A question I received: Kabbalah says that a person must always strive to be in a better environment. So what specifically should I do?

My Answer: You have to try to worry at every moment about the fact that you are entirely dependent on your environment. Within this worry you will start to have thoughts and desires to connect with others, and you will reveal that the environment contains everything.

Even though these people are still uncorrected, they contain the corrected system. They don’t even feel it themselves yet, but you will reveal it through searching. Spirituality already exists in its corrected state, but its revelation depends on our desire, as it is written, “Every person judges others to the extent of his own defect.”

You have to strive to feel the influence of the environment. This influence carries energy, understanding, and the need to turn to the Light, the importance of the goal. It has everything you need to attain the spiritual goal. Thus, everything depends on your attitude to the environment; everything depends on you!

The whole world and all humanity were created by the Creator in order to give every person the opportunity to advance independently by creating the right inner attitude to the group. Otherwise, you will move toward the goal by the path of suffering.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/10, “Peace in the World”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Envy, Honor And The Environment
Kabbalah Revealed: “Choosing the Right Environment for Correction”
Shamati #225: “Raising Oneself”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will - No Comments →

No one knows how much more work we will have to do in order to realistically see the new, corrected world. But the results of our work can already be seen by the awakening of the nation of Israel. As a result of this awakening, there will be great, qualitative changes and people will begin to feel the spiritual reality. But to achieve this, we will have to attain a common might called “six thousand souls.”

We have to achieve this might in quantity and in force, meaning according to the amount of people aspiring to the spiritual goal, as well as the might of their undertsanding, the connection between them, and the importance they attribute to this. As soon as we achieve this might of “six thousand souls,” the spiritual world will be revealed to us. This constitutes the goal of disseminating Kabbalah: to have as many people join this movement as necessary to reach “the first stop” in the spiritual world, which is the spiritual revelation.

When we unite together with this force and this quantity, where the quantity multiplied by the quality will give us the necessary might (P=UxI – power equals pressure times the force of electricity), then a spiritual vessel emerges, in which the Creator becomes revealed. Then, everyone who participates in this common vessel will feel the revelation of spirituality. This is called the revelation of the Creator to the creatures.

It depends only in the importance that we attribute to spirituality in relation to corporeality. We are already building this common vessel of revealing the Creator, but until we complete it, we won’t be able to discover it. It will become expressed in our sensations, along with the Creator inside it.

From the Independence Day lecture 04/20/10, “Preface to the Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: “Isra-el” Is Responsible For The Whole World
Laitman.com Post: The Zohar Sheds Light On The Connection Between Souls
Laitman.com Post: Freedom From Exile For The Entire World

Filed under: Free Will, Israel - 1 Comment →

A question I received: What does it practically mean “To value the inner part of me more than the external part?” Baal HaSulam writes that this is necessary in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar.”

My Answer: To value the inner part of you means to respect your mission and responsibility to attain mutual bestowal and to unite together “as one man with one heart” through brotherly love, for the sake of revealing the Creator, the general force of bestowal and love that rules in nature. This has to be the most important thing to a person. We are talking about the Upper Force of bestowal, which fills everything, but which we don’t feel because we nullify its manifestation with our egoism. The right intention for us to have is for this force to become revealed within us to the fullest extent.

I make a simple calculation: that this is the only thing that is important to me in this life. This is why I was born and what I live for. This is what I have to achieve as long as I live in this world. In addition, all of humanity depends on the work I do in this regard, because we are all connected together inside one net.

Baal HaSulam writes that “a person from the nation of Israel,” meaning a person who has a point in the heart (Isra-El means the aspiration to the Creator) determines the direction and state of the whole world with his intention. He can say, “I don’t want anything right now. I’m in a state of descent so leave me alone. I don’t want to hear about spiritual work. I’m going to rest!” In that case, where is his responsibility and the understanding that there are millions and billions of people who depend on him? He is now determining their fate and how they will advance toward correction – whether through painful blows or through realization and goodness.

If these people depend on you, then you have a very strict responsibility to make the right choice because you are leading everyone, be it in a good direction or a bad one. You have no choice about the matter; this is how the worldwide network is built and this is the place you have been allotted in it. Therefore, you must always be in a state of upper fear and remember that you decide what will happen to the whole world.

Later you will reveal that all the people are your children, the closest thing to you! But you have to think this way even now, by faith above reason. Everything that you do is not being done to you, but to the whole world!

How important we deem spirituality directly determines the fate of all humanity. What’s important for us will be important for everyone else. That is the structure of this entire system, in which we are connected with strict connections. A person without a point in the heart does not have the ability to change anything. Only you do, who are called “Isra-El,” or “Li-Rosh” (I am the head).

From the Independence Day lecture 04/20/10, “Preface to the Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: “Six Thousand Souls” Is The Required Measure For Spiritual Revelation
Laitman.com Post: Before The Final Revelation
Laitman.com Post: Freedom From Exile For The Entire World

Filed under: Free Will, Israel - 1 Comment →

The wisdom of Kabbalah rejects the concept of death thereby revealing the only action that we are able to perform. In everything else we are totally dependent on nature and act involuntarily. We spend our entire lives trying to ignore death, as if medicating ourselves in order to avoid the truth. It is a game we play, chasing money, honor, and power within an imaginary reality.

What do we do with the help of Kabbalah? Kabbalah provides a solution to this fundamental human dilemma by explaining how to reach eternal life here and now. We are shown how to gradually transition into an additional dimension without leaving this life; in fact, we become fully integrated together with it.

This is the meaning of “freedom from the angel of death,” described in the Torah as the covenant carved on stone tablets. Torah offers: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life… (Deuteronomy 30:19).”

However this opportunity was concealed, and people learned how to distract themselves. Therefore, the dissemination of Kabbalah has to include the explanation of this choice. In other words, Kabbalah not only leads to a good life on this earth, but also helps attain everlasting existence. When masses come to this realization they will no longer hide from the idea of death.

The practice of spiritual advancement proves that a person begins to acquire this realization (presentiment) only after initial studies, which bring the influence of the Upper Light. Then one is granted a chance to sense eternity to the extent one moves closer to the property of the Creator (bestowal, Hafetz Hesed). By doing so, a person enters eternity and is already present in the infinite flow of life. This opportunity is available to everyone.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/10, Article “The Freedom”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Freedom: Achieving Eternity
Laitman.com Post: Feeling The Breath Of Eternity
Laitman.com Post: The Method of Spiritual Birth

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will - 2 Comments →

A question I received: You say that Kabbalah allows a person to reach eternal life, but Kabbalists die. So how can this be?

My Answer: A Kabbalist dies in your eyes since you do not see his life the same way a Kabbalist sees it. You see only a part of him – his body, which certainly dies, just like any other animal. However, his godly, spiritual part, which he has developed inside, continues to live eternally. The moment that one acquires this part, he gains possession of it and it gives him a sensation of eternal existence; the quality of bestowal that one has acquired is eternal.

We begin to comprehend this only as we approach the Machsom, when the premonition of bestowal emerges in us. The Light that begins to reach a person, gives him a sensation of what it means to rise above matter and to think somewhat differently, to relate to others from the point of view of bestowal. A person does not exist in bestowal yet, but he can already touch it somehow. Then he gets a premonition that it is possible to adapt to this quality, a sensation that belongs to eternity.

Before this occurs, a person does not have the ability to comprehend, as the Light is not close enough to him yet, and the words are meaningless. A person wants to eat and rest, but eternity seems too far away and he doesn’t feel it. Only when one begins to feel the breath of the Light from afar, like fluttering wind, does he begin to understand that Kabbalah contains liberation from the angel of death. When the Light draws closer to a person, it brings him the sensation that eternity exists.

This is the initial condition for the only free action that we can perform. Otherwise, why do you need freedom? What else is there for you to do in life, in your animal body? Everything else is done for you from above; you do not do it yourself. The only thing that you can do on your own is reach eternity. Bestowal is eternal, while reception is temporary. The Light of Hochma does not come to us forever, but only if it is perceived within the Light of Hassadim. Therefore, in order to acquire eternity, first we need to acquire the desire to bestow, and then within this desire we will be able to feel our life as eternal.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, Article “The Freedom”

Related material:
Laitman.com Post: The Method of Spiritual Birth
Laitman.com Post: Make The Moment Last Forever
Laitman.com Post: Attaining The Sensation Of Eternal Life Through Bestowal

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will - 1 Comment →

When we come to a real crisis, we will realize that we are entirely controlled. This fact has already started to surface. Science, culture, education, family, and all other aspects of our life will come under serious scrutiny and reassessment.

As a result, we will come to the conclusion that we know nothing about our world, that we don’t have a clue about what’s happening and we are completely controlled. Together with that, we will sense the need to rise above this condition of slavery. That is the exact state that is called the “Egyptian bondage.” It’s indeed slavery, for a person sees that he is a slave to his egoistic nature, which corners him and does what it pleases with him, taking advantage of the fact that a person is obliged to obey his egoism’s every whim.

That’s when he feels the need to come out from under the yoke of his nature, and he then receives a spiritual force to counter the force of the corporeal. And in between the influence of two forces, he finds his free will.

This crisis is a turning point, when we cease being animals and become free. After all, animals are completely governed, so we are still animals, where there’s neither reward nor punishment. All of our development was intended only to lead us to the realization of our own futility, that we are nature’s slaves. When we realize this, we will cry out and come out of slavery to the level of “Human.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis Is Not “The Finger Of God” That’s Still To Come
Laitman.com Post: We Reveal The Creator Through Escaping Our Egoism – Pharaoh
Laitman.com Post: Finding Freedom And Balance Through The Creator
Kabbalah Today Article: Who’s the Real Enemy in the Russian-Georgian War?
The Path of Kabbalah: “Freedom of Choice – To Operate Above Nature”

Filed under: Free Will - No Comments →

A question I received: Our family often watches your programs. My wife says that you often contradict yourself, even during the same program. For instance, in one of the “Ask the Kabbalist” episodes, you categorically denied that Kabbalists engage in predicting the future of our corporeal bodies. But later, in the same program, you said that in the 1930s Baal HaSulam predicted two world wars. This relates to corporeal matters, doesn’t it? My wife wants to know why is it that you always contradict yourself?

My Answer: What I meant is that Kabbalists know the way the future will come from Above, or in other words, what will happen if things advance along the path called Beito, meaning “in due time,” or when things follow the unchanging, rigid laws of nature. However, when we make corrections, we shift to the path called Ahishena, and thus we affect how these forces will manifest in our world and how they will be expressed inside us.

To the extent we correct ourselves and understand things better, we will feel good instead of bad. But no Kabbalist, or anyone else for that matter, can ever know how anything will actually turn out, because man has freedom of will to change his destiny. (See Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Freedom.”)

If you read the terrible prophecies of the future, keep in mind that the prophets were describing only the path of Beito. They did not know how corrected we will be, and therefore, how we will handle certain situations.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Two Ways Of Reaching Our Goal
Laitman.com Post: The Main Lesson To Learn From The Crisis Is That We Are All Part Of Nature
Laitman.com Post: The One Action Where We Implement Our Free Will
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Eradicating Egoism”

Filed under: Free Will - No Comments →

A question I received: You talk a lot about upbringing and education. However, nothing was ever accomplished through persuasion.

My Answer: My organization and I do not want to persuade anyone who does not wish to listen to us. Actually, we don’t want to persuade anyone about anything. We are only addressing those who want to learn about the method of Kabbalah. We address those who feel a need to find a new way of life.

In fact, persuasion is contrary to the laws of nature. This is because a person’s only freedom of will is to change himself, and it is forbidden to deprive him of this opportunity!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: In Kabbalah, Seeing Is Believing
Laitman.com Post: Where Is Our Freedom?
Laitman.com Post: There Is No Coercion In Spirituality
Baal HaSulam Article: “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”
Interview: “I Don’t Believe You”
Talk: “There is No Coercion in Spirituality”

Filed under: Free Will - 1 Comment →

If we free ourselves of the unnecessary, extraneous activities which are not related to the correction of relationships between people, we would do what is necessary. This is the only action where we can implement our freedom of will, and we would see precisely what we need to do and where we need to correct ourselves.

This is only a small area, but it should be clear to absolutely every person that this is where the focus of our choice lies. If we correct our relationships, we will reach the end of correction and the goal of creation. However, if we do not clarify this, we have no choice in our actions and will remain like animals.

Nature will show us our corruption in all of its aspects: in the state of the economy, health problems, the system of upbringing and education of children and family relationships – in all the forms of egoism that are enclosed within us.

If we do not correct the relationships between people, everything else will be presented to us by Nature in a broken manner.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: For The First Time In History, We Have The Conditions To Realize Our Freedom Of Will
Laitman.com Post: Free Will Starts with Our Generation
Kabbalah Today Article: A New Direction
A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah: 3.Reality Check.”In Search of Freedom”

Filed under: Free Will - No Comments →

Questions I received concerning freedom, balance and the meaning of the Egyptian plagues.

Question: What does a free person feel?

Answer: Man’s freedom lies in being able to maintain the equilibrium in all of creation, to sustain it and balance it “standing on one foot.” On the right side of the scale is the Creator’s force of bestowal. On the left side of the scale is the Creator’s force of reception. These are direct and opposite sides; the holy and evil forces. And if a person can balance himself in between them, he is given the freedom of will from the influence of both and can thereby express his free choice.

Question: How is it possible to balance on the tip of a needle?

Answer: You have to glue yourself to the Creator, draw Him to yourself with all your might and get close to Him, as a baby to his mother. The baby loves to feel himself under her protection, and from there can boldly look onto the whole world. Or, while sitting in her arms, he can point his finger  to where he wants to go – thereby expressing his will!

This is the correct way in which a baby develops. He knows that with his mother he is safe, and that she will use all her strength and every opportunity to fulfill his desires.  This is the correct way for us to work with the Creator!

Question: What do the Egyptian plagues refer to?

Answer: This is how the Creator teaches a person to battle with his nature, while hardening it and warning man against it. He provides examples of how we can fight our egoism.

This is the Creator, saying: “Go to Pharaoh! This is what you have to do. Take Me by the hand and hold onto Me. I will also hold you, but you have to learn how to cling to Me, so that you can resist the monster, which is revealed within you through his 10 primary unclean forces. All that is required of you is to sit in My arms and desire for this monster to be vanquished. I will appease the monster according to your instructions only if you glue yourself to Me.”

If a person performs this work, it means that he has freedom of will, since in this state, he has all the conditions needed.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Path Of Light Versus The Path Of Suffering
Laitman.com Post: We Reveal The Creator Through Escaping Our Egoism – Pharaoh
A Glimpse of Radiance
From Chaos to Harmony: “Obeying Nature’s Law. Life’s Purpose”
Baal HaSulam Article: “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

Filed under: Free Will - 1 Comment →