Entries in the 'Daily Kabbalah Lesson' Category

The Inner Vision And The World Of Forces

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen a person attains the revelation of the true nature and reveals an inner vision, he starts to see one more reality inside of him in addition to the one he felt before. He perceives this new reality more intensely than our current one, and feels that it determines what happens in our reality.

Therefore, he calls this new reality that he has revealed, “the upper world.” This is a world of forces that becomes revealed to him. These forces, which act inside of his desire, bring him all kinds of experiences and impressions, depicting different forms and pictures inside of him. But he does not know what to call these forces, how to describe them, and how to talk about them.

After all, if he experiences a new sensation that has no connection with his entire past, then it’s unclear what to call it. But then he reveals the connection between these new sensations and the pictures that they project on the lowest screen that depicts this world to us.

He discovers that every force he reveals, every sensation in the upper world has its own result on the picture we see here, in the lower world. It’s as if every object or action of this world has its own force standing behind it, which supports him, manipulates him, and drives him.

He is left with just one way to explain the upper world—by taking names from this lower world for this purpose. This language is called “the language of branches.” Now, a person who is in the sensation of the upper world can talk about what he feels! He has names for every force, every spiritual action, every spiritual essence according to the results of these forces, which they depict and create for us in this world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, Writings of Rabash

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A World That Arises From Concealment

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we build concealment in the period of preparation, and how do we conceal the Creator if we don’t even sense Him?

Answer: I’ll answer briefly: This entire work is done only with the friends, in the group. Friends are also concealed from us, and none of us knows the true degree of another. The group, in its true form, is also concealed from us, as is the teacher.

Our task is to build the concealment, that is, to finally begin to clarify that I perceive everything to the extent of my lack of correction. Therefore, I need to make corrections to my ego and picture everyone as the greatest of their generation, existing in a state that’s beyond me. I must attain a state where I have tremendous respect for concealment, wishing for it to turn into my attitude toward everyone else.

It is on this screen of concealment that I must build a new picture of the world, and this whole picture will be drawn or molded from the importance that I impart to each phenomenon. If I do this, then gradually, I’ll begin to work against my ego and learn to perceive the spiritual world, that is, to draw the picture of the spiritual world. After all, it doesn’t exist outside of me, but only within.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/2011, Shamati #174

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Approaching The World With The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If I try to direct the world toward the goal of creation, could you say that I give the guarantee for the people? Is there a unilateral guarantee?

Answer: Yes, you move people forward. They cannot show reciprocity in return yet. Nevertheless, this is progress, and it is very important.

We should understand that our mission is to advance the world, and our progress depends on its steps. Of course, this dependency is not direct, but moving the world forward requires serious effort. We don’t do this at the expense of our inner efforts; however, we will not be able to develop internally without making a contribution to the development of the world.

Everything is arranged in the form of an integral system. I, the group, the world, and the Creator have to be a single complex. This is why now we need to take care of everybody. As Baal HaSulam writes, the entire world is one family and nothing can be done. Focusing on a narrow range, remaining in one niche, we will not achieve the desired result.

On the other hand, in going out into the world, we have to be cautious because we can lose our principles and slide into a purely psychological approach of “Let’s be close to each other, let’s be friends.” No, it will not work. As in Russia or in Israeli Kibbutzim (communities), it will be a connection devoid of internal force.

A connection requires the force that unites us, the upper Light. You have to address the world with Baal HaSulam’s materials, not necessarily with the texts, but with these messages, with these principles. Gradually, little by little, you have to explain to people that this comes from the science of Kabbalah.

The path is long, but you should be clear on this by now. You have to be immersed in the method, saturated with it. If you do not constantly study Kabbalistic materials, if you do not absorb it, digging deeper and deeper, you will feed people only nice words, New Age or mysticism. You, yourself, won’t notice how you will slide down.

If a person does not dedicate a few hours a day to serious studies in a serious group, if he does not work on this in the morning and in the evening, he loses his path. Religions, beliefs, mystical traditions, and the like stem from this. Everything came from Kabbalah.

Moreover, our egoism, our world call for concessions, saying: “It does not cost you anything. Add a little here. Change a little there. You may miss something, but you will reach people.” No, you will not reach people. You will come to them without your strengths and without a spiritual force, already corrupted.

This is a very big problem. That is why when a teacher leaves, good, strong groups lose their way, lose strength and wither.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We are now in something like an interim period, idle time, between conventions. How can we strengthen the mutual guarantee to move forward?

Answer: You need constant work. What is the difference whether we hold a convention now or not? A person does not know when he gains the required measure of effort. He has to yearn every new day in his life in anticipation of the moment when he will able to perform bestowal to friends, and through them, to the entire world, and through it, to the Creator.

I have to analyze my inner states, what my thoughts and intentions are, to what extent during the day I try to reveal the goal, whether my heart is imbued with this aspiration, whether it wakes up, whether I can commit myself to this, and whether I can hold this thought against the background of all other actions, whatever I do. From this, I can see how much I have moved forward.

We have only one possibility to reach the spiritual world: by constantly working on our desires and increasingly bringing them closer to the feeling and our understanding of bestowal. Changes should happen within us, in our desires. Therefore, every moment that is dedicated to this advances us along the path.

Then, everything depends on the person. In his opinion, what kind of movement forward should it be: individual or worldwide? If he wants to reach the goal of creation, this movement is possible only on a global scale. Everything below this benchmark does not work nowadays.

In the past, the group or the teacher was enough, but today, we are tied into the whole world. The one whose actions, day after day, move our world group and the entire world toward correction at least in some way can see that this stimulates him and his own progress. In essence, individual progress is an investment into others.

Besides, you should try every day to add some quality to what you give to others in your correspondence, blogs, and internet projects. We can bestow to friends only when we merge with them, when we understand them, rather than try to foist onto them something that we like. In addressing people, we should hand out, disseminate, that which is as close to them as possible. We should “clothe” in them.

Love is when I take the other person’s desire and fill it according to what he or she wants. Otherwise, we will not be able to approach anybody.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Before The Train Catches Up With Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe group operates the same way as any other person by using the “miraculous force” of the Light (Segula). To do this, it needs to listen to the directions of the mentor and carry them out within itself. However, the main thing is unity and connection, the “circle” the group members create between themselves. There, they are all equal. No one is big or small, neither in relation to any particular quality nor in terms of one’s advantage over the other.

The small and the big, the beginner and the veteran, are equal. The group must be completely even and homogeneous. It must strive toward unity and mutual guarantee.

When they overcome all the problems and difficulties and desire to build themselves in such a form so as to really feel the quality of bestowal that is being restored between them, this connection is called Shechina (Divinity), the common desire that arises from foreign, separated parts that wish to connect. They attract the Light that Reforms to the extent of their desire and need to connect.

Then, the Light of AB-SAG comes to them and clarifies and corrects their desires. Thus, they advance until they see that they are basically beginning to build a spiritual vessel within the group. Malchut of the world of Atzilut is between them in this common desire that they are building through mutual bestowal to one another. This vessel becomes filled with the quality of bestowal and its fulfillment, referred to as the upper Light or the Creator, that dwells between them.

This work is personal for every individual as well as common for the entire group. It also applies to the entire humanity that is now entering this state against its will. Humanity simply lacks the initial spark that awakens in the heart and attracts one to itself: A person is simply pushed forward by suffering.

We need to become this enticing spark for them. Moreover, public opinion will figure out very quickly the main principles of this path and will make progress. Our objective is to provide humanity with the method of correction before they are ready to take a step forward. So far, the problem has been that they are advancing faster than we are providing them with this method.

We think that we are advancing while everyone else remains somewhere far behind, but this is not true. They actually are advancing very fast, and they are ready to accept the method of correction from us. We are late to address them. This is a big problem, and we really need to hurry.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/2011, Shamati #122

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Kabbalah For The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday a completely new paradigm, a new worldview, and a new approach is arising before us that has never existed before. In the past we changed the world, but now the world is invariant and we have to change ourselves.

These inner changes in a person can come only by his choice, by his desire, by a conscious decision that he makes with every step. And Kabbalah is essentially the method, the action plan on this path.

By definition, the science of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to creation. By changing, a person reaches similarity with nature. And being similar to nature means being similar to the Creator. A person (Adam) is one who is similar (Domeh) to the upper one. This is what we must constantly discover in the process that is sweeping the world forward.

By having a Kabbalistic method and being its representatives in our world, we have to help all of humanity by disclosing this method in all sorts of ways. Obviously, it has to be done with the understanding that people resist changes, don’t want them, and look down on them. That’s true, but nevertheless, this is how everything should be. And on our part, we have to improve the presentation in order to bring the method to the people in a comfortable and pleasant form.

Otherwise, the world will of course suffer more and more from one day to the next, becoming immersed in confusion, helplessness, and bewilderment. People can become so confused that matters will escalate to a war. After all, when you are confused and disoriented under a hail of blows, your nerves can give way.

And then you will be willing to do anything just to stop the chaos. Even war will seem like salvation because it seems to put everything in their place. Just like a person can go into a rage, so can humanity, and in our days, we understand that this means a world war.

It’s up to us: How quickly will we assimilate the science of Kabbalah and place it on the runway in a clear, correct presentation for the whole world? All of us together have to become an enlightening, educational organization that helps and explains to people how to change in order to establish the right interconnection and thereby reach equivalence with nature or with the Creator, which is the same thing.

If we don’t attain balance and harmony with nature, then besides social failures, we will feel its devastating blows, which will finish us off. After all, even in human society today, we are incapable of anything until we change ourselves. Egoism is evoking an enormous amount of social problems, but we cannot stop.

The consumer society is depleting the earth, 200 years of the industrial era have exhausted all of its resources and soon they will dry up completely. Drinking water, oil, and other resources are all nearing their end. Eventually we won’t even be able to lead a normal life, not to mention the excesses. And still, we are incapable of holding ourselves back, of limiting production and pollution.

And we won’t be able to do that until we change man’s nature. No artificial solutions will help us. We still put our hopes on the old methods, but nature no longer accepts “payment by credit” from us. It will accept only one thing from us: harmony with it, homeostasis with this global system.

The need to change man is forcing us, Kabbalists, to come out of the previous boundaries and start making actions on the scale of the whole world. And we don’t have any other choice. As Baal HaSulam writes in the article “The Science of Kabbalah and its Essence”: As a whole, Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator. Where? In a person. According to what? His equivalence of form. A person acquires similarity to the Creator, the all-enveloping, global nature, becoming a single whole with it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and its Essence”

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Wisdom Comes With Experience

Dr. Michael LaitmanOnly one desire exists; only it had been created and then began to develop. It is not divided into levels or parts: It is divided by the states of awareness of itself. All the time, I reveal the first state more and more.

The spark of Light created the point of darkness, and creation was over. Now, this point of darkness, the point of desire, begins to discover: Who am I, who created me and with what purpose, what should I do, and what do I want from the Light and from myself? It keeps digging into itself and clarifies, learns more about itself and through self-realization, discovers the Light that created it.

There is nothing else in the entire universe except the creature who learns more about the Creator. But the reality does not change. The Light filled the desire, and now the desire perceives this single state more deeply.

All the changes occur only in consciousness, sensation, reaction, but inside the same substance. That is why I feel a little bit in my very first state; I only begin to sense myself existing in it, as if I am waking up. This is called the Light of Nefesh in my desire, existing at the zero level (Shoresh or root).

Now, I start to wake up more and look around. What I see at this degree, next to me, is not familiar to me yet; hence, I perceive this in the Light of Nefesh. But I already realize my previous state from which I woke up; I understand that I was asleep and now I have woken up.

How do I know that I was asleep? I learned about that because I woke up, found out about the next state, and now understand the previous one better. Therefore, the Light of Ruach clothes in the previous state, although I have only the Light of Nefesh in the current state.

I will never have anything more than the Light of Nefesh at the most advanced state. Only all the previous states become more and more clarified. That is why a person who advances correctly will always feel like in a fog, confusion, and misunderstandings; he will face incomprehensible forces and calculations and will always have doubts.

However, he already understands more about the path he has covered, all his history, and looking back on this history, the future perspective as well. That is, on one hand, he is accompanied by confusion, fog, and helplessness, but at the same time, he becomes smarter about the past, by seeing the whole path, its causes and consequences, and thereby revealing the Creator.

This is called the “reverse order” of the Light and desire. Our desire develops more and more and becomes “smarter,” educated, specific, high, and closer to the Creator, but only the Light of Nefesh is felt in it. However, in the previous desires, which we perceive deeper as we advance, we feel the Light of NaRaNHaY (Nefesh-Ruach-Neshama-Haya-Yechida). As it is said: “Wisdom comes only with experience.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 07.22.11

Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “On My Bed at Night”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter “Truma (Donation) 2,” “Lift Up a Song for Him Who Rides Through the Prairies,” Item 721, Lesson 30
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Kabbalah for the Student, “General Preface,” Item 3, Lesson 4
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“The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
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Without Concealment, We Couldn’t Reveal Perfection

Dr. Michael LaitmanShamati #174 “Concealment″: Concerning the concealment, which is a correction, had it not been for that, man would have been unable to attain any perfection, since he would not be worthy of attaining the importance of the matter.

We were created by the Light as the will to enjoy, and therefore we are entirely in its power and do not feel ourselves as existing. Today we don’t feel our existence yet. What we do feel is a deceitful sensation because it’s only possible to feel separated, distanced, and apart on the condition that you stand opposite the one you are apart from.

But we do not feel that we are standing opposite the Creator, against the Light, and therefore we cannot consider ourselves existing. After all, we are obligated to perceive everything on the contrast of opposites: as “me” and something outside of me. Then, in relation to this “outside,” I will be able to determine who I am.

But in the meantime I remain alone, just an object inside myself. I cannot say anything about myself because there is no one in relation to whom I could measure myself.

Therefore, before a person can stop himself and perform a restriction on his ego, meaning “pass the Machsom” (the boundary into the spiritual world) and stand opposite the Creator, he is not called creation yet. This is called the preparation period, when we are entirely governed from above.

Only after we are ready to take upon ourselves the concealment which arises between us and the Creator, we grow distant from Him and receive an independent existence. Concealment makes the higher goal important to me. To the extent I want to attain this quality and am unable to because it is concealed, that is how much I feel its importance.

Eventually I get to a point where I begin to value the concealment because it turns into my vessel for the Light. It is written, “Wisdom (Hochma) is given to the modest.” Because I make my will to enjoy modest, I am able to attain the Light of Hochma that stands opposite to me, accepting it in the Reflected Light, for the sake of bestowal.

Therefore, concealment expands my spiritual vessel by “620” times and gives me a new necessity—instead of pleasure, I want to attain the importance of the Giver. All of the qualities of the spiritual vessel are present in the actual concealment.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/11, Shamati

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Dr. Michael LaitmanUsually we make a very common mistake, thinking that we have to reveal the Creator Himself. We wait, “When is He going to be revealed already!?” As if the most important thing is for Him to appear.

But that will never happen. What has to appear is precisely the restriction, our desire to conceal Him from our will to enjoy, from our understanding, so we would have the opportunity to work with Him only on the condition that we give Him pleasure in return.

Then concealment, the aspiration for true bestowal, called “Lishma,” becomes our vessel. Inside of that concealment, we will be able to build the image of the Giver and to understand what bestowal is. Because we will aspire only to bestowal, without any other vestment of pleasure into our desires, we will therefore begin to really attain what spirituality means.

Every person would like to reveal the Creator in the depth of exile. But the issue is how to ask for none other than His concealment while we are in exile, how to preserve this concealment ourselves and elevate it. All the levels of ascent are separated from one another by how much we desire and are able to contain ourselves, to hold us back from revelation, and to reveal ourselves only for the sake of bestowal.

And inside of this attitude to the upper one, our desire to conceal Him, we build His image. The greatness of the Creator that is born inside of us by virtue of this concealment enables us to value him and start feeling His form. That is, the form of the Creator is determined by the form of the importance that we are able to give to Him.

This explanation does not lend itself to being understood easily, but it already directly touches upon the relationship between creation and the Creator in the spiritual world….
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/11, Shamati

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