Comment: Most of us are familiar with situations of inequality when one tramples on the other with his “moral superiority.” Researchers are wondering: what strategies help people avoid, tolerate, fight, and defeat those who treat them like an empty space?

Harvard biologist Edward Wilson shared a charming story…The story tells of two porcupines huddled together to keep warm on a cold night. When they got too close, they pricked each other with their needles, so they decided to warm themselves separately. But then they got too cold. After numerous attempts to get comfortable, they finally found a distance where they were comfortable and warm enough. They have since called this distance decency and good manners (Psychology, Harvard Business Review Russia).

Answer: Indeed, this is how we invent the rules of behavior and good manners that enter our lives. In other words, we kind of “paint over” our egoism, limit ourselves to palliatives, “trim the needles.” But they grow back.

We need to correct the egoistic nature of man so everyone acts for the benefit of others, and everyone feels good. This is a difficult correction, but only in this case will a person live in a kind “world without needles” where everyone is assured of being treated well.
[225589]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/15/18

Related Material:
The Jerusalem Post: “Beyond Black And White In America”
Etiquette Is Not Development
Spiritual Fine-Tuning

Filed under: Children, Education, News - No Comments →

Question: Over time trust that the Creator loves us increases. Does this come from the fact that the heart opens or is it because the mind prevails? I would like the heart to constantly soften. Is it possible to pass this on to the ten, if so how?

Answer: You can talk about this in the ten, but only occasionally, in rare cases.

Question: What does this trust depend on? After all, before there were only blows and pain.

Answer: Before you were small, and now you have grown a little.
[340332]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/25, “Connecting to Lishma“

Related Material:
How Can We Feel the Benevolence of the Creator?
How Can We Feel The Creator Loves Us?
How Can We Check Whether The Creator Is Benevolent?

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

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 74

Where Do We Have Free Choice, and Where Do We Lack It?

RABASH writes about where we have free choice in his article, “The Association of the Quality of Judgment with Mercy”: “The main work is the choice, meaning ‘choose life,’ so there will be Dvekut [adhesion], which is Lishma [for Her sake]. By this, one is rewarded with Dvekut with the Life of Lives.” Among all the actions we perform in life, just one action is given for free choice.

If we conduct a scientific examination on ourselves, we find that in all of our body’s biological and physiological processes, including the complexity of our brain (of which only around two percent is utilized), nothing operates voluntarily. Everything functions automatically. Even the brain, thought processes, and apparent decisions operate like a computer preprogrammed with data, operating based on initial parameters and our inherent nature.

We discover that we are no different from any other creature and act solely according to nature’s laws with no ability to choose or introduce new parameters. There is no source from which to draw this input, nothing external to teach it. Everything that enters our “computer” is already predetermined.

Therefore, we have no free choice. Baal HaSulam explains in “The Freedom” that in life, we have only one action of free choice: “And you shall choose life.” There is no need to focus on any other action, he emphasizes, as other actions unfold automatically, whether we want them to or not. If we focus on this single point of choice, we succeed in building our true self.

RABASH continues, “When there is open Providence, there is no room for choice.” There is no person in such a state. What is open Providence? The whole of reality and all created beings operate according to an inner plan and programming, making it as if the person is nonexistent.

“For this reason, the upper one raised the Malchut, which is the quality of judgment, to the Eynaim [eyes].” This is because under open Providence, there is no choice, and the purpose is for us to be independent, to establish something of our own. Why? It is because, through our independence, we will feel who we are and we will know what we are. By acting from our own self, we can rise on our own to the level of the Creator, for “to adhere to Him” means to reach that same level, absolute identification, and to adhere as equals with the Creator.

“This created a concealment, meaning that it seemed to the lower one that there was a drawback in the upper one.” The concealment of the upper one is designed to give us free choice. How is free choice given to us? We are sent a feeling, a thought, that the upper one, the spiritual world, is nonexistent, and that we merely live in this world like animals, with no one watching over us. This concealment is given specifically to those who want to advance, to those whom they want to elevate, to turn into human beings and grant them free choice.

The beginning of this concealment is what we feel in our current state. How? Anyone who wishes to attain something of the unknown already experiences some concealment. The AHP of the upper one (the lower part of the upper degree) begins to act on us, drawing and enticing us to seek it through the concealment.

“There was no Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] in the upper one.” It is what we feel. If we feel this way, we fall into despair. The study ceases to attract us and the path becomes unclear. This means we have already entered the process.

“Subsequently, the qualities of the upper one are placed within the lower one, meaning they are deficient. It follows that these Kelim [vessels] have equivalence with the lower one, namely that as there is no vitality to the lower one, so there is no vitality in the upper qualities.” The lower one perceives that even in the upper one there is no vitality. Why? It is because the upper one deliberately strips itself of light, showing the lower one that it has nothing.

“In other words, he feels no taste in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] for they are lifeless.” This is why it is said that studying Kabbalah is dangerous. Even for people who observe Torah and Mitzvot and do all that is required, when they are in a state of descent, everything appears tasteless and meaningless, to such an extent that they begin to belittle even these practices.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 73
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 72
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 71

Filed under: Talks about the Steps of the Ladder - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “All Your Actions Will be for The Sake of the Creator”

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 1, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 6, Item 26

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog - No Comments →

Question: Is it possible to find meaning in emotional suffering?

Answer: People find great meaning in suffering. But suffering should lead a person to some result, or he will write literature, music, and so on. A lot of it is based on suffering. He will have to change himself, his attitude to the world, his philosophy of life, and so on.

Question: Do you attribute all this to suffering?

Answer: Suffering drives humanity.

Question: Can we accept it?

Answer: The majority of people accept suffering and are unable to counteract it.

But some people suppress their suffering and rise to the next degree.
[340343]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/23/24

Related Material:
What Is The Meaning Of Our Suffering?
Is It Possible To Avoid Suffering?
Movement According To The Ray Of Light

Filed under: Laitman Unplugged, News - No Comments →

Question: At conventions we are given strength that must be realized afterward, otherwise it will dissolve. What does this mean?

Answer: At the convention we achieve a certain connection with each other, and for the sake of that connection, we are ready to sacrifice some small egoistic fulfillments, pleasures, and weaknesses in this life. We are ready to give ourselves to achieve something higher.

Subsequently inspiration fades because the connection between us disintegrates. We cannot keep it from a distance.

We are small people. Everyone returns to their old ways, and, as a result, we lose mutual strength, plunge into our philistinism, and can no longer think so intensely about spiritual elevation, correction, the meaning of life, or how to really achieve it here and now.

So it turns out that we need some kind of constant connection, maybe not as intense as at conventions, but one which would excite, tug, prick us more intensely because we only occasionally remember and ask ourselves: “What will become of us?” We need to restore this connection somehow.
[339992]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Congress for Connection!!!” 5/1/10

Related Material:
After The Convention A New Day Begins
Common Forces Against Individual Egoism
The Necessary Step

Filed under: Conventions, Events, Group Work, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Why do you say it is preferable to watch lessons in a large group? Does it  amplify your information?

Answer: Of course. It is said: “In the multitude of people is the King’s glory.” We are very small by ourselves. But if a thousand people are listening to a lesson, wow! And if it is ten thousand? WOW! We look at the headcount and the numbers, but we do not understand the quality.

Question: Is the group a very strong amplifier?

Answer: Yes, there is a big difference between whether I give information to one person or a thousand. After all, it is distributed among all according to each person’s disposition. There are instances when you can study with one person, expressly tune them in, and lead them toward a spiritual goal. However, there is no such thing today. Today it is only going out to the masses.

At one time I was a student of Rabash, and he was constantly engaged with me. Every morning we went for walks together, and every week we would go on a two-day trip to Tiberias. However, these are isolated instances that Kabbalists had in the past.

But now we have crossed a line, and I do not think it can happen again. There is no such option today. I do not see anyone I can bring near me and shape into a leader of the next generation.

This would be in great contrast with all the others and would harm the general dissemination of Kabbalah, which is very relevant now.

In the past, there was no way to disseminate, but this is no longer the case. Nowadays dissemination is only for the masses.
[340389]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Group—Informational Amplifier” 4/17/10

Related Material:
A Strong Group
Thanks to the Group
If You Unite

Filed under: Dissemination, Q&A, Spiritual Teacher, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: You often talk about the correct use of disturbances that arise on a person’s path of development. How do you personally manage to use a disturbance correctly in order to progress?

Answer: If I know that these disturbances come from the Creator, that already removes the perception of them as disturbances and instantly shifts them from the category of disturbances to the category of help. It is like in training when you have to overcome certain hurdles to become stronger, reach higher, and go further.

In other words, you need to view these disturbances as the acquisition of new degrees.

This is a big job. Is it really a disturbance? You can’t ascend from one degree to another relying solely on your own strength, on the power of your mind, because you need to gain new awareness, a new sensation, and new revelation.

To achieve this, you must acquire new qualities. And to acquire them, you must struggle and create them within yourself. Otherwise, you won’t have the necessary sensations, the sensitivity to new, subtler layers of reality.

Comment: Suppose I have to overcome some disturbance. There are situations where you genuinely don’t know which direction to take.

My Response: Always toward the Creator. It is very simple: “There is none else besides Him.” This is the one and only force that governs you, always with a benevolent purpose. Even though it may seem to you that there are millions of problems coming from different sources and it is hard to see any benevolent purpose in that. What is happening to you may seem completely unclear. But your task is to connect it all together.
[340259]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Use the Enemy” 4/19/10

Related Material:
Disturbances Are Necessary For Advancement
A Gift From The Creator In The Form Of Obstacles
Disturbances Are The Creator’s Language

Filed under: Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: You constantly say that the group is the most important thing we should focus on. But at the same time, you’ve mentioned that you didn’t have a group. How were you able to overcome that and make progress without it?

Answer: Everyone has their own path, and often we don’t even understand why things happen to us the way they do. For each person, it’s very individual both internally and externally. That’s fate. This is how I was led to the study of Kabbalah, and this is how I continue to be guided.

Is it really me doing or creating anything today? Absolutely not. When someone says the name “Michael Laitman,” I don’t associate myself with it at all! It feels like I’m nameless.

When I’m introduced as a doctor, philosopher, Kabbalist, or head of Bnei Baruch, it feels like that’s the title of someone else. It’s as if I put on a robe, sit in an important chair, and lead from there. Then I move over here and sit in my “pajamas.” Because these are completely different people. Completely different!

Comment: But you have only one mind.

My Response: I’m not talking about that, but about the role I have to play. I know that I’m compelled to do it, that I’m being driven to it, it’s necessary, and I do it. I agree with it, I’m grateful for it because I understand its importance and, essentially, I know that I need it.

This is the case for many people in the world who hold significant positions. A person can’t just leave it behind; the role obligates them. Any major leader would probably love to escape to a village somewhere, relax, and just be themselves for a while. And if we’re talking about a mother of a large family, she knows she’s obligated to do what she does for the sake of her children.

I simply feel my duty. And beyond that, I feel an obligation from above, not just on a corporeal level, where someone appoints you and that’s it. In the same way, I was led to Rabash, and that’s exactly how he related to me.

One of my friends who studied with Rabash once recalled going to the sea with him and asking why he treated Laitman the way he did. Rabash replied, “That’s his soul. It makes me relate to him this way.” I didn’t even know or imagine that he would say something like that to others.

So, it’s a role, not some sort of privilege, a role imposed on a person based on the root of their soul so that they fulfill it within the general system. It may be important or not important relative to others, but that doesn’t matter. It’s simply a role.

We can talk about the importance of parents in relation to their children. But fundamentally, their importance lies in the fact that they are obligated to care for their children, not in the fact that they are bigger, stronger, or smarter. On the contrary, they are obliged to do everything to serve their children. The same goes for me.

You might say, “But there’s also vanity and self-importance.” If that’s the case, then a person loses everything. Because when fulfilling a role assigned by the Creator, ultimately doing His work, if a person seeks personal satisfaction, power, or vanity instead of asking for spiritual elevation, the quality of bestowal, they miss the point entirely.
[340055]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Your Way” 5/29/10

Related Material:
Fulfill the Upper Will
Why Me?
My Way

Filed under: Dissemination, Q&A, Rabash, Spiritual Teacher, Spiritual Work - No Comments →