Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Water The Field That Awaits The Rain

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Right now, before the congress in the desert and the beginning of a worldwide dissemination effort, what should our plea to the Creator be in order for it to be heard?

Answer: At the congress in the desert, we must feel the first degree of our connection and within it reveal our aspiration to bestow to the Creator so that this bestowal to Him would clarify the fact that only through our connection can we have a greater influence on Him.

Today we view the necessity to connect with friends and the opportunity to obtain a connection with the Creator through our connection with friends as two separate things. We perceive the connection with friends as book-learned, as though it’s a teaching for good children, where as connecting with the Creator is something everyone will agree too.

However, we don’t connect the two terms: One is a vessel and the other is the Light that fills it. The connection between us is the vessel and the Light that’s revealed in it is the Creator. Let’s hope that during this congress we’ll realize how inseparable these two conditions are.

This realization will leave an imprint that will allow us to advance correctly. After all, our work is left unfinished. We apply efforts, but each time they’re limited to a half or a quarter of the whole. But applying efforts to the full measure, even in relation to one gram, is greater than applying a partial effort measurable in kilograms or even tons.

After all, if there is not the full 10 Sefirot then you work and you scream, but it’s all in the wrong place! It is like it is said about the rainfall that goes to waste because it rains in an uninhabited desert. What difference does rain make if it falls into the sand? If at least 10% of that rain fell on your field, it would provide your livelihood!

The same thing happens with us. We cry out to the Creator, but we don’t do it through our connection, therefore these cries go unheard. We would already be in the world of Infinity with all of our work and screaming; however, we don’t cry out in the right way. We must fine-tune ourselves and then our cries will be heard.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/12,  “Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Are You Ready To Bestow?

Dr. Michael LaitmanEventually on the spiritual path, we reveal love. An expression of love is bestowal.

If I discover love towards myself, then I experience hate towards the other. I am looking for an opportunity to please myself everywhere, no matter at whose expense. I take others into account only when necessary. Thus, we initially love ourselves and hate others.

Then, I start to work in the group, study, become involved in dissemination, and thereby attract the reforming Light. Only It changes and improves me. Time after time, I change until suddenly I begin to feel respect for the property of bestowal.

Then, I have to relate this property to the group of friends because it is realized among them. This is already the next stage: Here I need to work against my egoism. Now, it is not enough just to be inspired by the upper Light. Yes, I would like to bestow, and this is wonderful, this adds fuel and  elevates, but if you really want this, try to show this in the group, in your relationships with friends.

“Yes, I am ready! I already have a good attitude to them!”

“Really? Let’s see. First of all, how often do you forget about them?”

Indeed, in everyday life, if I love someone, I think about him or her all the time. A mother does not forget about her baby: He is constantly in her thoughts in feelings. Here is a check for you: How many times a day do you care about the group of friends and their unity? How often do you want to feel in connection with them in order to reveal the reforming Light and the desire to love?

Remember, you need to put all the pieces together: the desire for love and the group.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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The Bad Serves The Good

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How is it possible to organize clarification in the group correctly in order not to be involved with our ego and not turn the bad to Klipa (shell)?

Answer: When I clarify my relations with you, I only reach the point of breakage, and immediately ask for correction. And the group needs to participate in this. After all, I don’t just discover the bad between you and me, but I want it to be a general gain so that we will discover the connection between us.

It is specifically that these transgressions are the place where above it love is discovered, and without transgressions, there can’t be love. The entire system of work in the three lines is assembled from this, which doesn’t appear in any religion or faith. We use our ego, specifically use it, and don’t destroy it.

And in principle, the Klipa is the lack of desire to use the ego. All the mistakes made by religions, faiths, and in general, all mistakes in life are summed up by a person not understanding that in the force of bad lies the secret of life. It is forbidden for you to cover this up, to erase or change anything. You only need to cover it with a good attitude and that’s all. The forms of the bad remain; you only cover them with the attribute of Hassidim (mercy) and receive the Kli of holiness, the Kli of bestowal.

But I don’t simply need to awaken the bad in me: “where is my hatred for everyone?” The correct approach is that we long for the good, and don’t descend to the bad. There is no Mitzva (commandment) to awaken quarrels. We need to add to the longing for connection, and then certainly we will discover the impairment. Only longing for ascension is needed, and according to that we will discover the descent.

But if we don’t long for what is above, then from above we will be shown the corruptions, and they can be of different sorts: sudden unpleasantness in the family or between friends of the group; anything is possible. But all of these are signs that the group doesn’t strive upward, and then problems and tragedies are revealed at the corporeal level. Even if the group is not united enough, but aspires to unity, then the deficiency of the connection will be revealed. And if it doesn’t yearn enough for the upper level, then deficiencies at the corporeal level will be revealed and even lower than that.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/6/12, The Zohar

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From Dry Seed To Fruit-bearing Tree

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person goes through different stages in his spiritual development. At the beginning, while on the still level, a person isn’t capable of independent action, he doesn’t understand where he is; therefore, he includes himself in the group and it begins to effect his development.

A few years go by until a person realizes that his active involvement is required. There’s work for him and he needs to be active. He always has to clarify in what direction he’s headed. From that moment on, he advances from the still to the vegetative level. He begins to grow as a result of taking care of himself, connecting with others, following the teacher’s advice, and paying close attention to the path he’s on.

He submits himself to the influence of the environment because he realizes that a group isn’t just a gathering of people but that it possesses a unique inner force, which he needs in order to develop. He becomes a “plant” and the group becomes his “soil” from which he draws the strength to develop and to further include himself in the group. He realizes that only an adult tree can produce fruit and that a tree can grow only if a person includes oneself in the group.

Upon growing, he wishes to receive the fruits, which are connection, love, and the revelation of the force of mutual bestowal, where the Creator is revealed. For the time being this is all on the vegetative level.

Then there is the animate level. This is when a person can influence things and partially takes it upon himself to care for the connection between everyone. He is no longer a “tree” that’s stuck to the ground and that is passive in relation to the one taking care of it.

The human level within a human is where one takes care of the tree. But the animate level within a human is more than a tree because it also strives to grow and actively participate in the whole system. A person sees general flaws and tries to fix them. He sees not only how to correct himself and to passively include himself in the system, but also sees how to help others; thereby, he enters into general connections and corrections. This can be attributed to the animal level.

The human level is where one adheres to the Creator as a result of his actions. So it turns out that the basis for our development is in caring for the “tree”

Primarily it’s enough to divide your life into corporeal and spiritual. You should give to the corporeal what is necessary, no more and no less, and give the rest to your spiritual work without any limitation.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/12, Writings of Rabash

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The End Of The Thread

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The Kabbalists are telling me about the property of bestowal, but I don’t sense it. I don’t even have the end of the thread…

Answer: When you experience the need for bestowal you can understand what bestowal is like. Try to bestow to your friends and you will see that you don’t want it. From this you will understand what it would be like if you possessed the property of bestowal. Then you will start guessing what you lack.

The reasoning is as follows. I want to achieve unity with my friends. They are united with one another while I am detached from them. Honestly I don’t want this unity, I am incapable of doing this, I keep forgetting about it. The sparkle of my desire dims. I can revive it only when I am with my friends, when I connect to them even because of shame.

I become closer to them, I work in the group and I begin to understand how much I need love. The sketches of my efforts gradually depict a picture of bestowal. I think about its benefits and this way I form a vessel, desire. Perhaps it’s still unreal and only preliminary. However, with every effort I draw the upper Light, which is built according to my desires. It is coming from perfection, from Eternity, to the very breakage, to this world. Perhaps like a child I play a guessing game, but the Light is doing its work. This makes it possible for me to move toward bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Leave Your “I” At Home

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I want us to carry out the work at the Convention in the Arava desert in the best possible way. How should we act on the inside to attain success?

Answer: This is difficult. I must constantly conduct an analysis, ask questions and look for answers to them, fall and rise. And I must solve all problems only by uniting with the friends. In this way, I want to show an example for everyone.

Success is impossible for one person. It must be achieved for everyone together. And that means I only care about the common desire. What’s important is not what I feel, but what we feel. It’s not me who rises above something and reveals something, but we rise and reveal it. It’s always we, while I do not exist at all. I want to live in this “soup.” The word “I” and the sensation of oneself must be left behind at home.

Moreover, we is not just a gathering of friends or a “special forces unit.” All of that are toys, while in reality, “we” is a soul. It does not have any parts that join with one another; everyone in it are fused together into one. And this bears no relation to what we are today. This is a new creation that has just been created.

After all, the spiritual essence that we want to form did not exist before. Previously there was only a broken Reshimo leading to it. And today, with our efforts we are trying to form a soul from the world of Nikudim, which was supposed to be corrected at this phase, but was deliberately broken for our sake.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/12, “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot”

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Attack With A Song

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What am I attacking at the Convention in the Arava desert? And how can I help the friends prepare for the right attack?

Answer: I am attacking my laziness, indifference, and confusion. I try to stay constantly focused on the right idea about “us.” We are as one man with one heart, in mutual guarantee, in mutual disavowal, in unity, in order for the common vessel to be revealed.

In this vessel, everyone is included in one another to such an extent that I do not feel “myself, uniting with the friends,” but us. I have to rise above my individual self-awareness to the common feeling, which lies above us and which we have to acquire.

Question: What should the right cry be at the Convention?

Answer: I am not in favor of screaming for the sake of screaming. Rather, we need song, love, hope, confidence that reigns above a great desire. Stated differently, we need both emptiness and firm ground.

Before crossing the Red Sea, when the quality of judgment is revealed, there is room for cries, but now is not that time. I am concerned with unification among everyone so only goodness would be revealed. We need inspiration and ascent, without any left line. We are standing before the Light that must become revealed, and therefore there is no critical examination here.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/12, “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot”

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A Game Arranged From Above

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can you make a faster decision, see what matters, and not waste more time on it than is necessary for its analysis?

Answer: For this we need the power of the group; a person alone is incapable of it. This is exactly why one person was not enough to correct the breaking, and he had to be divided into many pieces to learn what connection is from the lack of it.

Now we need to do this around the world. Today Pharaoh is being revealed in the world: the power of our breaking. We simply need to have the right attitude towards it, and then we will know what we need to do.

On one hand we need to reveal the breaking, and on the other hand, we need to understand that it is a tendency of nature; we can find the power that will correct it all and achieve connection. We are given all the means for this.

A person alone is incapable of this, but next to him he has friends and a teacher, whom he listens to. And this will awaken him and properly aim him toward solving problems, so he won’t treat them as personal problems, but instead, will only perceive them in the form of a subject for correction, as a revelation of the breaking, the Pharaoh.

Everything that happens is only given with the purpose of solving problems and reaching a corrected form. And under no circumstances should he delve into different egoistic calculations: Conversely, this will lead to even greater breaking.

It happens that not just one person, but an entire group can become so confused that it is unable to come out of its problem state. But there are other groups and a teacher to help them. It is impossible for them to remain in their same state if they are studying: The Light will still illuminate and evoke changes in them, and eventually they will understand that this is a game, which was arranged for them from Above. But if they are unable to come out of this state, they are probably not studying or listening to what is being said during the lessons.

Otherwise this would not be happening. Because when a person studies and does not deviate from his usual schedule, the Light influences and awakens him, and the Creator gives him the right point for analysis.

But there is nothing that can be done when people do not want to listen. They will go down the path of suffering, and then a part of them will leave and stop studying, a part will grow, and a part will drown in this swamp. This happens when you do not return to the principle of: “There is none else beside Him” and you do not go with Him to Pharaoh.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/6/12, Writings of Rabash

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The First Barrier To Eternity

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is hard for a person to overcome the “barrier” (Machsom), an obstacle, and adopt the approach that Kabbalah teaches which is so contrary to his habitual, egoistic perception. But if he rises above his egoism to bestowal, love, mutual responsibility, and guarantee with respect to the fellow person, it would mean that he has acquired spiritual power.

If he really were able to rise above himself, it would mean that he is above the restriction because he diminished his egoism and achieved a spiritual attitude towards fellow man, spiritual perception, the upper world.

A person does not understand and does not feel that through this path he can reach the eternal, perfect upper dimension instead of the limited reality, which he now feels. All this is quite close to us, and that is why it seems so simple and primitive: Any love towards the other, which we instill in our children is to prevent them from fighting with each other.

This is the first obstacle, which takes years to overcome. But we have to understand that each stage of spiritual work requires time until we learn and accept it. It depends on how much a person can be included in the group, through which he accelerates his development.

If he is impressed by others and strives to absorb as much as possible from them, enters the group with the eyes closed, then he begins to see how effective this tool is. In this way, he can get the desire of the higher dimension.

A spiritual vessel is built by the quality and quantity of relationships with others. The quantity is determined by the fact that eventually a person must unite with all souls because all together we make up one soul: Malchut of the world of infinity.

And the quality is determined by the fact that he must unite with them through complete reception and bestowal, so that everyone’s desire is linked with the others like a cogwheel, and turns all of them; everyone depends on him, and at the same time, he depends on everyone else.

Connecting in this form, everyone is transformed into an integral part of the overall system. Everyone depends on him and he turns everyone, but he turns them according to the overall program, their collective desires, and everyone’s individual desire. This is the perfect system that we must achieve.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/3/12, Writings of Rabash

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Forward, Toward Concealment

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 51: …One concealment relates only to the concealment of the face, while the posterior is revealed to them…. Item 52: Concealment within concealment means that even the posterior of the Creator is hidden from them, as they do not believe in reward and punishment….

Am I on one of these levels? No, in the meantime the Creator is absent from my picture. I don’t feel that He exists and I don’t feel that He doesn’t exist. I simply don’t feel anything. This means that it isn’t the level of concealment yet.

In the time of concealment, I don’t feel that there is someone and that he is concealed from me. This allows me to inquire: Why and for what reason is he concealed? What is this concealment in itself? How can I remove it? Could it be that it is better if I conceal myself from Him so that He will start to reveal Himself? But I won’t conceal all of me from Him, only my desire to receive, my ego. If I conceal the part of the heart, which is controlled by self love, then perhaps I will be able to reveal the Creator and to connect to Him.

So the concealment is already the beginning of the work and the test: I find out under what conditions I can remove the concealment. It is about the preparation period for the action that will reveal the Creator to me. Now, however, we are preparing for the preparation.

Question: What is the benefit of this stage?

Answer: Advancing towards the state in which we feel that He is concealed.

So what should I do in order to discover His concealment? I have to understand who I want to reveal, who the Creator is. The Creator is the attribute of bestowal. That is, I have to discover that the attribute of bestowal is concealed from me. When I really want it, I will feel that it isn’t in me, and to achieve it I have to work with the friends in the group.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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