Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

125 Steps From Me To The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In our world, people unite in order to succeed in some type of deal. How do we unite our souls?

Answer: In order to succeed in spirituality, I need to connect with the people who wish to achieve the same condition and goal. And together, we have to discern that without such a special connection between us, we won’t envision this goal. As a matter of fact, it will suddenly disappear from between us!

It isn’t somewhere “up there” as it has to be between us. Yet, due to the fact that we don’t cleave tightly together but rather walk away, this goal falls into an abyss that separates us. Indeed, the hate that divides us is infinite and unfathomable. It turns out that there are you and me, and we are separated by an abyss of infinite depth, at the bottom of which lies the spiritual goal, unification. And there is nothing we can do!

We wish to unite with you and cannot as we keep uncovering this gap, so we strive to build a bridge above it every time. Thus, we construct bridge after bridge until we cover the entire, bottomless depth. In this way we get 125 degrees of revelation of hate which is revealed because each time we uncover love over hate.

Hate is determined by the depth of both our desires, and above it, we connect by way of the screen, the Returning Light, while we are building the vessel (Kli) that belongs to us both now. The screen is the connection between us, and hate is its internal desire.

Hence, the greater the amount of Returning Light that ascends thanks to our connection, the more Upper Light we receive and experience pleasure. And by feeling this pleasure, we delight each other! Everyone is delighted by the fact that the other is feeling pleased. Otherwise, there is nothing else we can give for we bestow to each other our own individual pleasure.

As a matter of fact, all of us are created as receivers, so we can only receive. We can bestow solely in intention. And what else can I possibly give to someone other than my intention?
[21980]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “600,000 Souls”

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My Spiritual Simulator – 10.01.10

Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

Grieving For The Shechina In Exile

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is very hard to sense spiritual exile. For this, one needs to sense the opposite state of spiritual redemption. And for that to happen, one has to feel the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), an implicit sensation of the property of bestowal.

What does “Shechina (Divinity) in exile” mean? How should I grieve for her, lament the absence of the place of the Creator’s revelation? Or rather, how should I grieve my inadequacy and inability to find Him instead of feeling bad that I can’t see Him?

Certainly, everybody wants to see the Creator. But only a person who has received Ohr Makif can suffer from being inadequate to Him. Nobody feels the need for the Shechina. If the Creator exists, let Him reveal Himself to me since, surely, it’s for the better! However, nobody feels grief over the place this revelation should occur.

There is a huge difference. The revelation of the Creator is perceived egoistically as reception. However, the place of His revelation must be built from our yearning to egoistically reveal the Creator by turning the desire to find Him into intention to do so for “His sake.” This is the preparation of the place whose property will allow the Creator to reveal Himself to us.

It is similar in our world: Everything that emerges in me does so according to my properties. Only after I have adjusted my perception to the outside influence can I recognize it to the degree that our properties (its organ of exposure and my organ of perception) are the same. It all depends on correction of the tools of perception.

Shechina is the place we have to create from the sum of our aspirations to the Creator and correct it in our intention for bestowal. First of all, a person needs tremendous desire to reveal the Creator for his own benefit (Lo Lishma, for Her name). Only later does he understand the necessity of correction, which happens as he uses the environment and draws the Light that Reforms by studying together with the group.

That’s when he begins to realize that success lies solely in the equivalence of form or intention for bestowal which will allow him to adapt to the revelation of the Creator, the property of bestowal. Now that he has something to correct, the phase of correction begins.
[22048]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, “What in the Work, is Israel Who Exiled Divinity, is with Them”

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How We Can Enter The World Of The Zohar

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “VeYechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 442: This is so because since the day the Temple was ruined below, the Creator swore that He would not enter Jerusalem above until Israel enter Jerusalem below. It is written about it, “A holy man among you who is holy, and I will not come into a city.” That is, even though there is a holy man among you, I will still not come into the city—Jerusalem above—until Israel enter Jerusalem below.

When we were children, adults used to tell us various things which we didn’t understand. However, time after time, they explained to us what we should do or think one way or the other. The same happens when we read The Book of Zohar. We are simply told about something concealed from us, something we don’t know or recognize, but, gradually, it enters us.

This is the most natural form of teaching for every person. It doesn’t matter what world he lives in and what he studies. After all, he doesn’t have any preliminary preparation for new knowledge and sensations. He doesn’t have the correct instruments or properties of perception (Kelim, vessels). A person needs to develop the mind and sensations. Then, he can sense a new phenomenon and later study what it means.

Therefore, the first stage is reading or listening about something unknown to us and feeling dumb; we should appreciate this. This is the natural process of treating our children, and it is clear to us that this its the way it should be done. We explain things to them again and again.

The problem is that a child has an aspiration to know, to learn, to see us as big people, and to follow our example. In our spiritual upbringing, we, adults, have to create such an inner aspiration by ourselves. This is possible only when using envy in the group.
[22053]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, The Zohar

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Unity Is The Bridge To The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why should I support a friend? Why can’t we just turn to the Creator and ascend with the assistance of the Surrounding Light?

Answer: None of us can turn to the Surrounding Light, the Upper Force, the Creator, unless it’s done from the place of the breaking, a discernment of the connection to the group. A person cannot contact the Light directly due to a lack of similar properties, even the opposite ones. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out one’s request together with others, either in unity or the lack thereof.

The Creator created one will to receive and that hasn’t changed. It’s what we call the World of Infinity where we all exist together. Below the World of Infinity, we exist in a state of separation; we are unconscious and unaware, totally disconnected from spirituality. These states are included in each other and manifest solely within our sensations. In order to attain Infinity, I have to do the following: 1) come to the state of separation, 2) discover that we are broken, and 3) finally ascend to the place where we are all together.

I cannot turn to the Creator directly since the Creator is the force that exists in the corrected Kli. I either ask for the strength to be corrected along with everyone else, or if I have already gained connection with the others, then I turn to the Creator. There is no Creator without the created being, and there is no Upper Force that I can find without the Kli.
[21960]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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Preserving The Spirit Of Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What are the signs of a good connection between friends?

Answer: The spirit of life between them, elation and inspiration regardless of the current states all point to a good connection between friends. The Light performs various actions on us, disclosing hatred, separation, and the breaking between us. It then corrects us. Then it reveals the breaking again and corrects again, and this continues until we become completely corrected.

We understand that we go through various states on this path; some of them are more pleasant or understandable than others. We always justify them since they come from the One who is good and does good, and there is none else besides Him. We just try to maintain the unity and keep up the general spirit: our spirit of life.

This is, in fact, the desired state. All 125 spiritual degrees are situated precisely here, in maintaining the connection and the spirit of life above the ascents and descents. When separation or unity are revealed between souls, you reveal the whole story of the Torah, which you have to go through yourself.

You reveal the evil inclination there: Egypt, exile, and their cause, the whole depth of the evil that arose from the breaking, and the order of corrections. You reveal the actions that lead to unity there, the “patriarchs” and the “sons.” You discover the souls, meaning our parts which are interconnected to some degree. You reveal the whole history that you read about in the form of processes that you are going through. You identify yourself with every soul and reveal its path of correction.
[21954]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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Spirituality Begins With The Breaking

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: A “blessing” is the force of Bina, which comes from Above and raises the souls. Does the notion of a "blessing" apply to the relationships between friends or souls?

Answer: No, there is only support between friends or souls because I cannot give another person the force of bestowal. I can only help another with my support so that he may acquire this force from Above, the only source of strength and correction.

However, without the help of my friend in creating a common desire (called "MAN") for mutual connection and for revealing the quality of bestowal (the Creator), I cannot appeal to the Creator concerning correction. I myself lack the desire to appeal to Him. This desire needs to come from revealing the lack of connection between my friend and me.

Therefore, we have no choice but to reveal the states between us and raise them toward correction. In order for this to happen, I need to reveal these states as evil, sense the vital need to see them as good, acquire the force of faith, and be confident that I undoubtedly can make an appeal, that I have to Whom to appeal to and the support of the group.

Yet, this is only the case if I appeal with the force received in the group rather than on my own. Only if the group supports me, and we reveal the lack of connection in it, the breaking between us, then I use both its support and its breaking. In other words, I take all of the support towards achieving correction along with everything negative and appeal to the Creator with it.

This means that each of us appeals personally, but each appeal is made with what one took from the revelation of the breaking and with mutual guarantee. And with these two forces, one raises an appeal to the Creator.

Then this appeal is called “MAN” (Mayin Nukvin, the waters of Nukva). It has the power of support and mutual help, which they wish to express to each other, and it has the power of their desire to correct the breaking, purposely prepared for them by the Creator. It turns out they are what connects to spirituality, to the Creator since their mutual support is already a connection to spirituality, and the lack of fulfillment that they reveal is a lack of connection, the breaking.

On one hand, their MAN has the force of mutual bestowal and support, which they are willing to express to each other. However, they are still the Nukva, which is the revelation of the mutual breaking where there is no real power of bestowal. Then this works since they have what is needed to appeal to the Creator.

Nothing material pertains to correction, spirituality, or the breaking. Initially we don’t have anything spiritual that needs to be corrected because without revealing our broken relationships, we have nothing to work with. Spirituality begins with disclosing the breaking.
[21974]
From the 2nd part of the DailyKabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, The Zohar

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My Spiritual Simulator – 09.29.10

Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

Not All Means Are Good

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I soften my heart?

My Answer: You can do it by working in the group, through the examples we show one another, and by the Light that we want to draw during the study. There are no other means. Don’t look for means of spiritual advancement where there aren’t any: in psychology, other methods, or sciences. The entire work is done in the group.

There are the friends, and there is the study. The more we realize the advice of the Kabbalists, the more “assets” we will accumulate. There is nowhere to run from the place of the breaking, the place of our interconnection. By locating it, we will reveal the full depth of the spiritual system’s breaking that exists only between us. It is also here, between us, that we must discover unity, the spirit of life, joy, and aspiration toward the goal.

There are no other places to look. The key lies in our mutual aid. I must learn from the examples of others and show them examples in return. We must read about it together. By distracting ourselves in searching for recipes other than what the Kabbalists have left for us, we will only increase our confusion. There are no other means than the books, the teacher, and the friends.

Together, we have to look for the opportunity to reveal our connection or lack thereof, to reveal the need, the mutual guarantee, the energy, mutual support, and the Creator among us. If we focus all our work and fixate ourselves only on this place, we will achieve the result very quickly. Either we surrender and retreat, or we finally make it through this narrow pass and reach the goal.
[21952]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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Correct Yourself, Correct The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”: And when a single soul is purified from all its filth, it will draw onto itself the whole of the soul of Atzilut, and through it, all the souls of its generation will be completed. This is the meaning of one being dependent on the other.

This is the result of complete mutual connection of all souls. Hence, no soul can ascend without taking all souls along with it; its ascent depends on them. It is an integral system where all parts are mutually linked. By correcting itself, every soul corrects its connection with the other souls, thereby bringing them closer to correction as well.

To correct oneself amounts to mending one’s connection with the others. Their individual state remains unchanged; I am only preparing them for corrections that they will later undergo. In fact, I precede them as a previous generation. I establish a connection with them without their awareness or understanding of what I am doing.

I employ the entire system of souls so as to correct the connections within it to the best of my ability. However, the souls who are not yet ready for it cannot understand and feel my actions. They haven’t arrived at correction yet, but I use them in it, and that is called the preparation of sons by the fathers. It is similar to how in our world where we improve the world for the future generation, and our children who come after take advantage of everything that we have prepared for them.

We correct the connection between us, our “layer,” until the differences between the souls get erased, and from our side, the entire humanity is corrected. But they themselves don’t feel it. When their time of correction arrives, they will receive all the necessary tools for it.

Why are they entitled to this? I, too, received assistance from the previous generations, from the "older" souls, some time ago. Each new generation is born with even greater egoism, and without such preparation, they cannot accomplish the work. We are all doing relatively the same work: Those who must correct greater egoism receive greater assistance.
[21988]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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