Entries in the 'Collective Soul' Category

Nature Will Triumph No Matter What

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why does it say that our generation is the most egoistic? It seems to me that we don’t have any egoism because we’ve lost the desire for all things. We no longer want anything at all.

Answer: Our generation is the most egoistic. When we began our development thousands of years ago, we didn’t have egoism. Today we don’t sense egoism because it pretty much ended its development approximately in the 1960s.

We feel that egoism has come to an end because it stopped changing. Today we live on autopilot without the desire and enthusiasm of the past generations. Where are the space exploration programs and scientific breakthroughs that inspired us in the past? All of this has come to an end.

However, this doesn’t mean that there is no egoism; we simply have reached its peak. It couldn’t develop any further in its previous form; therefore, it’s becoming global. Previously egoism was individual, an impulse within each person.

Today it is becoming global and we have totally stopped sensing it. I have nothing to run after because my egoism is no longer drawn by anything. People are content with their animal existence as long as they are left alone. They no longer aspire to reach new heights because egoism has stopped its development.

Moreover, things suddenly become more complicated because globalization reveals that everyone is connected. In the past a person didn’t care, he just wanted to be left alone. It’s as if the world was in a deep sleep. And then suddenly an integral world emerges where we’re all interconnected and this prevents us from sleeping.

What did we want in this state of sleep? We wanted to have plenty of everything: food, sex, family, money, honor, power, and knowledge, a new mobile phone with more advanced functions. We didn’t search for any exalted things, but we did want to be satisfied. We simply weren’t ready to search and strive for it, we wanted everything to come to us.

However, in order to awaken us from this sleep, we are being shown a global world, and we are forced to awaken to it. Here another problem arises which the world does not yet understand. The world sees this new phenomenon, but doesn’t realize this state is inevitable and that we must be a part of it.

We agree that we must establish international and cultural connections, as well as connections in banking, trade and agriculture. However, what we don’t understand is that we must create connections between us. The crisis is aimed at delivering this message to each one of us. Our connection must be internal and not through the banks, industries and other external systems.

People are the ones that have to connect into a single network. Through this crisis, nature is awakening the need for mutual responsibility, only we don’t understand it yet. Nature is obliging us to reach this state as it is written: “Either you come to this state by your own will (by the path of Light and correction) or this will be your burial ground.”

You will see what is going to happen. Nature will triumph no matter what.
[64047]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/11, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Disturbing Disturbances

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The modern man truly finds shelter within the walls of his apartment. He also tends to search for information that is faceless and unobtrusive and watches some kind of funny sitcoms on TV. And it’s unclear how this global interconnection will affect a person. If I’ve locked myself up inside my apartment, how will all these concerns you are talking about reach me?

Answer: They will reach you through unpleasant states. If everything continued as before, nothing bad would happen because of it. You lock yourself up in some kind of cocoon and you exist inside it—this is a comfortable state for you. You don’t want to change it, you don’t want to marry, have children; you don’t want to have close relationships with your friends because this is usually considered an obligation. Your parents have become a complete nuisance: You have to call them and, what’s even worse, visit them and so on.

If everything continued like this, this would be the best thing in the world—I was born, detached from my parents, made myself a cell inside this hive and that’s it, I exist in it. But the thing is that the goal of nature is to bring us to a balance with itself, that is, to make us integral, absolutely interconnected, like elements of one analog system.

All parts of this system depend on each other, and if there is a surge, a disturbance in a certain part of the system, it is passed on to the whole system, the whole system also comes to a disturbed state, and then gradually balances itself according to its laws and comes back to a standstill. We proceed….

And in any of these states of balance or imbalance, all the elements affect each other. It is an absolute interconnection! And this is the interconnection that the person feels, especially in a non-static state.

In a static state everything calms down. And when all the bonds are equal, I find myself in the center of them, like a spider in the middle of the web, and I feel balanced. I have to coexist within these boundaries, but because they are balanced around me and I am in the middle, I don’t feel their pressure. This is how everyone feels.

But the system is alive and natural. Nature always directs us to a certain state, set out as the goal of its existence. That’s why we will feel constant disturbances, slants, lack of balance, disruptions in homeostasis. And that’s why we will feel unwell.
[63699]
From a talk on Integral Upbringing, 12/11/11

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When The Whole World Demands

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: According to the Kabbalists’ prophecies, when will the majority of the nation of Israel start studying the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: This will happen when the whole world demands it. Israel cannot awaken if the world doesn’t demand it because Israel doesn’t have any need to awaken unless it is working for the whole world.

That is why we, the keepers of the method and those aware of what is happening, must disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah as quickly as possible in the whole world in all forms, whether we’re mentioning the word “Kabbalah” or not.

We must explain our states, the correction, and what we can achieve through the corrections. This will awaken people and will give them the understanding of how to correct the crisis, and as a result of this, as it is said in the Prophets, “The Nations will come and carry Israel on their hands to build the Temple.”

Without such pressure there won’t be an advancement—the nation of Israel will not feel a need in this. Before the ten plagues of Egypt, one doesn’t flee from Egypt. But we’ve got an opportunity to convert this pressure from ordinary suffering into the suffering of Love, when you yourself long for something you don’t have.

But in any case, the pressure has to be there. The Gog and Magog war has to take place in order for us to be born on the next degree. But we can cause the birth pains and the birth due to our desire to exit this world instead of being due to real birth pains—wars and suffering for the whole world.

The Prophets tell us about blows that are in store for us on nature’s part. But at the same time, we have the wisdom of Kabbalah in order for us to accept these blows as purposeful and helping the birth.

The minute I connect myself to the goal, the blows become a remedy. I don’t feel them as blows anymore. But I have to go through all the forces and all the states. However, if I change my realization and attitude towards them, I go through them with joy.

I go through it all consciously, I see the goal and I desire these blows; it’s as if I’m giving birth to myself.
[63575]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Right Adducts And The Left Rejects

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is written, “There is none else beside Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world (there is no other power, beside the one Upper Force, neither in the smallest of deeds, nor in the entire universe in general), that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household, (the Creator’s power over me), the reason is that this is His will.

We become confused when we supposedly think that there are friends, a group, people, a big world with its supposed “rulers,” and even I, who makes decisions. The Upper Force wishes for me to think this way, to think that I control things, and that there are other people and another power beside Him.

And it is deemed a correction, called “the left rejects and the right adducts,” meaning that which the left rejects is considered correction. In other words, also the things which appear bad to us—rejection from the spiritual, the path, and the group, when I forget about the goal and do not want it, when I think that the group does not want me—all of these problems come only from one force, which rules over everything, regardless of whether I can see it. The Creator controls the external world and inside of me, all my thoughts and desires.

I want to advance, join a group and to attain the Upper Force through it, I want to reveal Him, cling to my friends and reveal the Upper Light within them, the quality of bestowal. But even when I strive towards this in the most direct and sincere form, with my whole heart, I still experience descents and confusion in the most sincere point, which I rarely manage to attain through hard work. I suddenly fall from my very direct path.

I could understand it if I were to go in some wrong direction and I were being returned to the direct path. But no, it is when I am already standing on the very direct path that I deviate and fall.

A person is pushed away from the goal and the group, suddenly becomes confused and loses the desire. He thinks that his friends are no good, the path is wrong, and the entire system does not work, and it is unclear who has ever reached and attained the spiritual world. But it is this kind of rejection that helps him acquire an absolute desire. Next….

And this is exactly what we need. Right now I have a small desire for spirituality, but I do not feel that it is not enough. Everyone thinks that his heart is about to explode and that he is ready for anything! But in reality, in order to achieve spiritual power, we need a much stronger inner pressure, inner desire, and thirst.

And we become rejected in order to increase our aspiration to the sufficient level—to acquire a complete desire and understand that there is nothing we can do without the Creator’s help.

We need to reach a state when our scream passes through our unity, our connection, and is directed towards the Creator—with the request for the upper force, the Light which returns to the source, the common force of bestowal, which encompasses all of nature, to help us! Let it correct my only egoistic part in nature and pull it forward.

Otherwise I see that I am doomed. In other words I must reach a state where I see that I have done the most I could for the sake of my connection inside the group, that I have put all my effort into attaining unity, a connection with friends, those with who I wanted to reach the connection with the Creator, to reveal the power of bestowal, so it would reign in us and fill us with this unique quality.

And here we lack a common cry to the Creator, the upper force. We must feel lost so that a single scream of ours would be enough. But it must really come from a state of despair, when we see that we will never achieve success without His aid.
[63568]
From Lesson 4, The World Arvut Convention 12/7/11

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The End Of An Illusion Or The Change Of A Paradigm

Dr. Michael LaitmanEverything we now reveal in our world is a corrupted form of connection between us. In reality there are no cars or houses, no still, vegetative, or animate nature, there are no people—none of this exists.

There are only five phases inside the soul and its connections with other souls, and these connections are corrupted. These corrupted connections give us the form of this corrupted world. And because the world cannot exist in this form (since ultimately, it is corrected), it is called an artificial world, which for now exists in our uncorrected qualities.

As soon as we begin to correct it, we immediately see a corrected world and a corrected state instead of the corrupt state or the corrupt world, until it becomes the world of Infinity where there are no limits for the distribution of Light and everything is corrected.

In the end, we either exist within the single structure of the collective soul, or we are there as if broken into a multitude of interconnected pieces. When this structure is unified, we refer to it as whole—this is Infinity. And when it is as if it were divided inside into a multitude of pieces and is not perceived as a unified whole, we refer to it as the “world,” a certain concealment of Infinity. And then we see the same Infinity as if in lesser resolution, in a much worse form. These are the worlds, the worlds of concealment. But we always only see the connection between us.

And in our world we build different, seemingly artificial things: houses, cars, and so on, and all these things are also forms of connection between us. In order to make up for the separation, distance, and the breaking between us, we have to build different artificial connections. Instead of correcting ourselves, we are busy with this entire external cover. And this is why our world keeps getting more corrupt on one hand, and full of unnecessary things on the other.

If we were to correct ourselves, we would not need any of this technology. But we must exist in this world in the way it is organized in order to reveal the end, the breaking, the crisis, and the lack of purpose in it and then move on to the inner correction. This is the revolution that is happening in our generation—the change of a paradigm.
[63214]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/2011, The Zohar

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To Make An Abode For The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Creator’s “problem” with the creature lies in the creature needing to attain Him. It is impossible to bring man to goodness if he remains in his original state. It is necessary to endow him with power, understanding, and sensitivity, and to make him equivalent to the Creator.

Similarly, the host must elevate the guest to a level equal to his own, so that he wouldn’t feel shame toward the king’s feast. To this end, the guest must obtain all the wealth of the host. And here the will of the host alone (“directive from Above”) is not enough.

So how can the guest be brought to this equivalence? Is it enough to simply shower him with presents? No. Perhaps it’s OK to help him? That’s also a problem since the host was never helped. Transitioning from “existence out of absence” to “existence out of existence” is a real problem.

This includes a great many things that we will only understand further along the path. They cannot be explained in simple terms. Ultimately we need to reveal the means that allow us to actualize our only free choice and to reach the goal.

And we know ahead of time that we’re talking about the group, about participating in its life. With the help of the group we reveal the force of bestowal, with its help we reveal the Creator’s quality. In the group we create His image and likeness, His support. This is called Shechinah—the place where He dwells (Shochen).

We must make a precise template for His reign. This will be the Temple (literally “House of Sanctity”), that is, Malchut who receives the quality of Bina. Thanks to this the Light of Hochma can clothe in her with all its forms and fulfill her.
[63480]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

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Patience – And Everything Will Come

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Where can I take the force to cancel myself before the group so that everyone feels himself smaller than the others?

Answer: If the group develops correctly and passes from state to state, then everyone in the group is in his state, completing the others. As a result, the whole group advances.

Although some of the friends can feel in descent and some in ascent, and a part perceives with the mind and a part feels, but altogether they are moving forward. It requires patience. Spiritual awe involves the willingness to endure and persevere. We need to understand that I do not perform the actions myself, but I call them.
[63463]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Writings of Rabash

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An Intermediate Form Between A Person And The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Creator created us as material opposite to Him—the desire to enjoy, which does not feel or understand that there can be something except itself. We feel only ourselves and wish to receive and derive pleasure from everything else. Every person feels only his own desire and the fulfillment in it. These are the only two states perceived by the desire to receive: yes/no, 0/1. This is how egoism works, and this is the order of work that we observe in nature in many instances and in different cells.

However, in order for the desire to enjoy to exit itself, to rise above its quality of perceiving good and evil only within its ego, and to feel good and evil outside of itself, we need some special tool that does not exist within the egoistic desire. The egoistic desire lacks any foundation for rising above and creating something opposite of itself.

We don’t even know what this opposite means; we cannot imagine what the spiritual world is. In order to reach it, we need to perform the kind of changes in ourselves that the desire to enjoy is incapable of performing! Nonetheless, this is our duty: to reach, understand, and execute them ourselves. Otherwise we will not receive independence and become equal to the Creator as is instilled in the goal of creation.

Thus we are given a means called a group—something foreign to the egoistic desire. In regard to this strange object, the egoistic desire feels the same as in regard to the Creator, considering it nonexistent so to speak. It does not give it any independent value and simply wishes to use it. However, it understands and feels it is in connection with it.

On one hand, the egoism wishes to use the group like any outside object. On the other hand, it can use it in the opposite form: in order to achieve bestowal, a quality that is opposite to it.

Therefore, we have an intermediary form between degrees, a means of transition—like corals are between the inanimate and vegetative levels; a mythical half-plant, the “field dog” between the vegetative and animate levels; and the monkey between the animate and the human levels. And the intermediate form between man and the Creator is the group.

If a person joins a group and is able to work with it for bestowal, he will be able to rise to the degree of the Creator. One needs to try to reach this by his own effort, since becoming like the Creator means, first and foremost being independent, understanding, feeling, and demanding your changes on your own.

All of this is supplied to us by the environment. Therefore, it is written, “One who aspires to the Creator (Isra-El), the Light of correction and the Creator are one whole,” and “love for the creatures leads to love for the Creator.” We need to view our environment as a means to achieve the goal of creation. To the extent that the goal of creation is important to you, you should value the group to the same height.

This pertains not only to those in whom the point in the heart has awakened that pulls them toward the goal of creation; it pertains to all of humanity. Everyone will need to build such examples: societies or small states that will serve as examples, which everyone else will emulate while trying to draw closer.

In this manner, the whole world will advance correctly, nearing the form of the new human being, the new humanity. Consequently, we need to achieve love for the Creator—similarity to the quality of bestowal and altruistic perception. Love for the friends is a means for achieving this goal.
[63466]
From the 1st part of the  Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Writings of Rabash

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Inside A Unified System

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If all the women of the world group really worry about the men’s advancement, will they be able to integrally influence the thoughts of the entire world?

Answer: Of course they will. This is because we are part of the world, and we are connected with it globally and integrally by millions of different networks, whether we want it or not.

The entire system of creation is so mutually interlocked that every thought, every desire is part of this system. You don’t give orders to influence or not to influence. All of our internality, all our desires and thoughts, our hearts and minds, are in this system. So undoubtedly, by being a strong internal part, we strongly influence the entire external world.

Especially now, when we are beginning to attain the upper world, we will become a billion times stronger than anyone else. So the same kindness, cooperation, concern, and mutuality will gradually permeate the rest of the world, and all people will feel a need for it. They will begin to understand that nature is arranged in such a way that we all are interconnected and should be joined together by positive forces, by positive thoughts and desires.
[63373]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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Your Desires Within Me Are Like Pomegranate Seeds

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person is not able to observe the entire 613 commandments on his own. This is because he lacks connection with others, and he must achieve mutual inclusion, absorb their desires, and pass his desires on to them.

Every one of us has his own root of the soul, and everyone becomes included equally in everyone else only when connecting between us and absorbing mutual desires. This is the only way for any person to achieve perfection.

Initially, everyone only had a point of the root of his soul in the world of Infinity. Even though he existed there in a perfect state, this perfection was achieved through the upper Light. The person, himself, meaning everyone’s individual point, was different from the rest. For example, one person pertained to the leg of this common spiritual body, another pertained to the ear, and the third to the hip.

However, after the collective soul broke, all its pieces intermixed and become mutually included in one another. As a result, everyone contains all the others within him. In this way, each receives everything he was lacking in accordance with the root of his soul from the others. The lowest one receives everything from the highest ones, the highest one receives everything from the lowest one; the right receives from the left, and the left receives from the right. In the end, everyone becomes like a pomegranate that contains all the seeds (desires).

In this way, we not only achieve the common perfection, but also the private perfection of every soul. For example, even though a woman is free from observing commandments that pertain to a specific time (such as tzitzit or tefillin), by being included in the others, she makes up for whatever is lacking.

Mutual inclusion also works in relation to the first nine Sefirot and Malchut because the breaking was final to the last, tiniest element in the common structure of Malchut. However, because everyone who strives “straight to the Creator” (Yashar–El) are guarantors to one another, it is as if they observe all the commandments together.

I include myself in the others and thus observe a certain commandment. Meanwhile, someone else observes it as his main job. In this way, we all work together. Everyone absorbs the desires of others and bestows to his neighbor. This results in everyone understanding everyone and bestowing to everyone. In the end, we reach the state of loving the other as oneself.

Being separate and egoistic, I only cared for myself, and now, by connecting with others, I achieve knowledge, attainment, and the understanding of all the demands, desires, and thoughts of all the other parts of creation. This is why I am able to give them fulfillment.

In this way, I become similar to the Creator and acquire love for Him. I have come to loving the Creator through loving my neighbor.
[63201]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/2011, Writings of Rabash

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