Entries in the 'Conventions' Category

Meal In Silence

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the convention in Novosibirsk will there be meals in silence such as Rabash used to have?

Answer: It depends only on you. I am ready for everything. I have to act according to your choice within the working framework that we usually use with you. There are new and experienced people among you. Therefore you should choose whatever works best for you.

If we see that we are in the special mood, special excitement, special inner connection, if we see that there are all conditions for that then it will be worthwhile to have such a meal. Precisely in this internal mutuality we will sense that silence which exists between us. Perhaps in this silence we will begin to sense new properties, new connections, and the network of forces between us.

I am anticipating this very much and hope that it will happen this way. After all, I am waiting to see all of you at this congress.
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From the Virtual Lesson 11/18/12

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The Biggest Egoist

Dr. Michael LaitmanAs a rule, only people with a high level of egoism study Kabbalah. Other than that, nothing fulfills them. Science, technologies, arts, family relationships, jobs, hobbies of any kind, lots of money…nothing brings them contentment. They are torn apart by one question: What is the meaning of life?

They don’t believe in religion since they have already exceeded this developmental stage and lost the ability to blindly follow any trends. They don’t see any value in this world since they regard everything around them as a regular “animal” existence and nothing more than that.

Naturally, they don’t have a desire to hug everybody, dance, or do any childish things like “sitting in a circle, drinking and eating together, singing songs.” They consider it weird and odd, and they are right.

Their egoism is above average. Thus, they strive to reveal the upper; however, they are forced to behave “immaturely” and childishly. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it.

They join a group that is already in the process of advancement and has more or less revealed and understood the methodology of growth. They enter a group that feels, recognizes and acknowledges (at least studies) the necessity to bond in order to discover the properties of the upper world through the connection among friends. This is because the qualities of the upper realm can only be revealed in unity.
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From the Georgia Convention 11/6/12, Lesson 4

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Saving The Friends From Concerns

Saving The Friends From ConcernsQuestion: What does mutual guarantee mean? What does mutuality in the group entail?

Answer: Mutual guarantee is when we provide each friend with an absolutely complete feeling of security and confidence to such an extent that we cover his entire egoism and he doesn’t need anything. That is, we give him our respect and love, and treat him in such a way that he no longer thinks about himself and automatically becomes free for the work for everybody.
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From the Georgia Convention 11/6/12, Workshop 2

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I Am Waiting For You In Novosibirsk!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The ascent that is felt during a convention is cultivated on purpose: during meals, lessons, and breaks. Do we need to organize unification after the convention in our daily life?

Answer: Of course! A convention is needed so that it does not pass in vain, so that after it we begin serious work on unity in this region, create a serious Siberian group, consisting of serious guys who will really unite in the Trans-Ural region, so that they truly feel themselves masters and begin good work among themselves.

They can make an effort; they have a good environment there—an environmentally clean spiritual space. So, I think that they will be able to accomplish a lot. That is a very good place for spiritual work. I hope that I will feel this; we will connect with them, and then we will move forward together.

I wish you all the best! And once again I am asking: everyone who can, come; I want to see all of you. You cannot lose! You can only win! Come, so not to regret later.

I am waiting for you in Novosibirsk!
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From a Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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Get Ready To Draw The Upper Light!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What actions are most effective for drawing the upper Light at the convention in Novosibirsk?

Answer: The most effective activities at the convention are workshops. There will be a lecture or talk before every workshop. We study a certain topic there, and afterward conduct a workshop based on this topic, and then questions and answers. This is the main “package,” which will be held twice a day. Thus, we will have six lessons in three full days.

In addition, there will be other very effective events. The most important of them are gathering of friends, necessary for “warming up” 15-30 minutes before the morning lesson. Then, there will be meals, held in the form of gatherings with speeches, group presentations and so on. In general, the convention will include plenty of activities. But gathering of friends and workshops are the key things.

The most important thing is your connection and I am within it. Together, we will draw the upper Light. So, get ready!
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From a Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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Congress: Looking For a Life Partner

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: At the Novosibirsk congress there are singles events planned for young and older people to meet with the intention of creating a Kabbalistic family. What are your suggestions?

Answer: Attention! There will be a special singles event held during the congress for young or future Kabbalists. I’m very supportive of this. A person needs help along the path. I think that everyone needs it.

If there’s an opportunity to come then people should come. If you haven’t created a family yet then I strongly advise that you try to find your partner among the Kabbalists.

I am very happy that such an event will take place during the congress. After all, the more Kabbalistic families the better.
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From the Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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A Convention: The Happiest Moment

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We often think about how to come to a state of prayer. On the other hand, a convention is such a joyful act…

Answer: A prayer should not be sad. A prayer is an expectation of correction. Should I cry, kneel and beat my head against a wall? There is nothing like this.

A prayer is a feeling in the heart. I want my heart to be corrected. I prepare it so that it goes through changes, stops being egoistic, stops thinking about itself.

Once the heart stops thinking about itself, I immediately begin to feel the upper world. This is what I want! This is called a prayer! Nothing else.

Question: But we are saying that we need to come to a state of despair, powerlessness, some very difficult feeling, but a convention symbolizes a state of joy, unity. How can I put this into one?

Answer: It is also very simple.

Despair must be joyful. That is, I despaired of my own abilities—look, what I have accomplished! I no longer have hope for myself.

Baal HaSulam writes that there is no more joyous moment in a person’s life when he feels that in no way he can help himself, and nothing will help him but only a miracle from Above, this is when it happens. There is no happier moment than the feeling that only this will save him. What could be better?
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From a Virtual Lesson 11/25/12

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Sensitivity To The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I become more sensitive to the Creator?

Answer: I’ve brought this kind of an example many times—that we acquire the sensitivity to a certain phenomenon the moment we start working with it, even if we didn’t have it before. We acquire sensitivity to everything: to stones, trees, or other people. First we don’t pay attention to a person and then we begin to feel him more and more and discover everything in him. This is called: “a habit becomes a second nature.”

So I must aim the work I do with the friends at the Creator. I work on discovering the friends’ attributes, for which I have no need and am not interested in at all, in order to increase my sensitivity to them, by discovering as many attributes as I can. Not the friend’s corporeal nature, but his attitude to the Creator. Then at the point that I am in contact with him and want to be in contact with him, I discover a sensitivity to the Creator.

The Creator Himself doesn’t exist. He is revealed only in our connections. So increasing the sensitivity to the connection with the friends is equal to increasing the sensitivity to the Creator.
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From the Georgia Convention 11/6/12, Workshop 2

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The Concealment Isn’t In The Creator, It’s In Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we affect all the groups in the world now so that they will feel what we feel? How are we able to transfer our feelings to them? What kind of intensity, relationships, and connection is required from us?

Answer: We really are in connection with everyone. If they grasp us or not, is not, by the way, our problem since everything happens in relation to the Creator.

He affects us, He is completely disclosed to us. The Creator doesn’t conceal Himself. When we say that the Creator is concealed, He isn’t. It is we who conceal Him through our uncorrected attributes. He has nothing to conceal from us. We simply express it this way. But actually the concealment is in us and not in the Creator.

It is also this way in relation to other groups. When we study, hold workshops, in anything we do, it includes all the world’s groups. When we try to include it in us, even if we don’t think about it each moment (because we also don’t think about it now each moment), we can’t include it within us. We still have only a small desire, a small Kli (vessel/desire).

But when we begin to connect between us, we can simultaneously grasp a billion thoughts, a billion feelings, and they don’t annul each other. It is as if we are now very small, like one byte of information, and on it, for example, it is possible to write 0 or 1 and nothing more. But when we have a huge connection of 0s and these 1s, which means of all kinds of units of information, then we will be able to list and to include in us all of humanity, and then we will try to do that .
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From the Georgia Convention 11/6/12, Workshop 2

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The Upper World Is Open To Everyone

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person who comes to the wisdom of Kabbalah really becomes enslaved. If he enters this system, then he really enslaves himself. There is nothing terrible about it since it is impossible to attain this system in any other way. If you go to special experts in yoga or any other system, they will tell you the same thing: If you want to attain our wisdom, our technique, our system, then you must temporarily detach from other things, otherwise you won’t be able to feel it in depth.

By the way, the wisdom of Kabbalah is not as strict as other systems, since it doesn’t separate the person from this world. He must be married, raise children, work, be connected with the world, and not abstain from doing things, not to go on diets, not to do all kinds of special, physical exercises, breathing, and postures. He needs to be a completely, regular person in this world. There is nothing expected from him except for only one thing, that is, the internal longings and intentions for the goal. This is specifically the most difficult condition, but in principle, the only condition.

All the rest isn’t important. It isn’t important what he eats, what he drinks, how he lives, or what he does professionally, of course, as long as it isn’t anti-social behavior. A person can be intelligent or can be simple. It doesn’t matter. In attaining the upper world, there is no importance in age or in level of education. It is opened to absolutely everyone! A person is not limited in anything.
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From the Georgia Convention 11/6/12, Lesson 4

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