Entries in the 'Inner Work' Category

The Truth Is In The Connection Between Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When hatred arises between two people, should they figure out the reasons for it with each other, or should the whole group participate?

Answer: It is much easier to figure it out between two people. There are many additional factors inside the group which force us to act in a particular way. Usually it’s better to perform these clarifications among yourselves or in the presence of a few people with whom you can be completely honest because it is not our goal to prove who is right.

None of us can be right—the truth exists in the unification between us. Therefore, the most important thing is to clarify the greatest differences and rise above each of them. We should tune into each other to such a degree that I would perceive all your negative qualities, which you perceive as given to you, as positive ones.

It is the same with our children. We love everything about our child because love outweighs all the negative things. We see almost nothing bad with our own children and even if we do, we immediately gloss it over, sweeten it, and forgive them. In regard to a neighbor’s child, it is the opposite: I not only notice the most minor negative qualities in him, but also I exaggerate them or make them up only because he is a stranger to me.

We need to understand that by uniting with each other, we need to reach a state where I will perceive all the negative things in you as positive.
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Talk on Integral Education 12/12/2011

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The War Of Philosophers And Kabbalists

Dr. Michael Laitman“The Greeks have gathered against me during the days of the Hasmoneans, they broke the walls of my fortress, and have defiled the holy oils…” (Excerpt from a song, sung during Hanukkah)

The Greeks in me are fighting against studying the Torah, against the knowledge that was left to us by Kabbalists who reached spiritual attainment so we are able to correct ourselves and also reveal the upper force. After all, the Creator’s desire is to reveal Himself to the creatures, and the wisdom of Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to the creatures in this world.

The revelation of the Creator is the revelation of the quality of bestowal. And when man studies with this specific goal in mind, disseminates this wisdom, and strives to connect with his friends for the sake of attaining the quality to bestow, then he studies the Torah and comes closer to revealing the Creator in him. After all, the only purpose of the Torah is to create a common vessel through loving thy neighbor as thyself and to reveal the Creator in it, to become so attached to Him that this quality would clothe inside us.

But those who only study for the sake of knowledge or use it for to take pride in it before the others, to despise them, which is even worse, turn it into a deadly poison. This is the difference between people who wish to correct themselves and return to the Creator and those who have no aspiration to return, who only wish to acquire knowledge, which naturally is not the purpose of creation, the purpose of man and the Creator.

When man aspires towards a true goal, he strives to raise his faith above reason, to make the quality to bestow his most important objective. After all, he understands that by acquiring the quality to bestow, he enters a higher dimension than the world where he now exists.

And then he begins to perceive the entire system of creation, which descends from above, from the Giver, the governing force, instead of feeling like he is locked in a limited world without the understanding of being fully controlled from above. Or maybe he did feel that he depends on nature, but he did not reveal the system through which he is being controlled, or the actual governing force.

The quality of bestowal, which man now acquires, opens a new vision for him “in the reflected Light,” the Light of Hassadim, to acquaint him with the system that governs the entire universe, and thus become closer to the revelation of the force which governs the entire reality.

This is what the war inside man is about—it is between his desire which compels him to attain everything inside the mind as it is a custom in our world and the understanding that it is necessary to develop new senses inside. The philosopher in him is fighting the Kabbalist. The philosopher says that the only way to advance is through science and knowledge, the external mind. And this requires some money, good fortune, or a sharp mind, and special external actions.

When man deems these things important, then the Greeks in him are victorious. But when he resists all these disturbances attacking him, feels that he is unable to defeat them, and needs the help of the upper force, the Creator, he understands that it is impossible to defeat them on his own, only the power of the Upper can do it, and this is why we must merit meeting Him and attaching ourselves to Him.

This is why we must value this inner war, because it helps us experience a strong desire and the need for the Creator’s help. Revealing Him is what saves man and what is called a miracle! This is how we rise above the Greeks in us.

These two forces: the Greeks and the Maccabees are equal when one is revealed against the other, and they are unable to defeat each other. Only a third power from above can conduct a middle line between them.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/11, Writings of Rabash

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Supposed Desire, Supposed Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How will I, being broken and having only egoistic requests, be able to bestow?

Answer: You are not able to bestow, and no one expects it from you. You are expected to do what you are capable of—which is demanding correction.

Naturally it will be false and you are lying when you say that you want real correction. But the more you want this fake correction, keep asking for it as if you really want it! This is called a game through which we grow, learn, become wiser and advance.

Of course I do not want it, but I act as if I do. There is no choice—how else am I to wish to be in this state without being in it? And this is why you are given this transition through “as if”—an opportunity.

We will later understand why this world was created in this specific way without being in the spiritual space, with us having to rise from it. Attaining the perception of the upper world is a game. And it is clear that everything is a lie if we were to look at it in a sane manner.

But how is a child playing with a plastic car not a scam? But this is how he grows. Our world was created this way for a reason, and it precisely reflects the fact that the creature was intentionally created opposite to the Creator, and it must distance itself from Him in order to feel like a creature. But on the other hand it must become similar to the Creator.

And this transition of someone who is separated but at the same time becomes similar can only be done in this form—act as if you are in a state of similarity, while you start out separated.

This helps you discover how much you “supposedly” want it! And this “supposed” desire attracts the surrounding Light to you. And this Light is not even the real Light, it is the “supposed” Light! In this way we establish a connection with it.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/11, “Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Psychology Of Altruism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we avoid the danger of our egoism and turn the clarification of it into psychology?

Answer: There is nothing bad about psychology! In fact, Kabbalah is an internal spiritual psychology. Psychology of this world is egoistic by nature; it investigates the human ego.

But there is another type of psychology that concentrates on studying those who strive to develop properties of bestowal within them, those who learn how to work in bestowal and see reality through this quality rather than through the property of receiving. This kind of psychology is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. That’s the only difference between these two types of psychology.

Psychology of this world studies behavioral laws of the desire to be fulfilled for one’s own sake. The wisdom of Kabbalah explores behavioral laws of the desire to be fulfilled for the sake of bestowal.

Spiritual psychology leads us to self-study. The tools that allow us to achieve love of the Creator are as follows: our desire to be pleased, our intellect and heart, the group, the goal of creation, our connection with the group, and the mutual guarantee between us. According to the goal that was set by us, we study Kabbalah rather than plain psychology.

It can appear to be psychology, but in fact, it is a revision of ourselves. The material we study are our senses and the desire to be pleased. This is a subject of psychology, since its goal is to teach us how to feel better.

Other sciences such as physics and chemistry pursue other, more abstract goals. Actually, we develop them only to start feeling better. We are unable to make the slightest movement in this world that pursues an alternate goal.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/11, “Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Light Will Open Up The Apple

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How does the Creator help us defeat the “Greeks” within us? After all, the “Israel” within me (a person who yearns for the Creator) seems so helpless facing them.

Answer: Yes, it is said that an old foolish king and a clever child struggle with each other. Our nature is the evil inclination, the thick egotistic shell in which one tiny point is hidden, and it has no way of breaking out. This is why we have to awaken ourselves!

You are like a little worm sitting inside a bitter radish or an apple. How can you get out? It is impossible. It surrounds you on all sides and there is no way out. You cannot do anything against such forces.

But if there are more friends like you inside, and each one has a point in the heart, then you collect all these points, read The Book of Zohar, and connect to it wanting to understand what is going on and what the Creator wants from us. This way you connect with the upper system and draw the Surrounding Light that reforms.

Then you have a chance, but only thanks to the Light. The Light is the Creator that is revealed to you.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/2011, Writings of Rabash

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The Next Moment Is Your Step Forward

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: A candle burns steadily as long as there is oil and a wick. How can a person reach the same steadiness?

Answer: The burning cannot be steady. Each moment, a new part of the wick and the oil are revealed, which are in connection and adhesion. So, the inner burning cannot be steady. It is constantly renewed.

In the corporeal world, we can perform a certain action, and since it is performed by one egoistic force, it will continue. It is like eating one candy after another and finding pleasure in them.

In the spiritual world, each time I receive a certain filling and want to go on, I must overcome my desire to receive so that I won’t work with my force of egoism alone. It follows that I constantly need two forces to complete each other so that the force of bestowal will use the force of reception and dominate it each time. For this reason in spirituality, not a single moment can pass by itself. There cannot be actions that simply stem from one another.

We have to constantly withstand the struggle between these two forces and position them correctly one against the other so that the Surrounding Light will empower the good force in us to dominate the evil force, and thus advance. That’s the way it is at any given moment. Otherwise, the moment would not change.

After all, this system is based on the cooperation between two forces: the Creator’s force and the force of the created being. The more the created being adapts to the Creator, the faster the moments go by. This means that you have taken another step forward.

If you are dominated by one force only, the moment does not pass. This is why in the egoistic state, we don’t exist in the spiritual world at all; we cannot be measured there. We are like total zeros standing in the same place. Even steadiness is a continuous walking, a constant renewal of our work.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/25/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Dr. Michael LaitmanSpirituality is built on diversions from it, on disagreement that is intentionally evoked in a person in order to create in him the right attitude to the revelation of the system that controls us. This system is currently concealed from us because we are unable to reveal it. After all, we are made only of the desire to receive.

If above this desire, we build another desire, the desire to bestow, we will start to understand what bestowal is. Accordingly, we will begin to see and feel the system that governs us, that is external to us and ties us together.

We feel that we are egoistic individuals. Each one thinks about himself and feels only himself. This is the first force that exists in nature. There is a second force that operates in it and ties all these egoists together. But this network remains invisible to us because we lack the senses to discover it.

However, if we overcome all the difficult questions, problems, and disagreements we have with the system that manages us and accept its rule as good and correct (even though our egoistic fragments of the shattered soul do not see that it connects us), we will begin to discover its actions.

Each of us is a little egoist submerged in his little ego. But the connection between us is based on love and belongs to a totally different natural system. When we begin to discover this system, we realize that it operates according to the laws of bestowal.

If we want to discover this system, we have to rise above ourselves. Now, we aspire to connect using egoistic connections, that is, to spread our egoism in the entire system and to use each other. However, if we disagree with this egoistic intention and rise above our desire as if we aspire to create the right connections, then even if we cannot do that, we will begin to do things that lead in this direction.

First, we will create a group. Then, we will begin to study these new relationships together. This will draw the surrounding Light that reforms. This Light erases the egoistic intentions that one has toward others and changes them to the right ones. Thus, I gradually begin to discover the system in its true form.

Seeing the system helps a person advance. Having discovered it, one begins to use it in his work.

It may not be clear why a person should reveal this system. He could continue working in the state of concealment like it is before the first revelation. But the point is that the revelation gives us extra work. Instead of making it easier, it becomes much harder and adds more questions and difficulties.

It is only by clarifying these questions and difficulties, thanks to our rising above them, that a “wick” forms, a place where the Light can hold in the “oil.” Then, the oil is lit thanks to difficult questions that form the wick. Thus, we advance toward acquiring the desire to bestow.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/25/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Conquering My Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe attributes of a person are divided into two main types: internal factors, which we inherit and are born with, and external factors, which we receive from education, the environment, mass media, and so on. Actually, these factors do not depend on the person, even though they in fact shape his personality and determine his fate. The question arises: How can one improve his life?

It’s here that we need to clarify the factor of the environment. The real environment is not just a combination of external influences, but it’s that same external influence that I created by myself for myself. In order to do this, I need to get into contact with certain external factors and build them correctly in relation to myself so that they’ll influence me in a special, selective way that yields certain results.

It’s in this way that I work independently. I initiate this plan by myself, utilizing the powers that I need, when I know my nature and theirs, and thanks to this, I influence myself. I don’t influence anything outside of me; rather, I use external factors so that they will influence me in a certain way. Thanks to this, I change and then feel myself in a world that changes for the better.

Thus I don’t turn into one of those “benefactors” who change nature and correct the world. On the contrary, I use external forces in order to correct myself and improve my life. One must take into consideration these points because we make mistakes in realizing them, or actually in approaching them.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/25/2011, “The Freedom”

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The Development Of A Spiritual Embryo

Dr. Michael LaitmanAfter experiencing the point of unity during the convention, we must strive towards that same state, towards that strong general unity above all the disturbances of the outside world. It’s as if during the convention a cloud of our united desires, intentions, aspirations, and brotherhood hovered over us.

And although each one of us is now experiencing a different state and we are all thrown in our own directions, we must still try to maintain the same state of unity. If we are able to maintain this point of unity despite all of the disturbances, we grow.

A parent gives you a drop of semen. It is said that the father gives “white semen” (Loven), the mother gives the “red” (Odem), and the Creator gives the soul. You have nothing but a single point, and that is enough. And now you have to grow to the level of Infinity, but how?

This is why you receive additional egoism that serves as the means for your growth. The egoism becomes the “meat” that we have to grow over our point, or the drop of semen. Each time egoism confuses us, kills, and tears us apart. However, we mustn’t pay attention to it and nevertheless must remain in our point of unity. Then, the egoism will become included in this unity, and with our efforts we’ll connect it to the point of unity.

Due to the egoism, this point will begin to grow. At first there is a point in the center of the egoism, and it’s completely surrounded by it. Then it starts to expand and take over the egoism. This is how we grow.

The moment that we overcome all the disturbances of this world and are able to maintain the point of unity attained at the convention, then after few such attempts, we’ll obtain the first full measure called a Partzuf of the full ten Sefirot, or the spiritual birth.

I ask you to continuously re-watch all the convention lessons and events. After all, if a person in his current state goes back to those events, he obtains that previous state along with his new egoism, thereby correcting himself.

Nothing else is needed! Now, through our egoism and through all that’s happening to us, we must grow the spiritual drop of semen that we received at the convention.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/2011, “Introduction to TES

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Purification Of The Heart In A Boiling Cauldron

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should we think about during our silent internal convention?

Answer: It isn’t simply our silence and the stillness, but serious internal work. I feel this silence in such a way that it’s as if everyone is speaking! Everyone is performing clarifications, “stewing” together in a large raging cauldron that is boiling on an open fire—in a hurricane of all possible thoughts and sensations.

But we do all this together, simultaneously discerning the meaning of our life, its purpose, and what will happen to us and to me personally? And because of this, the thoughts of each person flow to the rest, get transferred from one to another, mingle together, and cause chaos and confusion.

This requires tremendous efforts, and a habit for this kind of work is necessary here. Kabbalists often used such a method, which allows one to perform a very deep analysis. In the end, you come out of this with a very well-purified head and heart.

The big convention allowed us to ripen for this work. You see that the lessons became different, the discernments are much deeper, and new words have been added. I feel as if a new dictionary has been revealed to me.

It’s like being in some country where my knowledge of the language was limited to only one hundred words that I could use to communicate, and then suddenly I learn one thousand words! Can you imagine how much easier it is for me to communicate and make contact with the others now. This is the kind of change that I feel after the convention, and much more powerful even.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/2011, “Introduction to TES

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