly their connection. These two lines reach the very bottom, and the middle line begins above, in the upper one.
I will never be able to connect the two lines in my current state, only on condition that I include myself in the upper one, cancel myself before Him, and rise to the next level.
When I am already there, the two lines that I felt before, at the previous level, join into one, and no longer contradict each other, although before that they were absolutely opposite to each other.
The middle line is always above the other two, and it is reached by rising above reason, which means “at the next level.” And then the contradiction disappears.
We are given these contradictions on purpose so that we are not able to cope with them, and then they force us to rise higher.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/31/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam Letter 13, 1925
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Question: What does it mean to enter the quality of the Creator if I am opposite to this quality?
Answer: If you can nullify your egoism, then to that extent you can connect with a friend. To the extent that you can connect with a friend, you can connect with the Creator. That is all.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”
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Question: Does the Creator treat us like an experienced trickster treats a simpleton?
Answer: You can think of it that way. You have to always be on guard, because otherwise He will twist you around His finger and manipulate you as He wants.
And no matter how much you want to dissociate yourself from this, you will not be able to, because even before He begins to twist you again (and He twists you nonstop), He instills such thoughts and desires in you to which He initially knows your reaction. After all, where do all your actions, desires, thoughts, and your very essence come from? It is all from Him!
So He does not have to wonder about what your reactions will be; He does not need them; in fact, He does not need your entire path. It is you who needs it for your development.
Only as a result of the consistent, progressive development of “darkness–light” and “left line–right line” will you accumulate a certain amount of sensations that will ultimately give you the opportunity to feel Him, the Creator Himself.
This will develop in you awareness, feelings, and understanding of one against the other: darkness–light, different colors, different sounds, all the nuances of shades that you must master in order to perceive Him.
In other words, it is a progressive, sequential movement in your development, but the Creator personally does not need it. He is interested in your development to His level. The upper light desires to see you equal to itself, and that is why it acts upon you in this way. So there is no point to play games with the Creator, although you may do so on our path, and it is necessary.
Whether you view Him as a trickster or benevolent is up to you. The main thing is that you develop. You can relate to Him as you wish; it does not matter to the Creator, as He is the Absolute. All your reactions are clear in advance. They are of no interest to anyone in the spiritual at all, except yourself.
When it is said that a person introduces certain corrections or does something in the upper worlds, it is only in relation to the person himself. And the Creator does not need anything, as we think in our world.
We are dealing with the absolute, and all our internal changes are necessary only in order to begin to feel Him, to become similar to Him. That is, we will become as absolute as He is.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”
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If everything in the universe originates from the Creator, then what remains? What remains is a very intriguing component: my effort to sustain the perspective that everything comes from Him.
Let us suppose I have attuned myself to this perspective, but within a minute it disappears, slips away, or distorts. At one moment I might feel as if I exist independently, and the world around me revolves by the Creator’s hand. At another moment, it seems that all my parameters are shaped by the Creator within me, while the external world appears either stable or fluctuating, but somehow separate.
So if I want to reveal the Creator, I must continuously work within concealment. Concealment lies in recognizing that everything is conditioned by Him and that “There is none else besides Him.” My task is to properly perceive myself and the world, to separate what does not pertain to me from what constitutes my “self”—my efforts.
And even within these efforts, I must analyze what is truly mine in my efforts, and what has been created in me by the Creator. It may have seemed to me that something was my own doing.
Even if yesterday it seemed that I personally wanted to follow the Creator’s path, I must still correct myself and acknowledge that it was the Creator who granted me this opportunity and not my own doing.
Thus we see that the work within concealment begins to take shape as a clear delineation of where “I” ends and where the Creator begins. Does “I” even exist, and what is this “I”? It is evident that my physical body is temporary.
If my thoughts and feelings are not “me,” then it follows that only through correctly discerning our efforts to form a perception of “self and the surrounding world” might we find something that is truly ours.
Clearly, this “mine” will not encompass the fundamental parameters of the world or myself, as these were predetermined long before me. Therefore it is in my attempts to construct an internal view of the world that my “self” might be found, a result of my search for the Creator, for truth, and for the meaning of life. And this “self,” essentially, is what is called “my soul.” This is the essence of the work within concealment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”
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Question: It is hard for me to overcome egoism, maybe because I am a woman. I feel when the Creator is near, I have the greatness of the goal, I am drawn forward, and do not need to overcome anything. But when the Creator distances, something needs to be done, maybe some physical actions.
At the same time, it is said that when the Creator moves away, He waits for prayers and requests to get closer to us. Does it mean we must always think about the ten and pray for it?
Answer: Usually, women, as in our world, do a lot of work aiding in the advancement of men. This in no way detracts from their participation in spiritual work. On the contrary, women’s work is Malchut, Bina, and reaching Keter. Keter, Bina, Malchut, all these three components are feminine. The men are Hochma and Zeir Anpin, i.e., the influence of the upper light.
So don’t diminish women’s work in any way although it manifests itself precisely in dissemination, the processing of materials, and all types of help.
A woman, as in our world, is created by nature to maintain, shape, and strengthen our Kli. This is a binding material. It is impossible to do without it. Therefore, the female part is Malchut, this is its primary function.
You need to look at yourself as a woman, and then you will find your application in the correct decision of the women’s group because a women’s group cannot be the same as a men’s group.
Men can be directly connected among them. They run around, bounce, play something. Women cannot be that united. Everyone is on her own; therefore, they unveil themselves when helping the men’s group.
Therefore, we must consider the women’s group as a group that exists alongside the men’s. Although this is gradually being leveled nowadays, as in our lives, we still need to understand this is how the women’s group actualizes itself more. After all, men cannot do without their support.
It is the same in our world. How can a man live without a family and without being served? He is still a child. Therefore, this correct combination is critical in the spiritual movement.
In our world, a woman is a home, a support, an environment from which a person grows, and so it is in the spiritual world. Therefore, the women’s group should be stronger and more numerous than the men’s.
We see this everywhere: a small men’s group and, next to them, a pretty large women’s group. And that is right, that is how it should be. Of course it is not in such a proportion as in our world where there are 5% more women than men, but much more.
In Kabbalah, there are two to three times more women than men because a tree needs a lot of land to grow. This is how their combination should be to help each other in their spiritual realization.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”
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Question: While working on ourselves, we begin to feel a sense of responsibility as we realize the value of the left line and learn to cover it with the right. When does this moment of responsibility arise?
Answer: The awareness of such responsibility and the ability to act on it come gradually.
It is one of the stages of our development when we understand that overcoming the egoism that separates us from our friends in the group draws greater illumination from the upper light or, in other words, brings the Creator closer. Therefore all the work lies in achieving closeness.
This is why the Creator shattered the vast vessel (Kli) that He created, which is the soul called “Adam,” from the word “Domeh” (similar to the Creator). This structure broke into countless fragments.
Imagine a piece of dough thrown into a bucket of water. Gradually, the dough absorbs the water, and the water fills its pores. The water, which fills the spaces between the fragments of dough, represents the egoism that pushes us apart.
Initially we were all gathered as one small piece, created by the Creator. Then His force of bestowal and love, the upper light, poured onto this small desire and caused it to shatter into pieces.
Now we must reassemble these pieces along with the water that separates them. By doing so, we will achieve a greater state compared to the original one, as the water that expanded the pieces will now contribute to their unity and allow us to feel the Creator within ourselves.
The water represents the Creator’s attribute, and we must unite with it. The very force that now divides us must be transformed into a connecting one. This process is called the gradual revelation of the Creator within us. It is our purpose and the essence of our development.
Thus, egoism is essential; we simply need to use it correctly.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”
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How do I study the actions of the Creator? I imitate them like an infant. I observe what the Creator does.
The upper descends to the lower, He gives me an example, shows me what I should do. Then, I repeat this example.
Indeed, I do this with His help, relying on His strength, but I strive to carry out the examples He shows me. This is exactly how we teach infants. By doing so, I acquire His reason.
The Creator shows me what needs to be done, how, and in what sequence. Absolutely everything I receive comes from above because I myself know nothing. I simply copy these actions and repeat them mechanically because I do not yet have a reason.
This approach is called “Through Your actions, I know You.” I repeat all these actions, and as a result, I gain reason.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Acting Mind”
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Question: What is money? What is striving toward a goal? How can one change habits? What does Kabbalah say about this?
Answer: It is very simple. Money (Kesef) is a covering. “Kesef” comes from the word “Kisuf,” which means covering, that is, a covering over my desires.
Money is not just paper or something stored in a bank. If I can cover my desires and aspirations for what I want with a screen, it is considered that I pay for my desires. Through this covering, I can rise above them from the desire to receive to the desire to bestow, and thereby achieve any fulfillment according to the strength of my desire.
Question: With money, I can satisfy my desires. But what does it mean to cover desires with a screen?
Answer: To cover means that a desire is truly fulfilled only by its covering, which is the transformation of the intention behind the desire from oneself to others.
If we want to earn correctly, to truly earn life, then we need to understand what money is, what covering means, and what the transformation of intention is. It is about a screen that covers egoistic desires and transforms them into altruistic ones, and in this altruistic light, we begin to receive upper fulfillments. This is true wealth.
Question: Do a person’s thoughts shape their life?
Answer: In general, yes.
Question: What are thoughts, and how can one change the course of thoughts to shape and improve life?
Answer: A person’s thoughts shape their life, meaning their attitude toward who they are, what they are, what surrounds them, and their purpose. All of these are called their thoughts.
One must answer questions such as: “Why do I exist? What is happening to me? How will my life end?” Initially, these questions may arise purely in an egoistic form, but one must start answering them. They must understand that if they focus only on satisfying their egoism, they will end up in portions and eventually finish the same way. And then what? Until they die. Because our physiological, animalistic body defines our life.
If I want to rise to the next level, to exist not in the animalistic body, but in the spiritual one, I need to rise and begin to exist according to entirely different values, not to fill my physical body and see that as the purpose of life, but to fill myself with qualities of bestowal and love, qualities that resemble the Creator. This is a completely different value system.
Here, a person faces a significant challenge. It feels as if they are in a vast field meant for them to explore asking why, for what purpose, and how to break away from past values, from wealth, money, notions of happiness, and egoistic success. They must begin to reposition themselves entirely differently regarding their existence.
Question: “We are slaves to our habits. Change your habits, and your life will change.” But what should we change them to?
Answer: They need to be replaced with some kind of spiritual actions and relationships. First, I must study them, understand where they come from, how they form, and how I can make these changes.
Question: What are truly good habits for a person?
Answer: There are no good habits. A habit, by its nature, cannot be good. Habits are always bad.
What can be good is when we rise from one positive action to an even greater positive action. But that is not a habit; it goes against our habits. This requires great effort and work on oneself.
Question: But for this, we need to have a distant goal to consistently overcome our habits, right?
Answer: Yes. In addition to having a distant goal, you also need a small group in which you can implement this.
Comment: “The main obstacles in life are self-doubt and fear. Our doubts paralyze us.”
My Response: Our doubts and fears drive us forward, and these are very good qualities of our nature.
Without doubts and fears, we would not move anywhere. We would dig into our current situation trying to minimize the feeling of evil and barely experience any good just to avoid triggering doubts and fears.
Let doubts and fears arise! Let them push and pressure us forward!
If I am in the right environment, all my doubts and fears will be directed correctly in my interactions with that environment, and together we will move forward. Nothing in nature is created in vain! Under no circumstances should we diminish, suppress, or erase anything!
Comment: “Goals should be clear, simple, and written down.”
My Response: A person who is truly developing has no clarity. They are constantly in turmoil and engaged in clarifications. As soon as they resolve something, new turmoil immediately arises.
A true human being is constantly in a state of turmoil and clarification, turmoil and clarification. Greater and greater desires, doubts, and thoughts arise in them. They continually ask themselves: “How can I truly find the purpose of life? What is worth living for?”
Comment: In one of your talks, you drew a coordinate system where a person moves along a sinusoid line, progressing toward the goal through increasing ruptures. I shared this example with a friend, and she said: “So do we have to hit rock bottom to rise again?”
My Response: Yes, of course! Even the greatest Kabbalists, before reaching complete correction, find themselves at the lowest point! Absolutely!
Question: What lifts a person from this rock bottom?
Answer: The environment and the upper light that one receives through it.
Comment: And here is one of the latest quotes: “Find the courage to go against the flow and get rich.”
My Response: This means going against egoism. It is possible. But keep in mind that you are weak, that you cannot do it alone! There is no need to fight stubbornly and go against everything if you are on your own.
You must build a system that will help you reach the goal. It should be a system within a group of like-minded people who have a clear goal. Only together, by constantly strengthening their connection, can they achieve the goal.
Comment: To conclude: “Poor, unlucky, unhappy, and unhealthy is the person who often uses the word ‘tomorrow’.”
My Response: Yes, of course. We have no right to postpone anything until tomorrow.
But that is not the only issue. Weakness is not just about procrastination. Weakness is in closing your eyes and refusing to connect with others.
To delay until tomorrow or not? The problem lies in this: all human actions depend on their interaction with others. If a person is in the right environment, they will not postpone anything until tomorrow. They will not even delay today, they will act immediately. The environment will compel them to move.
The most important thing is to establish the right connection with the right environment. There must be a group. Only then will they progress. The group determines everything. Find the right group, and you will find happiness.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/3/19
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