Entries in the 'Daily Kabbalah Lesson' Category

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.07.11

Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam “Come”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Tzav (Command),” “All Came From the Dust,” Item 173
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Explanation of the Article, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Lesson 10
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “The Freedom,” “Two Forces in the Will to Receive: Attracting Force and Rejecting Force,” Lesson 11
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Putting Together Your Partzuf

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn order to give the Kli freedom of choice, the Creator put two opposite forces in it: reception and bestowal. Creation is in the middle between them as the third line, as the fulcrum of a scale, and it decides which way to incline. That is how we are given the opportunity to be independent.

Question: What does it mean that creation “decides”? After all, when faced with a choice between good and evil, I will always choose good.

Answer: It depends on what you consider good. There are two scales: true versus false, and bitter versus sweet. Creation is being offered two ways of evaluating: good can be the receiving desire or the bestowing desire, and either can be felt as evil as well. The analysis can be made by the fulfillment in the receiving vessel or by the fulfillment in the bestowing vessel, in the left line or the right line.

You have two opportunities, each containing many traits. From these traits you begin to piece together the picture of your attitude. You thereby build yourself, putting together your spiritual Partzuf with all of its organs, tendons, flesh, bones, and so on. That is how many details you have to bring together into one whole.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Don’t Worry If You’re A Beginner – Kabbalah Is Simple!

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person who starts studying the science of Kabbalah discovers that his previous notions are far from reality. “Body,” “soul,” and other familiar notions acquire a completely different meaning.

The science of Kabbalah arranges everything very simply, practically not leaving you any chance to get confused. There is a desire for pleasure, inside of which different forms of bestowal can be perceived. And that is the only thing happening in our reality.

Depending on what level of bestowal you are on, that is the reality you feel. You can feel reality on level zero, in other words, you can live in our world where the degree of bestowal equals zero. We are at the very bottom, but even here there are four developmental levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human.

Then, as you ascend up 125 levels of the spiritual ladder, you will attain the degree of bestowal, or in other words, the Creator. At the end, at the 125th level you will reach 100% bestowal.

We are talking about equivalence of form or how creation acquires a form of bestowal above the desire for pleasure. You must constantly ascend in your receiving desire in order to acquire the form of the bestowing desire over it. The form of bestowal you clothe over the receiving desire brings you to the degree of bestowal because you have actualized this to a specific measure. That is how you make yourself similar and equal to the Creator, becoming human (Adam).

In essence this is very simple: You only need to combine two qualities correctly, ascending up a slanted ladder that is built of two forces or two lines: the right and the left. Thus, beginners receive clear explanations. In fact, Kabbalists do not draw a distinction between the worlds. everything depends on the person: Develop your capability for the form of bestowal and you will see more than you now do.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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From The Means To The Cause

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the Creator’s help?

Answer: If a person tries to reach love and unity above hatred and repulsion, he will see that this is impossible. Good intentions turn to their opposite every time.

At first when making unsuccessful efforts, a person feels that this happens to him because of himself. Later the same efforts show him that the reason for it is a certain external force.

Then, by accumulating more new impressions, a person discovers that it isn’t some foreign force, but the Upper Force that directs him in this way and illuminates his negative attitude to others by means of various situations in life. That is how a person starts to reveal the Creator as the cause of the negatives and positives. He discovers that the Creator is the force that’s necessary for combining opposite extremes. Without His help a person cannot combine these two qualities inside him.

After that, this also turns out to be insufficient. It’s not enough that the Creator helps a person improve his sensation and arrange his life comfortably. Until now my bad attitude to others was unpleasant to me, but now I want the opposite: to use everything for connecting with the Creator. The combination of opposites has to happen inside the Creator and be completed only there.

That is how a person gradually ascends up a slanted ladder. At first he wants to put his Kelim in order, but then with their help, he turns to the Creator and finds the right combination with Him. Stage by stage, the right attitude to creation becomes apparent in a person: He goes from the means to the cause, from efforts to correct his desires to the realization of why he is doing this and what he achieves by it.

The goal is not to enjoy fulfilling your vessel, but to attain the upper root by virtue of your work. Then your attitude changes: By uniting Bina with Malchut, you discover Keter, the point of the letter Yod (י), which is the beginning of the letter Aleph (א), symbolizing our work and ascent up a diagonal.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Last Variable In The Equation

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe descents show me that I will never realize the importance of the Creator alone; I will never come out of my egoism or find the strength within. However, every descent teaches me in its own way, revealing different weaknesses, properties, and degrees in me. Descents are followed by ascents, but at the end, one way or another, I always discover how powerless I am.

At first, I want to satisfy my egoism, which is referred to as discovering the number of angels in the skies. Then I switch over to the Creator, I want to “catch” Him and see the spiritual world. It appears to me as if the door of change needs to open before me and not within me.

Finally, I begin to understand that changes need to happen within me. I catch a thread of an answer to my question: Liberation must come from the outside because alone I am certainly incapable of it.

This work is done through descents and ascents until man comes to the threshold of truth, and then he understands that everything depends on him, on a change in his perception. The Light gives him the strength to do this; this strength cannot be found within. His demand is egoistic, but he lowers his head before the upper force allowing it to change him, agreeing slightly with the fact that everything comes from Above.

On the next degree, man begins to understand that he needs to acquire the property of bestowal instead of the property of reception. His demand is still egoistic, yet it’s a step forward.

Then he works with the environment in order to evoke the Light that lifts him to spiritual wealth. As he works on figuring out the notion of the group, he makes himself dependent on it, hoping that this will benefit him, as it did before.

And then the Light actually reforms a person because he has properly arranged everything. There is only one change that still remains: the intention, the final outcome, who is he trying to benefit?

By turning to the Creator, through the group, with the correct appeal, we shorten the path.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/5/11, “What Are the Misfortunes that Come to the Wicked Which Start From the Righteous in Work”

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Look Into Yourself And Don’t Turn Away

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I check whether my intention is really aimed at the Creator? What practical test does the science of Kabbalah have to offer?

Answer: Kabbalah offers something very simple: work in the group, which accelerates your personal development and provides you with a practice ground. Inside the group a person can find the place for the Creator’s revelation, the place to bestow to the Creator. Overall we attain the goal by way of mutual study and unification with friends.

At the same time, no matter what we do, it is important to ascertain that we do not suppress our egoism by trying to run away from bad sensations. After all, a person spends most of his time covering up his ego.

Inside us there is hatred, envy, lust, ambitions, and other attributes of interaction with others. Sometimes these desires are so small that a person does not even discern their evil. Yet, whenever I look at someone, I unconsciously or consciously make a calculation: how much better I am than him, how much I don’t accept him, how much power I have over him, how much I can use him, and so on.

I always have to feel higher than the neighbor in some way. Even if I don’t have anything to criticize, I am still higher.

Thus, if I don’t blur over my egoistic attitude, then at every second I reveal an opportunity to work. Overall my sensations are called "unfounded hatred." My nature dictates that I feel it toward every person. But can I immediately build a good attitude, love above it?

I hate every person for some reason and if I don’t conceal this from myself, then I can work ceaselessly until every situation turns into a means for coming closer to the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/11, Writings of Rabash

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Approaching Mount Sinai

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe haven’t yet reached a sensation that the entire problem lies in the connection between us. For the time being, each of us wants to "pick the fruit from the tree" by himself.

We have to reach a state of standing at the foot of Mount Sinai in order to understand the hatred which the authors of The Zohar describe. Then, you will uncover that mountain of hatred and begin to correct it.

Until then, it’s only the individual ego of each one without his or her relation to others. It’s not yet the reverse imprint of the Creator. Each person isn’t yet aimed at the connection with the others.

That’s the way babies grow. Up until the age of two or three, a child has no need for the company of other children. He plays with his own toys. It’s only after he is two or three years old that he begins to realize that he can play with someone else, that someone else exists.

We are at exactly the same degree in our development. So far, we don’t want to unite with others; we don’t want to "play" with them yet. No matter how much we talk about it, the result is only words and not a change in our desire.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011,  “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

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Man Is A Formula Of Connection

Dr. Michael Laitman with StudentsQuestion: Without the environment, it is impossible to advance. How do we build the environment when we read The Book of Zohar?

Answer: We build the environment when all of us, together, wish to attain everything we read about in The Zohar in our mutual connection. The Zohar draws various forms for us. What are they? If we become unified, we will obtain a certain form of connection between us. Let’s name it “a rabbit,” for instance. The next form of connection will be labeled as “a cow,” and the next after that will be “a donkey.”

Later, we may come to such a connection that will be called “human” at various stages of development: Ibur, Yenika, Mochin (fetus, breastfeeding, and adulthood), until we reach the level of human. Then the form of connection between us will have a human shape. In other words, it isn’t I, you, or he, but rather a form of our mutual connection, some unifying formula, that will make our image human.

“Human” in spirituality is bestowal. But what is bestowal? What is its form? It is a certain field between us that we will title as human. This field undergoes various states that The Zohar describes as individuals with different hair and eye color, and so forth. All of it speaks about the forms of connection between us. The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t discuss anything else; there is nothing else to talk about.

There is nothing to say about the will to receive pleasure (desire) since it simply strives to enjoy. But as individual desires rise above themselves and mutually connect in bestowal in this place of unification, they create the common form that The Zohar is describing. It is that very form of the Creator which you are getting to know.

Therefore, The Zohar explains what specific form of the Creator you are discovering. It is what is named “human” within you, your inner equivalent to the Creator. Do you find him a bit unattractive in his uncorrected state? True, but that is what you are for now. Hence, The Zohar explains what steps you take as you advance.

It always speaks of the connection between the souls: to what degree it is equivalent to bestowal which awakens hatred, caring, and other feelings between them. However, all of it still lies in their mutual connection.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011,  “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

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See You In Berlin!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How important is it to participate in the upcoming European Kabbalah convention in Berlin?

Answer: I really hope that everyone who studies with us understands how vital it is for us and all humanity, especially in our present state, that Europe becomes unified in spiritual terms. We are standing at the threshold of very trying events in Europe. I think that everyone is beginning to feel it.

All these sweet hopes to find solutions through the commonwealth market are starting to melt away. Behind it all, we see the manifestations of great hatred and mutual separation and growing protectionism.

Therefore, now is the time to accelerate the circulation of the wisdom of Kabbalah in Europe with our best effort. All our friends who live there must view their own future and the future of the entire humanity in this light.

Otherwise, Europe will start a new fire yet again. It is there that the first two world wars began. It could be the same with the third one. I think that Germany, more than any other country, feels how real and close this threat may be.

Yet, as the wisdom of Kabbalah informs us, everything depends on the unity between people and on achieving balance with nature. All of this can be actualized with the help of the Upper Force if a person desires it so and strives to draw this force. This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah helps to accomplish.

The key lies in the circulation of Kabbalah in all possible forms so that it may reach every person in Europe. We will keep adapting the articles and publishing them on the Internet in all European languages in the most intensive form. There cannot be any more delays since the next year or two will be the turning point for all of humanity.

The world is yet to face great trials. In order to go through them in the right way so that they don’t throw us into an abyss, but rather bounce us upward toward the goal, we need to be armed with the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is all up to you!

Let’s hope that all our students from all over Europe will take part in the convention, even from the most remote places. We are expecting to see everybody. I have a hope that our voice will finally be heard.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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The Force That Changes Garments

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn reality, there is nothing except forces. The forces that manifest in a certain way can thereby be in touch with our sensory organs. That’s how we are able to perceive, feel, and understand them somehow and start using them by having established that connection.

However, this force existed even before we started to perceive it. All the forms in which it manifests work solely relative to us and in order to reveal to us the first and only Force that doesn’t clothe into anything.

A soul is also a force that we cannot know if it doesn’t dress in some garment, some form that we are able to feel. To the extent that we correct ourselves, we see that all the previous forms in which we experienced these forces, such as crystalline matter, liquids, air, and even a vacuum were imaginary stages of our attainment that we have undergone. They exist solely in our imagination.

Since we lived in our egoistic desire, we were forced to experience this one Upper Force in specific forms, in these “garments” adjusted to fit our egoism’s perception. When our desire to receive pleasure is transformed and acquires its authentic form “to bestow,” we will see that all the previous forms were merely an illusion aimed to serve us in reaching the final correction.

This journey through all of the forms is really necessary for us because it teaches us how to get to know the Creator. Thanks to all the actions we have completed, we start comprehending His plan for us, His desire, and His love.

From all of these imaginary forms that we undertake while ascending on the 125 spiritual degrees through all the worlds or concealments, we get to know the Creator, as it is said: “From Your actions, we shall know You.” All of it is an illusion veiling the Creator, yet, it helps us to get to know Him.

Without taking into account all of the steps we have made and connecting them into one integral picture, it is impossible to assemble any image of the Creator. After all, we are the created beings, opposite to the Creator, and are unable to attain His essence.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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