Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Cleaning The Pipes For The Surrounding Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe time allotted for the correction is 6,000 years, but it refers to the corporeal timetable. This means that in 6,000 years we have to complete the correction, or we can complete it much earlier, by the right preparation on our part. This is called “I shall hasten it” (hastening time), instead of “in its time” (during the natural process of evolution) by the path of sufferings.

So if we want to reach new states, we have to draw the Light that Reforms and we have to check by what corporeal actions we draw the Light that will prepare us properly. In the meantime our actions are corporeal, which means in order to receive. But although our intention is egoistic, in order to receive, we can draw the Light of correction and so it is called the Surrounding Light.

If our preparation is correct, the Light influences us and awakens us according to our efforts. Our efforts are in acting before the friends and showing how important the goal is for us, and how each of us is ready, yearning, and burning for it. Even if a person doesn’t feel such enthusiasm he has to act that way and show much greater enthusiasm externally than he actually feels.

A person who doesn’t do that actually sins and thus destroys himself. He is thrown out and the Surrounding Light doesn’t take care of him. The Surrounding Light illuminates and operates according to the connection between people. A person who doesn’t spur others as much as he can according to the conditions he has received from Above draws himself away from the Surrounding Light.

The Surrounding Light is in constant motion and calculates things automatically: To what extent do I use the means I was given, accordingly I draw the Light closer to me or away from me. If I open myself to others and try to spur them, I become a kind of a pipe through which the Surrounding Light can influence them.

So we begin by simple, totally mechanical actions that have nothing to do with spirituality. But thanks to them, the Surrounding Light begins to illuminate more strongly through me, and thus I awaken myself and others. This is how it works. Accordingly we prepare ourselves by trying to connect, and then in this connection we are rewarded with a greater and more powerful illumination and also with a greater revelation.

This means that everything depends on the preparation of our vessels and we should start from corporeal actions that are far from spirituality, which everyone can do, even the youngest undeveloped person. It makes no difference if he doesn’t really understand what is going on and finds it hard to focus on the intention since his unique power that depends on his effort is taken into account.

Kids who run around and make great efforts grow fast! Then a person begins to feel lazy and has different egoistic accounts. He stops running around and prefers to rest, and so he stops developing. When we reach the state in which we don’t need to develop physically but rather spiritually, we begin to slow down the pace of our changes until we totally stop developing and are thus inclined to die.
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From the Talk About the Preparations for the Congress of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/13

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Sabbath Is A Kind Of Next World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, Shamati #190, “Every Action Leaves an Imprint”:  And certainly, tasting from the next world requires great preparations during the six days of action. To the extent that one has prepared, so is one’s sensation.

But without any proper preparation to extend the spiritual taste of Shabbat, it is to the contrary: He grows worse due to the corporeal pleasures. This is so because after corporeal meals one is only drawn to sleep, and nothing more, since after eating comes sleep. Thus, his eating brought him lower.

Sabbath is a special state; it is a kind of a next world, a special day which is a corporeal sign of the spiritual end of correction, which we will reach in the future, called “Sabbath.” It is a spiritual state and not a specific day on the calendar that is printed on paper or that appears on the computer.

We yearn for this special state called the Sabbath and this day comes when we arrive at the state that we want to arrive at. The corporeal states arrive regardless of our desire in the time that they are meant to, which is called the natural process of evolution, “in its time.” But the spiritual states come only according to our inner preparation. If we make the necessary inner preparations then we are incorporated in a state called a new “day.”

So a “day” has nothing to do with the calendar but rather depends on our preparation. If I complete the preparation, I am incorporated in that “day,” and if I don’t, then an endless number of corporeal days can go by, but the spiritual day doesn’t arrive and so a new state doesn’t begin.

The spiritual state totally depends on the preparation, but the preparation is by corporeal actions. It means that I have to do everything that is in my power, as it says “everything that is in your power, that do,” and “he who doesn’t work on the eve of the Sabbath, what will he eat on the Sabbath?” So everything is determined by our preparation.
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From the Talk About the Preparations for the Congress 6/26/13

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Don’t Listen To The Ego’s Whining

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I have not felt happy about being on the spiritual path for a long time, what am I doing wrong?

Answer: Your ego is poisoning you and erasing the joy. Apparently your environment is not strong enough and so it cannot impress you. You must have the right environment that will enable you to work above the whining.

We will constantly hear the whining inside our ego. All our dark evil forces are there and they constantly try to draw all our energy for their own benefit. It is actually our inner hell. We, however, have to face them by building our Heaven above them: the attribute of connection, of bestowal, whole and complete love, the feeling that I am like a baby in the arms of the society. I give them everything that I have and in response I receive total support.

Then I feel joy since I discover that everyone worries about me. I have nothing to worry about since I am in a world that is absolutely good. Everything is wonderful and cannot be any other way if we have such relations with our environment.

Although all this is built on top of the dark forces that remain inside me and want to separate us, and I actually feel these evil forces in my stomach; it is clear that they are devotedly doing their job since they are the Creator’s messengers. After having given all of myself to the environment, I am absolutely sure that I can be above these evil forces. I only want to annul myself and to dissolve among the friends, and this is my only hope, sense of security, and joy.

I have no other option, no other way. I throw myself into them like into a pool and am among them ready to give them everything, as long as I receive the light of security. This light provides security since the upper Light is in it. This is what we should do!
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/13, Shamati #58

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In Spite Of The Faces Enter The Hearts

Dr. Michael LaitmanCommunication in cyberspace is not full communication. This may be how our world still retains its balance; as for myself I would not describe it as possible to truly unite virtually.

To learn, yes, to finish the college courses and the rest of the possible virtual integral courses. But truly to unite? In spite of it all you need to see your friends. I don’t know what the future will be, but it seems to me that you cannot avoid this. There may not be any other solution.

We find ourselves in the physical world precisely to see faces in front of us and in spite of the faces, to enter the hearts, so to speak.
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From the Conventions in Krasnoyarsk 6/16/13, Lesson 6

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You Are Not Alone

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: At a convention a sensation is created that cannot be described, a sensation of a single family. But many individuals are present here. Tomorrow they will disperse and will again find themselves under the influence of the external world. What must they do in order to maintain an intention all the time, at least until the convention in St. Petersburg?

Answer: This depends on all of you and not on them, a person cannot fight alone. A person cannot hold himself in the right state for a long time without the friends and the right environment; this is very difficult. We give all due respect to those individuals who can hold their position in conditions like this, without the friends, but in general, this is very complicated! In every place where you live, you must find at least one other person or a number of people, and at least on weekends and during vacations meet with them for a few hours. This will be a spiritual outlet for them. And for the rest of the days connect with them by Skype or in some other form.

You need to be concerned about the individuals, to prepare a schedule for when you will connect with them, speak with them, bring them into some kind of work, give them little chores, processing materials, and the like. You need to include them in the collective gatherings of friends so they can participate in them virtually. This is to say they must be considered friends of your group.

If for a long time they haven’t succeeded in finding partners for themselves and are removed from the collective stream, then it is necessary to try as much as possible to move them as close you as you can, and to find work for them, to help. If this is a serious friend who proves that he is adherent to the goal and he needs you, then it is necessary to do this.

But it is quite possible that if you delve into your memory, then through their friends or by sending through the Internet (not sophisticated Kabbalah, but correct) you will find friends for them in those cities where they live. It is necessary to try to do this so that around each one of our isolated friends, wherever they may be, you will organize a group. But if this kind of possibility doesn’t exist, you must help them move closer to you.
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From the Conventions in Krasnoyarsk 6/16/13, Lesson 6

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Two Weeks Are Left To Prepare

Dr. Michael LaitmanNothing can be achieved without effort. Until we finish our work, we will not finish forming our vessel and therefore will not be able to reveal the final state. Our states are programmed from above so that is why Kabbalists could tell in advance when it should happen to us.

They have asked us to perform actions with “the acceleration of time,” as Baal HaSulam called for in the1920s. But people did not want to listen to him and therefore they went through the path of suffering: through the Holocaust of world’s Jews and all the problems of the wars that accompanied the establishment of the State of Israel. Imagine, how much suffering could have been avoided if they had listened to his warning and had begun to build the state of Israel 30-40 years earlier, avoiding the Holocaust and all its implications, and had built on the principles described in his article “The Last Generation.”

We have to do this today, after we have gone through the path of suffering, of natural development. This is a good example of what we could have done and how as a result we went through this state, surviving the crisis, the difficulties, the Holocaust, the terrible suffering to come to the state where we are today. This is called neglecting preparation!

Today, we are once again given the opportunity: after the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah, the establishment of the world Kabbalah group, and the revelation of the method. Once again, we are in the preprogrammed state that has a schedule according to which it will develop naturally (Beito). Or in every square of this schedule, at every stage, at each step, to which we have to rise, we act with the help of the Light (Ahishena). If not, then we will have to go through the same stage by the path of suffering. It all depends on our preparation.

That is why you need to take it seriously in anticipation of this large convention that will take place in St Petersburg in July 2013. We can be very well prepared for it. We already have examples of the states to which we have to come, the experience of physical activities to which we have to add only intention: What do we do this for, what we want? This is what we need to clarify.

There is still plenty of time ahead: We have two weeks and we must apply efforts. Because our state depends on it, on whether we will go through the path of suffering or the Light. And besides, you finally need to switch from calculations for yourselves, your suffering or pleasure, to the thoughts about the Creator and to evaluate relative to Him, whether we bring Him joy or we do not care.

I hope that everyone will ask himself how he participates in the preparation. It does not matter where you will be physically during the convention physically—most important is how you will prepare yourselves to become connected with everyone in collective unity, without any difference or distance, eliminating any external influence. According to this, you will be awarded advancement or even revelation.
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From the Talk About the Preparation for the Convention in St. Petersburg 6/26/13

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To The Congress With A Brick In A Suitcase

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You said that great expectations for the conventions are not to be confused with the preparation for it. What is the difference between preparation and expectation?

Answer: Expectation means that I am sitting and waiting idly dreaming that the conventions will happen soon. It will be nice there, I will see my friends, we will dance and sing. I will visit a beautiful city where I have never been, etc. That is all expectations, dreams. I do not really invest my efforts in their realization, but just wait when the good time comes.

Preparation is when I understand that I have nothing to hope for, nothing to expect because there will be only what I prepare. Sabbath comes at the end of the week when all the work stops and as much you have prepared for this day, that much you will have. People save the most delicious things for Sabbath, they buy and save it especially for the Sabbath.

These are external symbols that indicate internal actions. We ourselves make a convention. At the convention, we want to reveal unity, connection, mutual guarantee, the intention of mutual bestowal that will connect all these forces together and tie us by a collective network in which we will begin to feel the general integral force. We will call it the upper force because it will be higher than us, but we build it ourselves.

The Creator (Bo-reh) means “come and see.” If we come, we will see! Now, in fact, we are building the convention. Otherwise, we will just have a festival in the material world and no more.

Every time, we approach a more internal state. We have little concern where this happens and how beautiful the place is; we increasingly concentrate internally on the inner content.

The main thing is not even the lessons. Of course when we listen to them together and get impressed we unite in one thought in one desire. This is necessary but the most important thing is to constantly prepare ourselves for the state that we have to create. Coming to the convention everyone has to bring his “brick” from which we will build a common vessel.

This brick has to be obtained in advance and be ready for connection. I already now aspire to this connection and imagine it.
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From the Talk About the Preparation for the Convention in St. Petersburg 6/26/13

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Our New Home: Realities And Perspectives

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur “New Home” project was born of necessity. We didn’t even dream that we would be able to acquire such a gigantic building. But it turned out that this was possible thanks to the power and the readiness of our groups. It turned out that both among the women and among the men there were forces for collecting and helping, not only to collect the means but everything else as well.

We need to understand our intensity and greatness. Describe to yourselves how many friends we have throughout the world! If we want something, we can awaken a very great intense wave! Seemingly we feel ourselves to be powerless, exhausted, unable to function, and weak, but in fact there is no other organized ideological power like ours in the world.

Today everything is dwindling, extinguishing, and dissipating in the world due to lack of purpose, lack of hope, and lack of escape. Whereas we are the opposite, we are going and growing and our power is becoming revealed more and more. It must be used.

Now we will have a new center. We will be able to prepare serious projects, invite experts here from every area, prepare programs of dissemination and unity for children and adults. We will have the basis for all kinds of work, for every kind of communication and communications media.

Therefore I very much hope that within the next half year we will arrange everything and that by next spring our center will be working full force. There will be television studios and a multitude of different departments.

In the summertime we can have our kids with us to teach them the foundations of integral education, languages, and our general view of the world. The entire third floor will be devoted to dorms for men and for women. Therefore it will be possible to come here, dwell here, and have an internship with us. This place will truly become our shared home.
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From the Conventions in Krasnoyarsk 6/16/13, Lesson 5

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Of, By, And For Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If there are fights in a group and differences of opinion are created that are not understood, do we not cause harm to the 99% of humanity through this?

Answer: Certainly! We are becoming the first part and the corrector of the collective soul. If the still level part, the level of the 99%, doesn’t participate in unity, this is considered to be normal, if they don’t constitute a disturbance for us.

The 99% of humanity doesn’t become the harmful part of humanity. However, to the degree that we don’t carry out our task and our mission, we do harm. This relates specifically to us. Therefore we need to hasten this as quickly as possible and be included in their correction. Through this we will correct ourselves.

As long as a person is not connected to the collective correction, it’s not considered that he is harming the collective system. You might dispute this and say: “What about the ecology and all the rest?” All that is ridiculous, all of this happens of, by, and for us.

Question: When we go out to the public we only think about them and not about unity in the group…

Answer: Unity in the group is necessary so that we can work with the masses in the right way. So in this case, preference is given to them and not to us.
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From the Conventions in Krasnoyarsk 6/16/13, Lesson 5

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Good Preparation Is A Guarantee For Success

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash, “What is Torah and Work Along the Spiritual Path”: It turns out that a person must try to make great efforts before he begins to study so that the study will bear fruit and good results. This means that the study brings him the Light of the Torah by which he can reform.

We often read about the importance of the preparation. The preparation is a sign of the intention and the intention is the only lever we can operate in order to change our state by ourselves.

All of reality already has been prepared during the descent from the top down in one restriction after another. It is only by the right intention that we discover it. Thus, there are two ways we can choose. We can wait in the state we are until the sufferings increase and fill the measure, thus forcing us to think about some positive changes that are desirable in the eyes of the Creator. Then, we operate the right intention and accordingly receive the revelation. It is because matter itself doesn’t mean anything. After the first restriction it is only the intention that opens up the connection with the Creator for us.

On the other hand, we can spur upon ourselves the intention in every state we are in through the mutual connection between us when everyone is impressed by the others, when each one submits himself and is incorporated into the environment and develops it. When he is impressed by the environment, he draws upon himself the Light that Reforms that goes through him to all the others and from the others back to him.

Thus, a person establishes his intention which means the Masach (screen) and the Returning Light through which he is rewarded with the revelation of “I shall hasten it,” instead of “in its time,” which means by the path of suffering. It all depends on the right preparation for the revelation of the Creator.

The way of establishing the right intention by ourselves, by our preparation and self-awakening, is much shorter and more beneficial than just waiting under the blows when we don’t know where they come from and why, and which take us along a long and difficult path to the same end.

Eventually, we certainly will attain a change but it is better to reach it by the path of the Light by awakening ourselves. It is the shortest and best way, and is desirable in the eyes of the Creator. So, we must focus all our attention on the goal that depends only on our preparation through which we spur ourselves even from states where we don’t even see the beginning, just like King David who remembers only that he has made a covenant with the Creator, and this small sign of his most external connection with the Creator enables him to begin working.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/13

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