Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Do Not Trigger Fire Upon Yourself

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere is a strict ban: You should never talk about the inner states in which you exist. After all, many of your friends still do not have the anti-egoistic screen, and they can harm you with their envy, hatred, and pride even without wishing to do so.

They seemingly do not want to harm you, but the lack of their inner correction forces them to do that if they see that you are above them and have more inspiration, if you achieved more connection and came closer to the goal. The one who has not yet reached correction cannot tolerate this and will harm you.

If you start sharing your personal sensations, you trigger the fire upon yourself. It is written that 99% of all failures happen due to the “evil eye.” This is not some mystical superstition that people believe in, but rather the normal envy of someone towards you.

As a matter of fact, we exist in the system of forces and connected desires. The one who envies you diminishes your power. Instead of love and connection, he passes a negative force to you.

If this just happens in the outside world, there is nothing we can do about it because the world is still uncorrected. However, if this happens with a friend within a group, and in addition, you are at fault for provoking such a reaction, it turns out that you harmed both him and yourself. You are the one who caused this “evil eye,” and it is not your friend’s fault because he still has not reached correction.

The system of laws force us to act this way. The forces of envy, hatred, pride, thirst for power and glory stand opposite to the positive forces of love and bestowal. In order to allow the positive forces to act within us, we have to be modest.

Kabbalists explain how we should use all these forces so that they facilitate good, effective, and fast advancement.
[44030]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Renouncing The Self By The Law Of Love

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You keep saying that you would like to see your students being more autonomous. How does this kind of independence tie with self-annulment before the teacher?

Answer: Independence is the ability to make correct decisions autonomously and to act correctly, feeling and knowing what I would do if you were me. As a matter of fact, it’s even easier to use this principle in a large society. After all, we need a huge system to manage it. And if everybody puts forth their best effort to see in the same direction as the spiritual leader does and starts seeking how they can contribute to the common cause, we can’t fail.

It’s impossible to manage each cell in the body from one brain center; it would be too complex. In an integral system, everybody manages everyone else. And each of us has to examine how his or her opinion matches the view of the rest, accept the society’s view above their own, and act accordingly. This is what it means “to love others as you love yourself.” I don’t do what seems best to me; instead, I do what is best for the other. I work to fulfill his or her desire. And that is the essence of adhesion, oneness.

There won’t be one man with one heart unless we accept the collective point of view above our own. And for most, it’s a huge problem, especially for those who are good organizers. They think that they know how to arrange and manage society, and they use only their brain.

And here there is a great danger in how they and the entire society will be progressing. In fact, it’s easy to switch to the direction opposite to the spiritual path. On the outside it will look like they succeeded on the material plane, but they will not advance spiritually.
[43939]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/11, Shamati #25

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The Formula Of Returning To Goodness

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person who opens The Book of Zohar, opens it in order to reveal the Creator. By definition, the science of Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to creation in this world. Otherwise why would Kabbalah and all of Torah be given to us? The Creator becomes revealed in the desire to bestow and love in a person. This desire is equal to the Creator in qualities, and the Creator becomes revealed in it according to the law of equivalence of form.

Thus, the Creator is the quality of bestowing and loving, the force of bestowal and love, “the Good who does Good.” How, then, can we achieve the desire to bestow and love, the Good who does Good? By connecting with each other in spite of every person’s egoistic forces that mutually repel one another and by building a net of good connection between us above the net of hatred. By building a net in which every person is good and does good, bestows and loves in relation to others.

But how do we do this if each of us is just a small egoist? We read The Book of Zohar, which talks about our corrected states in which we are connected by a good connection between us, and we desire for this to come true inside of us. In that case we receive an impression of those good states, which already exist in infinity. This impression, the influence of forces from our corrected states upon our current state, is called “surrounding Light” or “the Light that returns us to the source of goodness.”

Then, according to the formula, “I created the evil inclination and I gave the Torah for its correction, because the Light in it returns to the source,” we return to the source—the Good who does Good. Thus, we reveal the Creator, the Good who does Good, our root.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/11, The Zohar

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Settings For Revelation

Dr. Michael LaitmanBefore reading The Book of Zohar, we have to prepare ourselves so that this reading benefits us. The Zohar talks about the correction of the soul, that is, about the correction of the connection between us. Thus, while reading The Zohar, we should strive to realize in us the corrected states described in the text. This means that we desire to reveal what The Zohar talks about.

Revelation isn’t understanding in the mind. How can I understand what I have never seen? It’s possible to see only on the condition that new models of sensation form within me because vision is a sensation in our desires, the vessels of reception. A sensation may occur only when my specific internal state matches that described in The Zohar.

This can be achieved only if I ascend to the degree of the giver as The Zohar requires. How is this possible? It’s possible if I connect with the environment, in relation to which I can express the extent of my bestowal. Thus, even before we open The Book of Zohar, we have to strive to join together in such a state, on such a level, with such a force that is suitable for the revelation of The Zohar in the connection between us.

To the extent one cancels himself and we connect together in mutual bestowal and guarantee, to the same extent we can achieve the condition in which we’ll feel what The Zohar talks about, at least to the smallest degree. All this depends on the force of unity between us that has to be at the level of the first spiritual degree. Then, we will feel what The Zohar relates to us.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 155: A person striving to know what he studies draws upon himself the Light that Reforms. In essence, all our work is to aspire to be in this state, to sense it. Thus, we are required only to have the desire to feel the need for revelation.
[43858]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Book of Zohar

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The Mosaic Of The Universe Where You Are Missing

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe goal of our development is to become similar to the force of nature, the one great integral force affecting everything. This force includes all the forces of nature that we discover in our sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, zoology, botany, geology, and astronomy. All of them are included in this single law.

This integral law that we reveal as a kind, mutual connection unites all parts of reality, which are interconnected by mutual love and bestowal. This entire system is integrated, analog, where everything except humans exists in complete harmony. In this entire system, as if in a huge sphere, there’s a part called “human” or “humanity,” which is imperfect. This is the most important part, the most developed, and at the same time imperfect because it has to realize its nature consciously.

Inanimate nature, the vegetative and animate world exist within this sphere instinctively and obey this law because they don’t reflect on how they should live. They are activated by the forces of nature that leave them no choice, no inner freedom. The forces operate them completely, and they execute nature’s commands by all 100 percent.

Whereas the human being has freedom. He is left with an empty part inside this sphere so that he would fill this emptiness with himself. Like from a piece of dough, he must sculpt a form from himself that would fit accurately in the mosaic of nature, united with all its parts by thousands of connections.

This mosaic is not flat and not even three-dimensional, but multi-dimensional and multifaceted on the psychological, psychosomatic, spiritual, and material levels; it is connected with all forms of nature in myriad ways. In our sciences we discover only a small part of the whole system of laws in this sphere. And we have to know everything.
[43740]
From the 1st lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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A Shock Absorber Against The Blows Of Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe entire crisis stems from the fact that the world connects egoistically and the property of integral nature collides with the mutual hatred between all the countries and nations. Thus, if we stand between them like a force that creates a shock absorber and cushions this collision, we abate the crisis. And when these two opposites crash, softened by the buffer that absorbs the impact, they don’t hit each other with full force.

That’s why our place is honorable and located right in the middle between the positive and negative forces of nature. Being in the middle, we have to connect the entire negative force of humanity to ourselves and tie it with the positive nature of the system of creation. Our world group is that very shock absorber, the binding force.

People are talking about the imminent end of the world, but we have to complete our task. On one hand, we must establish a connection with nature, the entire system of creation, through our unity among ourselves. On the other, we have to enter the world with the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah to everybody. We have to connect these two parts.

Our group is in the middle; the rest of humankind is on the left of us, and nature, which is in balance, is on the right. Thus, on the one hand, we have to unite together, and this will connect us to nature, to the system of creation. On the other, we have to disseminate Kabbalah in the world.

This is our predestination, and without it, the world will not reach correction. The perfect forces of nature will not be able to come to this “opposite world,” the world of uncorrected humankind, if we fail to stand between them like a buffer.

The part that we use to unite among ourselves and want to connect to nature’s perfection is called Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE), GAR de Bina. The part that we use to connect with the entire humanity is called AHP, ZAT de Bina. Thus, we unite everything into one system and enliven everything.

The balanced part of nature is Keter and Hochma. We are in the middle, in the middle third of Tifferet. AHP, Netzah, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut are below us. Only we, the middle part of Tifferet, have freedom of choice. In this way, we connect all the parts of creation into the ten Sefirot.

Thus, everything depends on us. It’s not necessary to wait until the world feels and understands. Out of our love, we must help it come to this realization as much as possible. We must help not only through wide action in the media, but through our deeper understanding of the inner systems of the world and the connection between all the souls. It doesn’t depend on presidents and prime ministers, but only on us.
[43678]
From the 1st lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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Learning To See The Good

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Kabbalah teaches that the Creator is good and does good, but how does this reconcile with life that is full of problems and pain?

Answer: The Creator is good and does good, but one has to come to this by reaching the similarity of properties with Him. However, if I am a bad, naughty child and don’t want to listen what my mother tells me, she yells at first and then punishes me. And I say that my mother is angry, as a scolded child usually would think.

Her yelling and spanking were purposeful because she wanted me to do well. How can I see that behind everything that happens to me, there is a good attitude towards me, even if I perceive it as bad, as does a child? How can I understand that namely there, where I feel bad, I need to complete myself and my attitude towards nature, humankind, and the group—to correct my ego in order to feel that it was good?

The one who strives to carry it out as soon as possible and is ready to localize the place within oneself that needs correction starts seeing that the world is actually created as good, and the Creator is good. Exactly in the same place where we now find this world, we begin to feel the revealed forces of nature which permeate everything and connect all the parts of creation: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.

We suddenly begin to see the spiritual world instead of this one! We begin to reveal more and more forces: eternal forces that rule our existence. Then, this world seems to disappear; it becomes transparent, shaky. It’s “virtual” even now and exists in my mind, and it only appears to me that I see it outside. This is how we correct our perception.

It turns out that all your problems and troubles are an indication of your flaws; they point out the faulty spot, saying: “Correct here! And there as well!” If you do it quickly, you will certainly correct the imperfection.

If you don’t know whom to turn to, aim at the group. If you connect with them and are ready to give what they need for unity, are ready to be influenced by them, you will never make a mistake.
[43666]
From the 1st lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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