Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Love And Hatred Of "600,000 Souls"

Dr. Michael Laitman600,000 souls are parts of a single soul created by the Creator. This single created being was divided into parts which we call "600,000" souls. However, this number does not indicate quantity, but rather the quality of the connection between them.

When the Creator gives rise to the desire to receive pleasure, everything is a single whole; the Creator, the vessel, and the Light are like one. But in this state, both the desire and the Light sense neither separation nor connection; they don’t feel whether the creature exists or not. There is a complete absence of any sensation because any sensation in the creature can be detected only through the opposition between the creature itself and what it feels.

For that, it is necessary to distinguish between the Light and the vessel and to feel their complete oppositeness and connection. However, when the vessel and Light connect, their difference doesn’t vanish since love emerges above hatred.

Both qualities have to emerge. The distance between hatred and love, darkness and light (hatred is revealed as darkness and love as light), gives the creature the sensation of its existence and understanding of where it exists and with whom it is connected. This is the reason why the World of Infinity is not enough to outline the creature and make it independent.

Only after the creature goes through the entire process of its development, meaning that it starts at the first stage, descends to the second, and then rises back to the third, does it begin to understand what the first state was about. The created being becomes independent and similar to the Creator. That’s why it is called Adam.

In the beginning (Stage 1), the creature was just a drop of semen. Then, it realizes that the breaking has occurred and corrects it. By doing so, the creature attains perfection. It is not considered a drop of semen any more, but rather, it has the power of 600,000 souls and represents one, big, autonomous soul.

“Six hundred thousand” stands for six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin multiplied by ten Sefirot in each of them and then by ten thousand, the power of the ascent of Zeir Anpin to Arich Anpin which governs all corrections. 60 x 10,000 = 600,000. Hence, the common soul (the general, final, corrected state) is called 600,000 souls.
[21991]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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My Spiritual Simulator – 09.28.10

Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

A Time Of Giving And A Time Of Receiving

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is it possible to prepare for the revelation of the broken connection between us?

Answer: This is done during the time of preparation. It is the first stage of advancement in the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the method of the revelation of the Upper World and the Upper Force to everyone in our world.

A person comes to Kabbalah, but no matter how much he has read or been told about it, he does not grasp what it is all about. What is required are not efforts to remember or the ability to understand, but the influence of the Light that comes as a result of attempts at uniting rather than efforts in study. Then, he gradually begins hearing, that is, feeling his internal reactions to what he hears and reads. Certain internal sensations arise in him.

Try reading a book to a cat. Why doesn’t it listen? It’s because it lacks the senses that would react to your information. The cat doesn’t have a “place” (desire) to receive, feel, and conceive the information. Similarly, a person that comes to the science of Kabbalah can’t perceive our information. It’s not because he does not know the words, but because he doesn’t yet have the internal models of sensations and thoughts which enable him to react to The Book of Zohar.

This is why the “time of preparation” is required. During this period, we construct different models of sensations, relations, and reactions to spiritual definitions in our desire (matter). Construction of these new sensory cells of spiritual definitions in us occurs only through studying Kabbalah in a group which evokes influence of the Upper Light. It’s this Light that creates in us models, cells of new and previously incomprehensible sensations of the Light, bestowal, and connection and other spiritual discernments.

It takes a lot of time before a person acquires a set of sensory reactions to the main spiritual definitions. This is the essence of upbringing in our world. If you were to place a child in a senior class, you’d see that he does not understand what’s required from him and can’t comprehend anything.

Baal HaSulam writes that there is a time of giving and a time of receiving. Giving initiates the process that leads to receiving. However, giving and receiving can’t happen together. That’s because a “place” needs to be created inside a person to feel the lack of what is being given to you.

All of our advancement on the spiritual path comes down to creating an inner ability to feel the Upper World. It is around us right now, but we do not feel it. The Creator is already giving it to us, but we don’t have a desire for it yet. We don’t feel the need for bestowal and love although that’s precisely the spiritual world.

So, how do we reveal spirituality? There is Light in the Creator’s giving, and it influences and awakens us according to the rule, “Light develops Kelim” (vessels). The Light “plows” desires, and more and more, they understand and want the Light, the quality of bestowal. The time of giving ends, and the time of receiving begins.
[21947]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, The Zohar

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How To Help A Friend

Dr. Michael Laitman with StudentsRabash’s article “They Helped Everyone His Friend,” 1984 (the text in bold)

I am unable to advance without the help of the others since only through unity with them can I discover that the spiritual world is revealed in the connection between us. In our world, sometimes I need assistance from someone who is strong, rich, kind, or intelligent. Likewise, I need the help of a person equal and similar to me regarding the purpose of life.

We must understand how one can help his friend. Is this where there are rich and poor, wise and fools, weak and strong?

In our world, help is needed when there are disparities between people; that is where we discover an opportunity to help. If, however, people are equal, then there is no place for assistance. Help in our world extends from a whole person to the one who lacks.

When all are rich, smart, or strong, etc.? How can one help another?

Generally speaking, we are not excited if we have to turn to someone for help. We feel shame, pride, and envy. We don’t want to admit that we need something or depend on someone, and we strive for separation.

We see that there is one thing that is common to all: the spirit. It is said, “A concern in one’s heart, let him speak of it with others.” This is because with regard to feeling high-spirited, neither wealth nor erudition can be of assistance.

An uplifted mood is the result of confidence in the benevolent future. But if a person knows that he has to save himself and can’t do it alone, he falls into depression.

Rather, it is one person who can help another by seeing that one’s friend is low. It is written, “One does not deliver oneself from imprisonment.”

If the prison is our world, then only a friend who shares the same goal can free me from this prison and help me enter the Upper World.

Rather, it is one’s friend who can uplift his spirit (meaning, to give him confidence in reaching the goal). This means that one’s friend uplifts him from his state into a state of livelihood. Then one begins to acquire confidence and wealth once more in life, and he begins as though his goal is now near him.

I’m desperate because I can’t reach the spiritual goal without external help. I cannot force anyone, but I found a friend who is willing to help me. And he will be able to help me not by way of his knowledge or wealth, but by his desire to reach the common goal.

It turns out that each and every one must pay attention and think, how he can help his friend, uplift his spirit, because regarding one’s spirit, anyone can find a needy place in one’s friend, which he can fulfill.

It doesn’t mean that you have to entertain your friend. We must evoke in each friend a feeling that the goal is reachable. Then he will be filled with the spirit of life and rise above this corporeal life, above this world which looks like a prison to him. When a person has such a friend, he feels certain that he is able to break free from this prison.

[21944]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "“They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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The Middle Line Lies In The Connection Between Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter "VeYechi (And Jacob lived)," Item 442: At the end of correction, when the whole of Malchut is corrected, the Zivug of GAR de GAR will return, meaning that [the Creator will enter] Jerusalem above, and this explains, “I have sworn to David My servant,” the oath that the Creator will not enter Jerusalem above until Israel enter Jerusalem below.

This is talking about the correction in three lines. We receive two lines or forces from Above. But the ability to cut off the left line and attract the right line, and then to combine the right and left lines the right way in the middle line – all of this happens only through the model or formula that we reveal between us.

I don’t know what the middle line is. No one brings it to me ready-made and it does not come to me from Above because otherwise I wouldn’t have a place in which to recreate myself, to conduct my search, to make efforts, and to make revelations on the path.

The middle line is very unclear. You were given two forces and they are at your disposal. However, you can destroy the world using either one. How then do we reach the state where we find the right combination of two lines – in the screen de Hirik, from below upwards? How do we even start to connect these two opposite lines?

This is the work done between the souls because it can be actualized only in the connection between them. The right and left lines exist in the form of natural forces, while the middle line can only be created in the connection between the souls.

This can be called "group psychology." Here, through the search between us, we have to find how to create the eternal state, the right combination of these two lines through the connection between us.

The way to check our work is by revealing the right intention between us, "for the sake of the Creator." Then revelation takes place, we attain the middle line, and acquire the opportunity to use these two lines correctly.
[22051]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, The Zohar

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Spiritual "Potluck"

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person who disregards his friends does not receive desire and the importance of the goal from them. A singleton has no Kli.

We, as if, are sitting at a big table together. This table is Malchut of the World of Atzilut (Shechina, Divinity). What a person lays on the table or what he contributes to the connection between all of us is what he is going to collect in spirituality. In this manner, he has to perform multiple actions until they are accumulated and revealed to him.

If I don’t participate in the life of the group, then my force is in opposition to it. As a result, my own force bounces me off and away from the table (P1) and so does the collective force (P2) which is much more powerful. I am simply cast out for I neglected the only opportunity I had. This is highly undesirable.

How do I override this force of rejection that makes me “brush aside” the group and causes the group to “bounce off” me? The reason they reject me is in order to show me what effort is required, here and now, in order for me to keep myself in.

Here is where the evil is revealed. After the question mark (in the diagram below), if I am actually tossed aside, it means true rejection. However, if after having asked myself the question, I exert effort and return to the table, then this rejection turns into an invitation to unite.

[21807]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/22/10, “The Agenda of the Assembly”

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My Spiritual Simulator – 09.27.10

Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

The Field Of Spiritual Desire

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can despair extinguish my spark of spiritual desire?

Answer: Of course it can. I’ve already given way to despair in this world, and I’m no longer consumed with the earthly desires. Meanwhile, there is a “spark” that shines within me. It’s the awakening from Above that brings me to a teacher and a group.

Between my despair and the spark emerges a tension, a vector, a force of desire that is caused by their difference. I don’t know where it is directed exactly, but it is already a subconscious direction towards bestowal.

This Kli is already aimed upwards like a dipole (a pair of charges with opposite signs). To use my desire correctly, I place it in the “magnetic” field of the group. In this case, the group’s forces aim my dipole and move it in the direction of the goal, the quality of bestowal and love.

The environment, the group, has powerful poles: a big disappointment with this world and the importance of bestowal. To the extent of my connection with this field, a common desire, it influences me and carries me along to the goal.

Particles (dipoles, charges, particular desires) are powerless by themselves. To empower and accelerate them, we build accelerators. In the same way, the group (the common desire) blows up my spark of desire into a big fire. The principle is simple: I join the community and make my road to the goal quicker and easier by means of the common desire.

When I join the group, I am taught how to become absorbed into this field, this common desire of bestowal and love. I receive more than just a desire from the environment because I’m not in a regular egoistic society, but I am surrounded by Kabbalists that want to reveal the Creator in their common field of desire of the Creator.

I draw closer not only to the group, but to the Upper Giving Force that is concealed in our common desire. This is why in return for my efforts to unite, I receive from the environment the power of the Creator: the Light that Reforms.

The environment that one builds responds to his efforts with the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif, OM).

[21668]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, “Who Testifies for Man”

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To Wish For Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt a certain moment after many incarnations (Gilgulim), an initial awakening for spirituality, the point in the heart (Reshimo), is roused in a person. It is comprised of two forces: 1) emptiness that one feels from the worthlessness of this transient, vain existence and despair from being unable to find fulfillment in this world, and 2) some inner “spark” that makes a person seek something unknown that exists beyond this world.

On the one hand (downward), there is despair; on the other (upward), there is a spark. As a result, a person sets his course. Together, these two forces form within a person the Reshimo: a new direction in his existence.

This Reshimo leads him to the teacher and the group who study Kabbalah. Later on, he gradually realizes that he will be able to build the force of bestowal or equivalence to the Creator only by connecting with other Reshimot similar to his. This is his only free choice and act of free will in life.

A person’s success is determined by the degree to which he is able to increase his spark with the help of the group, against all personal obstacles. If he manages to enhance it, he will feel the need for faith (bestowal) and for the others (the means). It is all defined by the luck in reception (absorption) of the effects of the spiritual environment (the teacher’s recommendations and the collective opinion of the group).

The environment is not just the group or the friends, but Shechina (Divinity). My connection with them is the connection with the Shechina, Malchut of the World of Atzilut, the collective soul of Adam. Unity of the friends in annulling their egos and attaining the property of bestowal evokes a response from Shechina and receiving the Light of correction from her, Ohr Makif.

Thus, a person enters interacting with the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that advances him to the revelation of the property of bestowal (faith) within himself. And within this property, he reveals the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi). All our work is aimed at increasing the desire for the property of bestowal through the correct environment and the importance thereof. It can’t be learned; this work is described as “we shall do, and we shall hear.”

A person exerts effort in connection with the group despite the fact that he may not feel the need to do so. In return, he receives support and the collective need, the desire, accumulated by the friends in the group: the need for faith and bestowal.
[21672]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, “Who Testifies for Man”

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Focus On The Essence

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do I change my values? How do I place the importance of the Upper Force which constantly defines and forms me and my world above all material, animate, physical, and even human desires? How do I use the group, the environment, to raise it above everything that is important to the egoistic desire?

Answer: It is specifically the importance that differentiates the egoistic desire from the spiritual desire to bestow. On the corporal level, it is concentrated on the Kli (vessel), while on the spiritual level, it is focused on the Creator.

That is, what matters is where you focus your attention: on what you receive or from Whom you receive it.

Importance can be switched over. For example, from a mother’s perspective, a child is more important than her. However, how do I follow her example regarding other people in such a diverse world? How do I convince myself to transfer the importance from my life to a certain force that paints this world for me?

It’s worth remembering that I reveal this force by making an effort to examine it. I acquire the vessel of revelation. Now, the force is also present, but I am not focused on perceiving it. So, how do I focus my attention on it?

Everything depends on importance. When it is focused on the Creator, I feel Him and live in Him. I can finally discern the things I did not notice before. The Creator Himself does not change. He remains at absolute rest. It is only the constantly operating Reshimot (reminisences, the spiritual genes) that make me make an effort. And later, I myself need to look for a way to focus these efforts on whatever really matters.

This is where the environment comes to the rescue. Like glasses, it focuses my eyes on the essence. We unite, raise the importance of spirituality in our eyes, and focus our common efforts on a tiny point through which I begin to see the Creator.
[21600]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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