Entries in the 'Inner Work' Category

Israel’s Role In The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe role of our general, international group is to give the world the method of correction. This group is in contact with the Light that Reforms—for itself and for the whole world. This group today is called “Israel.” What is special about it?

Let’s start from the fact that the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif or OM), meaning the Light that Reforms, is at the upper degree, and it is abstracted and concealed from us. But it can shine upon us to the extent that we awaken ourselves. Thus we can turn to the Light and it can respond to our request.

When does it answer our request? When the request matches the Light, that is, if we ask according to the way it is designated to respond. We are Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE), or Israel. And besides, we have to connect to AHP and to get a response from it. Together, GE and AHP make up ten Sefirot, meaning a spiritual Partzuf, or the general creature.

From this we can understand what is happening to us. We have to awaken the nations of the world (1) so that they will want change (2) To do that, we have to turn to the Light that Reforms (3) and to get its help (4) so that we will change ourselves and will serve AHP.

So what should we do in the meantime? Kabbalists say that in the meantime there is nothing we can do. Similarly, the wisdom of Kabbalah was concealed throughout history: People kept and passed it on in secret because the masses didn’t feel the need for it. But when the world went into a new era that requires the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah, then the “corporeal” people of Israel got their land back in order to carry out their mission and Kabbalists began to talk about this wisdom.


Everything exists for AHP, for the nations of the world, generality that essentially includes all of humanity. In this sense everyone is equal in the eyes of the Creator. And indeed, it says that in the end of correction all people in the world will know the Creator.

Still, before we perform the first action and turn to the nations, we have to be ready for that. Therefore, we are given the chance to make the first steps without any connection to them, without their knowledge, and so we develop during the first years, thus preparing ourselves for the job.

But at a certain point we cannot advance any further if we don’t become the means for the correction of the nations, that is, if we don’t bring them the method of correction. And while doing so, we don’t correct anyone—it is the upper Light that corrects everyone, including us.

So we should ask ourselves about our role more assertively. The answer is that we exist only in order to bring correction to the world. We can stay on the level of Hafetz Hesed, on the level of Bina, that has no desire for itself and is totally aimed at the needs of the lower one. For this purpose Bina is divided into GE that are aimed at the Creator and AHP that are aimed at creation, and the cutting line between these two parts is our free will.

This is the role of Bina. All our dissemination, all our attitude towards people should be determined by this schema.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/2012, “The Role of Israel and the World” 

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Reaching The Bottom

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “One Commandment”: The essence of prophetic success is to extend the upper Light to the dwellers below. The one who brings it lowest is the most successful.

This is very important because the corrections are performed from the lightest to the most difficult. The light layers of the broken vessel have already been corrected in previous generations, while in our generation we begin to correct the lowest, thickest, and worst layer to which we ourselves belong.

The general desire is divided into five levels (0-4) of Aviut, or “thickness,” depth of the desire. In the drawing, they are marked on the time axis according to which we perform our correction, from the lightest to the most difficult one, as said before. The principle of the “descent of the generations” stems from this: Each generation is worse than the previous one in terms of its ego. As a result, we advance from the lightest Reshimot (reminiscences) to the most difficult ones.


Today we have reached the final stage of the generation of Mashiach (Messiah): the correction of the last layers of the desire to receive. Of course, this is difficult. The world is immersed in the ego, people are unable to be considerate of one another, they distance from one another: a person from a person, a man from a woman, and children from parents. Countries, nations—everything is falling apart, disintegrating.

So it says: “The essence of prophetic success is to extend the upper Light to the dwellers below. The one who brings it lowest is the most successful.” And so we should “descend” to the masses, not only to those who lead a good life, but also people who have the worst attributes and the greatest resistance. We are trying to reach everyone and to convey our message to them, considering, of course, the circumstances in each place.

Our success depends on this. It is measured namely by how deep we can dive. Baal HaSulam writes about this in “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 63: “Thus, in our generation, although the essence of the souls is the worst, which is why they could not be selected for Kedusha thus far, they are the ones that complete the Partzuf of the world and the Partzuf of the souls with respect to the Kelim, and the work completed only through them.”
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/2012 

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The Beckoning Light Of Love

Dr. Michael Laitman

Question: As I see it, people left without a job sink into their problems and this gives them no incentive to find out where the problems are coming from.

Answer: Our ego feels suffering within itself. The suffering is constantly increasing and taking different forms. Why do they push a person to ask about the meaning of life? It is because he is asking: “Why do I need to suffer?” Actually, they may bring him to the point of suicide.

What is the wisdom of Kabbalah doing? It says to a person: You have to replace this suffering with other suffering, the so-called “suffering of love.”

Indeed, when you love someone, yearn for him, but you still are not connected to him yet, or you are being rejected, turned down a little, or distance separates you and for now you can’t see him, then a big desire to come close, to connect, and to embrace appears, but it is impossible.

All of this is also suffering! But they are sweet for us; we do not want to get rid of them.

Personally, I cannot imagine such suffering anymore, but I remember them from when I was young, and they were sweet. So on one hand, you love, yearn, and anticipate that soon you will embrace your beloved one, but at the same time, you suffer because it still hasn’t happened, and this is pleasant suffering.

There is suffering that comes from the ego, and it is called the “shadow of the Sitra Achra,” meaning a bad shadow, darkness, which hides all the good in the world. And there is suffering that pushes you forward, and, on the contrary, you are excited, you are living in the expectation that it will happen soon: In front of you is the Light, the Light of love, the Light of the impending meeting. Light and darkness, this is the whole difference.

 

We need to quickly help the world replace their suffering, great hardships, and problems that will intensify more and more with a yearning for connection, for love, for the Light. Then, we will feel that the sufferings do not disappear. It’s because if you meet your loved one, and all the attraction you felt at the time of separation disappears, then nothing will be left for you except disappointment: You met, and after few minutes you don’t need anything else, and you can leave.

Therefore, it is necessary that this suffering, meaning this attraction, this appetite, this hunger, will stay, and at the same time, you will be able to enjoy it. Usually when you are very hungry and you start to eat, the appetite disappears and you do not enjoy the food. And what if the pleasure would not disappear?

That is, we need to keep our suffering and only transform it. Hence under no circumstances should we ask the Creator for anything except correction. We must not ask Him to take away our suffering, but only to change it so that we will feel the suffering of love instead, eagerness to go forward. Then we will live in excitement.
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From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 4

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Understanding The Language Of The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Disturbances come in order to help us in our progress toward the goal. How is it possible to understand what the upper force is trying to tell me by sending this specific disturbance? What does it want from me by sending it in particular?

Answer: So that above this disturbance, you will not forget the Creator and yearn for Him.

Question: Is there a certain, specific recipe, or does one need to work separately with each disturbance?

Answer: Do not work with the disturbances! You need to rise immediately above it. There is no need to pay attention to the disturbance itself; the main thing is to rise above it.

Treat a disturbance that comes to you as a support, as a springboard that is bouncing you up. Try to look at it in this way and you will see that it was done in this way purposely. It seems to us as a disturbance only psychologically. Actually it is not a disturbance, but rather a means for ascending.

Question: But how to nevertheless hear what it is trying to tell me? What do I have to correct, above what do I have to rise?

Answer: You don’t know it now. But if you work above the disturbances, you will see what is being corrected in you. And from the new, already corrected qualities, you will start learning the language of the Creator.
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From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 4

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A Black And White Ladder Upward

Dr. Michael Laitman “And here is the ladder standing on the ground and its head stretched to Heaven, and here are the Lord’s angels going up and down” (Jacob’s Dream, Chapter “VaYetze” ).

Rabash: “Angels” who go up and down the ladder are people who say that they were sent into this world to perform corrections, and that is why they are called angels. If they see that they are in a state of descent, darkness, they should “descend.” But first they were in an ascent, otherwise it is impossible to feel that one is in a state of descent.… So only as much as you aspire to do good will you see how much evil is in you.

It mainly relates to the work in the group. The more a person tries to do good in it, the faster he discovers that he is not able to and he has no chance to advance. To discover the real darkness, we must rise first. It’s just like it says: “The advantage of the Light is from the darkness.”

First you need to rise, to receive new attributes and discernments, and to be closer to bestowal in order to later see what is going on in you. Then you will always see greater darkness inside you.

Of course, the darkness wasn’t created now, you simply didn’t notice it before. By rising above it and being able to compare different attributes and values, you can now see that you were in the dark, in your egoistic desires.

This is why we should aspire only to the good and the evil will be revealed by itself. There are people who are looking for the evil, digging into it, and drowning in it. However, the real evil is revealed only by ascending and experiencing joy, by understanding how good it is that the evil has been revealed. Even when a person reveals the evil, he is happy. It is a sign that the evil is purposeful, that is revealed along the way, and that an ascent is constant.

But if a person falls and despairs, if he tortures himself, it is a sign that he isn’t on the right track yet. A person should advance by the left line too, and not only by the right line—by walking on two legs forward. But he shouldn’t sink into the left line, into a descent.

If a person receives support from the environment and the books, if he listens to the teacher, learns, and understands that he must only think about the positive advancement that is awaiting him ahead, and not about anything bad—only about the greatness of the Creator, then he saves time and advances constantly.

On the way upward there are dark and bright moments. And specifically where everything first seemed totally bright he now discovers the darkness, and more and more each time. This means that he discovers the left line in an ascent.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/2012 

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Obstacles Guide Us On The Way

Dr. Michael LaitmanObstacles usually come from two directions. The moment I want to bestow, familiar questions immediately come up: What do I need this for, what is this work for, and who is the Creator that I should listen to Him? However, if I operate for myself, the ego allows me to do whatever I want. It always supports me and makes me feel successful.

This means that if you follow the way of the truth, you will not encounter success, but only obstacles, barriers, and difficulties along the way. Whereas if you follow the way of lies, there are no problems and you will succeed in everything that you do. So, it turns out that obstacles and interruptions will surround me on every side and divert me from every direction: both by good and evil—by reward or punishment.

All these obstacles are essential because they guide us and help us exit our ego. In fact, they are not actually disturbances, but a way to correct our direction. With every step we make, we must learn how to aim ourselves in the right direction according to our desire to receive and our desire to bestow upon the Creator, according to our insignificance and the Creator’s greatness. Therefore, we always receive signs and signals from these two sources, from our ego and from the Creator. According to these signs, we can aim ourselves toward the goal.

This is why we should see all the unpleasant situations, hardships, confusions, hardening of the heart, and anger as corrections and tuning us on the way to the goal, to the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/2012, Writings of Rabash 

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Conditions For Receiving The Upper Knowledge

Dr. Michael LaitmanKnowing what is written in Kabbalah books means to connect with what is said, as it is written, “And Adam knew Eve.” We acquire knowledge by rising and connecting with the upper degrees. This is possible only through the connection between us that enables us to imagine the place where we receive spiritual filling, knowledge.

Therefore, even if we yearn to know what is written, we must not detach ourselves from the place, from the conditions, through which we can receive the upper knowledge. The place where we connect is where the revelation occurs. Otherwise, you will want to receive the upper knowledge about the spiritual world in your beastly, corporeal mind, and this is impossible.

Spirituality only operates in connection and is based on the intensity of the connection. Then, everything gathers into one point and returns to the spark from which all of creation started. If we don’t aim in the right direction, we will never understand what is written in Kabbalah books. We will come up with endless interpretations, but we will not come closer to the truth by that.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/2012, The Zohar 

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Lie, But Honestly

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash, Shlavei HaSulam (The Steps of the Ladder), “What is a Blessing and a Curse in the Work”: Each day, man needs to start anew and say that today he will be awarded to see “I am your God” and that he will not escape from the battle. He should not say I already prayed many times that God will give me the vessels of bestowal, and I will exit the desire to receive for myself, and I did not receive any answer for my prayer, so what is the benefit of praying again?”

The truth is that we never request vessels of bestowal because it is impossible.

Yes we ask for what is called “bestowal.” We ask to be able to love the other, but that is how we call it; this is not bestowal; it is not love for the other or bestowing desires. We never truly pray for the spiritual world, or the spiritual state, or spiritual vessels. In our current desire, in our current mind and feeling, we simply are not capable to request it, and we do not even know what it is.

Therefore, it is said: “I labored and I found.” One needs to put effort in what Kabbalists tell us to do, to follow strictly their recommendations, and to understand clearly that we do not have any chance to come directly and independently to the correct prayer; we cannot break our heart and raise a request for correction (MAN).

At first each one of our prayers is based on how to receive, to gain, and to take advantage of the friends, the Creator, of any one. That is the fact and there is no place to escape from it. But above us, there is a system of breakage that translates our actions, our broken requests, to correction.

On the way from above downward, the desires broke, and on the way back, when I rise from the broken state, they are corrected in this system. They rise as if I requested what is needed, as if I really plead for love and bestowal to the other and for connection with the friends and the Creator whom I am ready to accept as goodness.

This system is the broken world of Nikudim and the world of Atzilut that was created later is the adapter: On one side of this system, there are the false world, the worlds of BYA that are disconnected from the Creator, and the states opposite to bestowal, in which we exist. On the other side, there is the Creator, perfection.

My plea for love is a lie, but we all arrange this lie in a correct form as if we really want something besides self-benefit. If between us, we come together in the correct form, if we arrange the study and all our actions correctly, then our request goes through this system that corrects it, and this is what is called “I labored and I found.”

Although we don’t know the world of Atzilut, it does its work. And that is why we need to do exactly what Kabbalists tell us without lying to ourselves or being ashamed. It is true that we do not request spirituality, but scream like a baby and mother knows what he needs. Mother needs only a tiny scream from the baby to know what his needs are.

This is what is required from us. “Do everything that is in your power to do,” and this will bring good results.
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From the Arava Convention 2/25/12, Lesson 7

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The King Of Egypt Died!

Dr. Michael LaitmanShamati, Article 159: And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died… (Exodus) The greatness of the ego, all the good corporeal life, a person’s desire to feel better in life—everything falls, collapses, and dies. So what can a person do? This is what humanity as a whole and every individual are going through now. We cannot operate according to the ordinary ego for the ordinary corporeal causes.

And then, the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, which are those who yearn for spirituality, even if they don’t know what it is yet, and those who are already close to it, who somewhat understand that spirituality symbolizes bestowal and love regardless of their personal interests. Thus they begin to check themselves and see that they cannot go on this way.

This is a pyramid that contains those who simply cannot be consumers and serve their ego through those who have already clarified that spirituality symbolizes bestowal instead of self-love. Everyone takes his place in it and everyone “sighs” in his own point from this egoistic bondage.

There are those in whom the “point in the heart” has awakened, and there are those who simply suffer not knowing why. Everyone sighs under the burden of their situation, not knowing how to fill themselves.

And their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage—they don’t just cry, it is because of the hard work: from the futile attempts to fill their ego or from those that are more advanced but still cannot leave their old habits and take upon themselves the burden of God’s work and start working in bestowal and love of others.

But despite everything, “And God heard their groaning.” The Creator hears everyone that responds to what the Creator does with him. The system is built in such a way that the upper takes care of everyone according to a person’s level, but especially those who understand and have to aim themselves practically at bestowal and love in the group, in “brothers sitting together,” among those who yearn for the Creator.

They suffered so much that they could not bear it any longer. Then the people pleaded with prayer so much that their cry came up unto God; they were exhausted by this work. But on the other hand we see that that they were saying: “Would that we had… when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full.” And they also said, “We remember the fish which we were wont to eat in Egypt for naught…” which means that it seems that before everything was fine.

A person has two points at the same time: One is corporeal and the other which is seemingly spiritual. So he is between them and the further apart they are, the more space he has, and the more he knows his place and what he does.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/12, Shamati #159

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The Unbearable Bitterness Of Slavery

Dr. Michael LaitmanShamati, Article 159: It means that if Israel are under the dominion of a certain nation, that nation controls them and they cannot retire from their dominion. Thus, they tasted sufficient flavor in that work and could not be redeemed.

So what did the Creator do? “The king of Egypt died,” meaning they had lost this servitude. Thus they could no longer work….

Is it good that Pharaoh died? After all, he brought the children of Israel closer to Holiness by forcing them to fulfill two discernments within them. On the one hand, they had pots full of meat, but on the other hand they were slaves.

If we don’t think about spirituality, then we forget the slavery and don’t feel that we are slaves. You work for your ego and you make good profit. Slavery begins when despite that the pots are full of meat; you feel that you have no spirituality because you don’t attain connection and love, the opportunity to exit the ego.

Slavery is felt only when you have two points of discernments: on the corporeal level everything is fine, but on the spiritual level, there is nothing and there won’t be anything. In this case it is called “slavery,” the domination of matter on the spirit. The Creator hears us only when we connect among us and begin to separate corporeality from spirituality, and see that we have to look for the spiritual point in the connection among us.

This is why we are called “the Children of Israel” and “brothers sitting together,” those who feel themselves as slaves in Egypt who don’t have the power to attain connection. At first everything seemed possible, was good and wonderful. Then the troubles began and we see that in different groups. This is the second stage of the slavery in Egypt, in which the Children of Israel groan from the hard work. They cannot connect, but instead of escaping, they continue to work on connection.

If a person doesn’t leave the group because of that, but continues to hit on that one point, trying to achieve connection, then eventually he despairs and cries out because he lacks the powers. If we are connected, we receive a vessel to discover the Creator, but we can’t create it by ourselves because a person can’t achieve spiritual actions by himself.

Then we groan from this work, which means that we understand that we need the help of the upper force. Only it can correct us and connect us. This groan is already a salvation, the great revelation of “there is none else besides Him,” and that only He can connect us. We have attained the desire to connect by our work when we understand that this is the only thing we need without any tempting corporeal conditions, no matter what they may be.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/12, Shamati #159

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