Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

400 Years Of Preparation To The Exodus

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday’s Egypt, which keeps the people of Israel in exile, and Pharaoh, which doesn’t allow us to get out of slavery, are our ego and the egoistic relationships between us. It is what does not allow us to become a people free from egoism and to feel the next degree both in a spiritual and in a material sense. That is why we cannot eliminate the external threat and hatred towards us from other nations. All this is because of the inner egoism that rules over us instead of the property of bestowal and mutual love.

Once, we seemingly managed to get out of this slavery, to mark the future when we would be able also to get out of our inner Egypt, from slavery to freedom. Today we are slaves because we are dependent on the entire world and on our egoism that governs us from all sides. We need just to realize that we are in a terrible and dangerous situation.

The most important is to feel that we have a duty for ourselves, for the whole world, and the Creator and we must realize the goal. This mission is entrusted to the people of Israel because we have received the method of correction and connection and are obliged to implement it.

Having gathered today at the festive table, let’s discuss these questions, and this is called the preparation for the exodus from Egypt. To get out of Egypt, a person prepares himself for “400 years,” that is, he goes through four full stages of egoism. At the beginning he has to experience as if egoism advances him and brings him advantage, what is called the “seven years of satiation.” And later there will come “seven years of hunger” and the Plagues of Egypt. Then, he has no choice but to flee.

It is important to move from the material perception of these events to spirituality and to hold the Passover meal in that spirit.
[103535]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write: The Night of Passover Seder,” 3/4/13

Related Material:
“Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”
The Whole World Is In Exile, The Entire Earth Is Egypt
The Force Leading Us Out Of Egypt

In Search For The Last Remnant Of The Ego

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the Seder meal different generations gather at the table, and the elder is obligated to tell his son about the Exodus from Egypt. What is the message that this story conveys to the new generation that can also be seen simply as an historical event?

Answer: We all come out of Egypt together: young and old, women, children, men, and the elderly together with all the cattle, which means with desires that are on lower levels compared to man. They take from Egypt the gold and silver vessels, which refers to different desires, all the egoistic desires, that can be raised above our ego and can be turned into bestowal instead of receiving. This is called the “Exodus from Egypt.”

This is why we have to connect, to sit at one table and to talk about this, thus emphasizing how important it is for us to be focused in one direction: freedom from our nature.

Question: What does the Afikomen (a piece of hidden unleavened bread) that we search for according to the custom during the festive meal symbolize, and why is it the children who look for it?

Answer: The Afikomen symbolizes our readiness to come out of our ego with all our might. It is the children who look for it because they embody the weakest forces of all the “generations” in a person. They are the smallest, undeveloped desires that lead a person forward.

The older the generation, the more knowledge it has; and the younger the generation, the more energetic it is. The meal of the Seder symbolizes the connection between the generations, when everyone gathers and we all come out of Egypt, the whole family. There is a certain division of labor in this family and the younger generation’s role is to pull forward in the direction that the older generation is showing it.
[103530]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write: The Night of Passover Seder,” 3/4/13

Related Material:
“Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”
The Whole World Is In Exile, The Entire Earth Is Egypt
The Force Leading Us Out Of Egypt

You Won’t Receive Anything For Yourself…

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we come to feel the necessity of carrying out our mission and being united?

Answer: We learn about connection and unity in a group from all the essays by Baal HaSulam and the Rabash, why this is needed and for what. This touches upon both a person regarding the group and a group regarding all the others.

Today the world demands this. The world crisis obliges us. For if it didn’t exist, we would not think about it.

Our group once numbered 30 – 40 people. We learned in a small apartment, and that was fine for us. This was only 15 years ago; and I thought that this was how it would always be.

But at the end of the ‘90s of the last century, the world suddenly began to change. Many new people began to come to us, and we were compelled to move to another building. After that people began to feel a need for us, they began to appear in various countries around the world, and I arranged a lecture tour in 11 major cities in America. This is to say the world had changed.

So from the start, we planned to learn only in a small group, as it had always been customary among the Kabbalists. But when there began to be a move towards us from the world, and it began to show its need for us, we were compelled to change. So today, you have found us. But if it had been up to us, we would not have shown ourselves to anyone, we would not have gone onto the internet, we would not have been occupied with dissemination, for the Kabbalists had always been closed. But the world began to demand; its state had changed.

It is also the same thing now; the crisis obliges us. It is as if this were a condition: If you don’t correct it, why are you receiving the upper Light? Is it for yourself? There is nothing like this “for yourself” in the wisdom of Kabbalah, in spirituality. You don’t receive anything in the spiritual world for yourself. And so a prerequisite appeared for us—to connect between us, and along with this, to disseminate.
[103401]
From the European Convention in Germany 3/22/13, Lesson 1

Related Material:
A High Responsibility And Pride For Our Mission
A Bridge Over The Eternal Conflict
Bringing Integral Methodology To The World

Stream Of Thought

Stream Of ThoughtQuestion: Lately you often say that we need the positive influence of our mind power upon one another. Is it possible to convey the greatness of the goal and of the Creator by our mind power?

Answer: It’s possible only if you “enter” the other. On our corporeal level we can convey thoughts and corporeal feelings. This is not only by telepathy, but is actually explained by high sensitivity that allows a person to feel another or nature.

In spirituality, however, we come in contact with each other in a general collective desire, in common connected attributes, and so it naturally flows from person to another. This is the attribute of ascent from one level to another when GE of the lower one connects with AHP of the upper one, which is what the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us.
[103247]
From the Virtual Lesson 3/17/13

Related Material:
The Power Of Good Thought Is Breaking Into The World
How Do I Copy The Image Of The Global Soul On Myself?
How To Penetrate Into A Foreign Desire?

Kabbalists Of All Nations Unite!

Kabbalists Of All Nations UniteQuestion: What should we actually do during the lesson in order to change our inner attributes?

Answer: Before the lesson we, all those who are in different places around the globe, should connect to each other so that we can be together during the lesson and try to absorb it into our collective vessel. It’s because many people attend these lectures, and we have to combine within ourselves all our desires for change, for our upper state where we are all incorporated in one another, where we are one whole, one soul.

Baal HaSulam writes that only one soul was created, the world of Ein Sof (Infinity), and it is gradually revealed to us in 125 levels, first on a small scale and then gradually on an increasingly larger scale. So we have to imagine the state that we enter. We enter it according to the level of our mutual connection, and to that extent that we are filled with the upper Light and begin to feel the world of Infinity. We have to feel all that in the spiritual world and to exist in it.
[103254]
From the Virtual Lesson 3/17/13

Related Material:
Our Connection Matters Most
Direct Channel Of Light
From Words To Real Feelings

How Should We Calculate The Spiritual Correction?

How Should We Calculate The Spiritual CorrectionQuestion: What can we do in order to correct all our 613 desires?

Answer: We don’t know in advance what we have to do. This becomes clear to the extent that we participate in the work of the group, and this group is incorporated in a big body, in a bigger group, according to the analogy of our body in which the cells are concentrated in a certain organ and the organ is incorporated and integrated in the other organs.

That is, a system of forces and desires that are connected and are in mutual bestowal and mutual help is gradually formed. The system that is forcefully formed between us is the bedding on which we feel the Light, the upper force that created us or the Creator, which is the same thing.

So we cannot calculate our movement forward. We simply have to move towards an increasingly more internal connection between us, not so much in words and actions, but in our intentions and desires, and in the internal manner try to feel that we are connected in one network.

This is actually what is being revealed to the world today: its interconnection. We don’t discover anything special here but simply try to implement this connection and to be part of it. The fact that it’s revealed to the world as a mutual integral action, as the mutual connection of all of humanity, is perceived by everyone as undesirable and compulsory. We want to discover it as desirable, as something that we have to enter and to exist in, in equivalence with nature, with the Creator.
[103250]
From the Virtual Lesson 3/17/13

 Related Material:
Our Connection Matters Most
From Separation To Unity
The Decline Of Egoistic Development

Women’s Desire Leads

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You have often said that a man does what a woman wants, whether he wants to or not. Do men globally influence the desire of women?

Answer: The female desire is the desire to receive, and the male desire is the desire to bestow. The male desire and the female desire exist in each of us, and we also know that according to our chromosomes.

Therefore, it is natural that the men’s groups and the women’s groups are also divided into the male and female parts. In every group the desire to receive and the desire to bestow are revealed in a different manner and we have to use them correctly.

Women are more organized, more dedicated, and committed than men. They constitute the foundation of our world. A man, however, carries out the woman’s desire. If we allow the women in the group to have a greater influence in the group, then I am sure that the groups will be more united, more serious, and more purposeful.
[103391]
From the European Convention in Germany 3/22/13, Lesson 1

Related Material:
A Letter To The Beloved In The Front
One Global Woman And One Global Man
The Unified Women’s Desire

What To Look For In The Assembly Of Friends

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends”: It is the same with love of friends. It is a great effort when one should judge the friends to a scale of merit, and not everyone is ready for it.

Sometimes, it is even worse. At times, a person sees that his friend is disrespectful toward him. Even worse, he heard a slanderous rumor, meaning he heard from a friend that that friend, who is called so and so, said about him things that are not nice for friends to say about each other. Now he has to subdue himself and judge him to a scale of merit. This, indeed, is a great effort… However, if that person slanders him, where will his friend muster the strength to love him? He knows for certain that he hates him, or he would not be slandering him, so what is the point in subduing himself and judging him to a scale of merit?

The answer is that love of friends that is built on the basis of love of others, by which they can achieve the love of the Creator, is the opposite of what is normally considered love of friends. In other words, love of others does not mean that the friends will love me. Rather, it is I who must love the friends. For this reason, it makes no difference if the friend is slandering him and must certainly hate him. Instead, a person who wishes to acquire love of others, that person needs the correction of loving the other.

Therefore, when a person makes the effort and judges him to a scale of merit, it is a Segula [remedy/power/virtue], whereby the toil that a person makes, which is called “an awakening from below,” he is given strength from above to be able to love all the friends without exception.

This is a difficult question. The attitude of an individual toward society has different aspects. First, I must see the group in a perfect state at the end of correction and understand that “He who faults another does so through his own flaws.” So, I must see the friends as perfect, and, if I notice any flaws, it is a sign of my uncorrected attributes. I must constantly try to judge the friends to the scale of merit, and this shows me how I should correct myself and ask for the force of correction.

On the other hand, I must check what I can add to the society so that it will increase its influence on me—that it will lift my spirit, strengthen me, and make me feel secure. In order to do that, I need a critical perspective of the group so that I can see how it can be improved and where its wholeness is lacking. I constantly aspire to lift it, and, so, I must see it as imperfect at the moment so that I will have something to work on. I invest powers in the group so that it will grow strong and rise.

However, if you don’t refer to the attitude of an individual toward the society, but to the state of the society itself and its influence on all the friends, then the society must be strong enough to make everyone feel secure and keep each member on a certain height, to guide him and keep his spirit high so that he will not be able to fall. This is why we must see the true state of the society since we build it by ourselves, and we cannot settle for the idea that it is already in the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) in a perfectly corrected state.

We must see how we can lift the society so that it will lift us. In order to do that, I must exit myself, be incorporated in the society, and make sure that the poison of slander will not poison it, but that only the greatness of the goal and love for all, without exception, will reside in it. Then, this feeling and this support will pass on to each of the friends and obligate them to love each other in the same way.

There are different nuances according to the type of society, and whether it is a society of beginners or of more advanced students, a society of women, of men, or a mixed society. In each case, there are special relationships, but the two basic conditions are a person’s attitude toward a society which is perfect and the attitude toward a society that needs to be lifted in order to radiate this perfection back on us. As always, there are two, opposite poles to everything.
[103100]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/19/13

Related Material:
Only Love Remains
Looking At The Group In The Light Of Love
A Bridge Of Love Over An Abyss Of Egoism

The Program And The Programmer

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere is a kind of “virtual printer” inside me that prints the picture of my world. In other words, there is a program inside me that operates me and draws the world for me. It actually does not exist. Everything is internal, in my feelings, but the program gives them an effect of something that is external.

Question: What happens if the friends decide to focus on thoughts about creating one reality and mutual connection?

Answer: The program also is shows me the group in which I work. It just seems to me that I am among other people and that we make decisions together. The inner attributes project certain images, shadows in different forms, but they actually do not exist.

In the same way, our collective decision and my inner resistance to it are all determined by the program. There is only one way to correct it: If I know about it and about the reality that is projected by it, and I want to unite everything into one, to connect. In that case, I rise to the level of the programmer and understand why he has arranged all that for me.

On the one hand, I get to know the program, and, on the other hand, I see which pictures it draws in my imagination. So, when I correct my imagination through using it, I crosscheck them and unite them into one. Thus, I go through different corruptions and corrections, and eventually I discover the mind of the programmer, the plan of creation. This is the desired effect of the process—to be incorporated in the purpose of creation.

Question: Does this mean that the programmer wants us to be constantly in two worlds, the imaginary one and the real one?

Answer: It is essential that we discover the goal of creation by ourselves. What for? So we treat it with respect.

After all, the ego pulls me downward, offers me sleep and distracts me. If I want to wake myself up, there is only one way to do that: to use this program, the environment, and everything that is related to it, but only if, at the same time, I respect the programmer. This is called bringing Him contentment in Kabbalah.

Question: So, how should I integrate these two systems?

Answer: You simply should be together with the friends. Now, they seem like strangers that are external to me. Later, I will feel that, despite this picture, they are inside me. They are mine, my beloved, mutually connected and incorporated in one. Then, in the connection between them, I will begin to reveal the source, the Creator. All this will be like one whole.
[103178]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/19/13, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
The Picture Of Creation Hanging On Two Hooks
Progressive Double Vision
Becoming An Active Element Of Creation

Make A Decision Regarding Our Readiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we move into high gear before the convention in Europe?

Answer: We simply need to make a decision. The two weeks of one big convention in which we want to come out of Egypt and to receive the Torah at the gathering at Mount Sinai have started.

If we want to do that, we have to see ourselves as one family, as one man in one heart. It is a precondition, and if we yearn for it, we will receive the “Torah” from Above, the Light that Reforms.

It doesn’t mean that we are already corrected but that we begin the correction then. So this isn’t some great leap upwards, but only the first step along the way. I am not exaggerating the importance of our convention and am not speaking about something unrealistic. I am very serious, with a small effort based on our understanding of what we are headed towards, we will receive the “Torah,” which means the mechanism, the tool, by which we will be able to summon the Light that Reforms time after time.

It is like a regulator, a tap, which you open and get powers. The more you open it, the more powers you receive. So how can we open it? By connecting. The more we tighten our lines, the stronger will be the flow of the Light. We learn how to come together, to connect to one another, and what it’s like to unite, and each time, the upper Light influences us in different ways. Gradually, we begin to feel how the upper Light fills us, we accept its importance, its greatness, and the process already takes on a different form…

The main thing is to pass the current point of the shattering. In it we discover our readiness for connection, and in response to that we receive the Light. It is because the Light is only meant for connection. So the only thing we have to do is to unite into one mechanism, into a vessel for the Lights of NRNHY.

Question: What does it mean to “make a decision?”

Answer: We don’t think about anything else; we simply don’t think about anything else, think only about connection.
[103080]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/13, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
The European Convention: Close Your Eyes And Do
On The Threshold Of The Spiritual World
On Foot To The Convention In Germany