Entries in the 'Inner Work' Category

Giving Birth To A Spiritual Degree

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the correct environment for women, and how can we use it when it is difficult to work with joy and enthusiasm?

Answer: The correct women’s environment facilitates in a woman an aspiration to calmly, constantly analyze and synthesize the correct desire: What it should be; how we, the male and female parts of our family, unite and give birth to a spiritual degree.

We produce it between ourselves by uniting with each other correctly. Our correct contact brings forth the next degree. This is what the women have to think first. Then, the men will perceive everything in the right way and will act.
[45480]
From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
Women’s Participation Is Crucial
Have Women Crossed The Machsom?
The Companion Chosen For Me By The Creator

Regaining Consciousness

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe wisdom of Kabbalah is not disclosed by itself because people reveal it in their development. It states that according to the structure of the universe, we must come to our starting point again.

Initially, one desire was created, and this first state is called the world of Infinity. In this state, the desire and the Light that created the desire exist in absolute similarity, fusion, and mutual complementarity. Here, the desire is filled with the Light, but this is only the conceived state of the future creature. It still feels nothing.

Thus, at the beginning, it has to become opposite to the Creator, opposite to the Light. To detach itself completely from the source, the creature passes through five special stages of development called worlds. Thus, the descent of that desire takes place, that is its consistent distancing from its original state.

The first world is called Adam Kadmon. Adam is the prototype of a future human. Then comes the world of Atzilut, the world of creation, followed by Beria, the world of emanation,Yetzira, the world of formation, and Assiya, the world of action. These are the five worlds, five consecutive descents, coarsening, concealment, and departure of the Light from the desire which it fills. Each next state is like the world of Infinity except that the Light there exists in a more concealed form.

Even now, we are in the world of Infinity because there is nothing else. It’s only that this state is hidden from us behind many inner screens. We have to open them, peel them off, and then, gradually, we will begin to feel ourselves in the true form.

This is similar to the state of a person who lies unconscious. This is our state number two, here in this world. We are in complete concealment here, as if we have lost consciousness and exist in some internal fluctuations, imagining something.

If we exert ourselves in a particular way and regain consciousness,we will rise to our initial state. This is called the third state. This is also the world of Infinity. We reach it by ascending exactly the same steps of the worlds, which we passed in our descent when we were losing a sense of perfection, the complete presence of the Light. In gradually climbing the same steps, we will experience attainment, the transition from our unconscious state to the conscious one.

The first exit from the unconscious state into consciousness is called the barrier, Machsom. The most important thing for us is to cross this Machsom, to exit the state of complete detachment from the perception of global nature.

Now, we feel nature only in the form of our world and do not perceive it through spiritual desires. We experience the world while being in a totally disconnected state, not using the tools which we have at our full disposal.

We feel ourselves through our five sense organs: smell, touch, sight, hearing, taste, and tactile sensation. Thus, our sense of self is passed through our animate body. Then, inside, a specific picture appears in our mind. At the back of our brain, we have a kind of  “screen” on which everything we perceive is projected. All that adds up to a single picture of the world.

This is not what we see during the exit from the unconscious state. As soon as we have crossed the Machsom, we start feeling completely different states. We begin to sense the Light within. Our desire receives the pleasure of fulfillment, knowledge about the real world, and then a precise picture is drawn inside us.

Thus, the plan of the Creator, the original intention of the Light, is to create desire (the Light is primary, desire is secondary) so that this desire, meaning the creature becomes equal to the Light in status, power, and sensations. Naturally, this state is above our world, that is, above time, space, motion, and above the division into life, birth, and death. It is above all of that.

By discovering this new feeling inside us, we will sense ourselves existing eternally like all of nature. We will stop identifying ourselves with an “animal” that exists here in this world. It as if disappears from our perception like the smallest of our sensations.

Thus regaining consciousness, a person can somehow imagine and recall what happened to him. This sensation remains somewhere, but it is so small, so insignificant, so low in power that it is suppressed by the awareness of the existence in a great new world, infinite, eternal, and perfect. This is the Machsom that we must cross.
[45353]
From the 1st lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
Everyone Is A Point, Everyone Is Infinity
Playing With The Infinite Light
A Laboratory Looking For The Secret Of Life
Know All Forms Of The Upper One And Conform

Is There Any Good In The World?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I see not only evil but also good in the world. I have to find the evil inside myself and correct it. And what can I do with the good?

Answer: In fact, there is no good in the external world. This is a picture of my egoism. If I aim at the goal correctly, I begin to notice the good root in everything that surrounds me because I start seeing it as the manifestation of the Light, the Creator. And this is revealed only to the extent of my striving to reach the goal through this world.

I do not think that you should pay particular attention to this world or analyze it. Begin to aspire to the goal through it, and this world will pull itself up, will change its form.

You will discover that there is nothing good if you do not connect your correct intention to it. There is no good in and of itself. There is one huge corrupted desire which turns into good with the intention to bestow, with the intention to work for the benefit of others.
[45497]
From the 7th lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
The Protection From All Troubles
Revealing Oneness
An Intention Without An Intention

Making A Shish-Kebab From Desires

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I have a question about becoming disconnected from this life. What happens is that the desire for the Creator leads a person away from corporeality. It seems as if I force myself to love my child, husband, family and go to work because I am supposed to. It feels like a game. For a woman, it is an endless torment, meaning that internally, you are in a state of desire, but live in this world as if playing a game.

Answer: It is indeed so. A person cannot tear himself or herself between the two, three, or five desires since desire can be only one. What is the solution then?

I heard the same question from men and women alike: “How do I go on without losing desire toward this world, my job, family, and significant other? How can I keep up with it all if a greater desire consumes, pressures, or annuls the smaller one?”

This occurs if you don’t link and accept all these desires as coming from the same source. You must gather, connect, and make such a “medley” out of them that would erase all the differences entirely. Desire for the child, the husband, the Creator, the group, the parents, and the purpose of creation itself must be unified. It has to “string” all these desires as if on a shish-kebab.

If this isn’t the case, then your work is not wholesome, and you are not wholesome in your desire. This will not do for we are given such diversity of desires in our world so we may pull them together and view them as one.
[45501]
From the 7th lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
The Key To Success
The Compass Pointing To The Creator
The First Article, Which Is The Beginning Of Everything

Old Age Is A Garment For Wisdom

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to become a sage in Kabbalah?

Answer: A “sage” is a person who has gained wisdom (Hochma). However, the Light of Hochma remains at absolute rest, and in order for us to obtain it, we have to possess the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), the “garments.” This means that a “sage” is honored not for his “wisdom,” but because he has made himself a garment from the Light of Hassadim, which “wisdom,” the Light of Hochma, was able to clothe in.

We regard the Creator as the sage. A wise man is regarded as “Talmid Hacham,” “a disciple of the sage,” since he is learning how to obtain wisdom (Hochma) to let the Creator clothe in him. We honor Kabbalists for the anti-egoistic screens and faith they acquired, thanks to which the Creator’s wisdom had clothed in them. It isn’t the case that they simply got smarter naturally. Hence they are called the “disciples of the sage,” the Creator.
[45313]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/2011, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Attaining The Mind Of The Universe
All The Souls Gather Within Me
The Creator’s Acting Mind

Rising Above All The Borders That Separate Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanI hope that this convention will become a turning point. We will start treating each other more seriously; we will finally start getting closer to each other; we will stop paying attention to which country we are from or that we are opposite, different.

We must rise above all the borders that separate us. We have to form a single space, and I really believe that this will happen. We must break all the barriers. Otherwise, we won’t get to the next degree.

What kind of Machsom (the barrier) do you expect to cross if you differentiate between you and me, between this and the other, between black, white, yellow, red, and so on. This immediately places a wall in front of you.

That’s how it should be in every group. In each group, we have to rise above our ego. After all, we are simply being played with from Above. The Creator deliberately gives us this egoism from the left side, and we can’t climb it.

We always see shortcomings in others. This one is disgusting to me because he picks his nose, that one because he talks in such a way, and that one because he looks at me in a strange way. This one is fat, this one is thin, this one is arrogant, and so on. Where do we get this from?

There are thousands of reasons not to connect with others. I have no problem doing this. I’m ready to push everyone away and will find a reason to be right in every case. How can I rise above this? If we don’t do this, nothing will work.
[45358]
From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
Fragmented Perception
While Losing Yourself In Others, Don’t Lose Yourself!
Outsmart Your Egoism

Dissemination Is Like Giving Birth In The Spiritual World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I do not feel that my spiritual progress depends on the men. How can I hasten the emergence of this feeling?

Answer: There are many women who feel self-sufficient. They are involved in dissemination, watch the lessons, and they are together with us with their heart and soul. They do not feel that they are dependent on the men. That does not matter. They are still included in our collective desire, Kli. They are nevertheless together with us.

Even if a woman is completely engaged in a particular work such as translation, processing materials, or something else, her participation covers everything because dissemination is virtually the most important application of women’s desire. It’s similar to giving birth in our world.

Thus, the participation of women in dissemination is their best action for correction. There are many women who exist somewhere separately, not in contact with others. Maybe we need more virtual contact. I am in favor of a good virtual connection. But even if a woman is on her own and takes part in dissemination, she is still in our collective aspiration to move forward. She definitely feels that and advances with us.

I have many such examples. I work with so many women on the blog, in the processing of materials, in translation, in book publishing, and in many other capacities. I value this work highly. They are loyal, trustworthy assistants, and I see their progress. Even though the women’s group is not organized well, they are advancing, and advancing well along with everybody else, at least as well as the men’s group.
[45364]
From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

Related Material:
A Woman’s Role In This World And The Spiritual World
A Place Deserving Of A Woman
Women’s Participation Is Crucial

The Light Is The Answer

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can you explain this phenomenon that urgent questions that arise today are answered by you tomorrow?

Answer: It is a very good question! I often hear about this from my students. They say that perhaps I know, that I intentionally ask someone a question and give him an answer the next day, or someone asks today and I “catch” his or her questions, and the like.

It is nothing like that. It is very simple: A question emerges in you, a desire to be filled with some information, some sensation. You become included in the group, in the lesson, and get an answer or fulfillment. In the same way, you can take my lesson from a month ago and see that I answered your question. This is only because a question has emerged in you—only because of this.

The Light is called the answer; it is all around us in unlimited quantities. Even now, we are in the world of Infinity, but we only feel its smallest, darkest part. There are many concealments around us, 125 curtains of concealment. Thus, we sense only our world.

Once a person has a desire for a more exalted state directed not inside himself but outside, he immediately begins to discover new questions and to get answers. It all depends on desire; there is nothing else.

The Light around us is at absolute rest, and you attain it. What we lack is desire. Thus, if I connect with the group, if I try to connect with the friends, I perceive their desires. Then, I acquire a larger vessel, a greater opportunity for fulfillment.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the main directive of Kabbalah. This is the key tool for receiving the Light. What does “love your neighbor as yourself” mean? It means that you need to attach his desires to yourself. Then, you will have at least twice as much. In reality, it is not even twice, but multiplied by the resistance of your egoism. You will have a huge desire.

While you are connecting your friend to yourself as yourself, you have to rework all your egoism from reception, from rejection, into bestowal. You form a massive vessel. The Light will fill it right away, and you will reach spiritual attainment.

So, if I ask a question today, I can get an answer today and tomorrow; it does not matter when. Usually, it happens during the lesson when you are included in the collective desire and in the collective Light which thereby manifests around you, in the so-called Surrounding Light.
[45383]
From the 3rd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/11/11

Related Material:
The Source Of All Questions
Anyone Who Asks A Question Will Receive An Answer
Only The Light Provides All The Answers

From Separation To Unity

Dr. Michael LaitmanHuman society is divided into two parts. People whose point in the heart has awakened comprise a small part of humanity; this is us. The rest of the people do not have the point in the heart, yet a powerful egoistic desire is concentrated namely in them.

Two forces, positive and negative, act in us. We move forward by creating a connection between our ego and the desire to attain the spiritual world, which we develop through the study and forces received from the environment. The connection built by combining these two forces is called the middle line.

The rest of the people, as the science of Kabbalah explains, gradually join us, feeling that there is no alternative: Their egoism, demanding fulfillment all the time, will suffer. Over the course of human development man’s egoism was constantly growing and striving to fill itself as much as possible. Today, when the human ego has lost hope to obtain fulfillment, it faces a crisis.

This encourages people to draw closer to us, although they do not know to whom and how. To make their path easier, we have to circulate the wisdom of Kabbalah and explain that there is a method of correcting the crisis. When they join us, together we will start working in the middle line and thus reach the world of Infinity.

What will we win as a result? We will reach eternity and perfection. We will rise above our reality, above the point of the creation of our Universe and our entire world—to the upper reality.

Nowadays, the point in the heart awakens in many people: There are millions of them already. And the people whose point in the heart has not been revealed yet feel the crisis in addition to egoism. They sense that they lack the positive force without which they cannot live. They know that they have to correct the crisis, they feel that the solution is hidden in unity, but do not understand how to realize it.

In a global and integral world, everything has to be unified; nature demonstrates this to us. Today, it shows that we have to reach the world of Infinity, that we are one whole. This is precisely what the crisis covertly points and directs us to.

In people who should lead humanity to this goal, the crisis reveals the point in the heart, a positive force, which they can obtain from the group and studying. With its help, they can move towards the world of Infinity independently. And those whom the crisis does not give the force of unification but who feel that they lack this force will gradually get explanations from those in whom the point in the heart has awakened, will join them, and together with them will aim for the goal.
[45051]
From Lesson 2, Convention in Spain, 6/4/2011

Related Material:
Know The Secret Of Life
The Decline Of Egoistic Development
The Exit From The Labyrinth Of Suffering

A Smart Child Playing Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe only creation is the desire that appears “from absence” by virtue of the Light and gradually reaches its condition. At the beginning it simply wants to enjoy, but later it starts to understand that it is completely under the rule of this desire.

This is how desire grows gradually until it realizes its full opposition to the Light. The first time, it happens during the 4th phase of the expansion of the Direct Light, in the state called Malchut of the world of Infinity.

The creature cannot sustain this condition and restricts itself. This forces it to establish a new relationship with the Creator. It feels obliged to become like Him and strives to do this, until all its attempts bring to their mutual penetration into each other, which is called “the breaking of the desires.”

It seems to us that the breaking is something negative. But in reality it is the other way around. Because of this, the creature understands its full inability to be like the Creator.

In order to become a giver and be similar to the Creator in the state of breaking, it lacks only efforts. Later, it will be able to reach bestowal and rise from a much worse state. However, firstly, it has to experience the realization of evil, prayer, work, good deeds, and until it has all these, it will not be able to become equal to the Creator and to be like Him.

Until the creature has obtained the spiritual vessel, that is, has obtained the understanding and sensation,feeling its own effort and the realization of desire, it is impossible to say that the creature is similar to the Creator. The little one cannot be a giver. He can do something small, play with his toys. But if he really wants to become like an adult, he has to develop a variety of sensations in himself.

Thus, after all the spiritual and historical development given to us as a preparation from Above, we discover that two desires are co-existing within us: our own and an additional desire. A human within us starts with this. One’s own, natural desire pulls a person towards the pleasures that he sees in front in him. The additional desire pulls him to special, spiritual kinds of pleasure; however, he cannot feel anything besides pleasure.

We see in a person of our world his material, physical body. It is not about it, but about the desire drawing him in two directions. One is directed to what is revealed to a person in his or her five sense organs. The other is called “the point in the heart,” and it’s still unclear to a person to where this desire is drawing him and whether it is worth using it.

From the moment these two desires are manifested in a person, he is called a human. Because of these two states, he can become similar to the Creator (Edome), that is, to be called a human (Adam from the Hebrew word Domeh” or similar). One needs only to find out about the means, to learn how to use these two desires awakened in him or her.

One desire is old and is called an “old and foolish king,” the other one is new and growing like a “smart child.” If one wants to deal with them correctly, this is possible only with the help of the upper force. Thus, he cannot advance on his own and needs a mentor.

Everything is given from Above: People are led to the right place to study; all the necessary conditions are created for them so that they can accept this guidance and use it. Everything is given from Above except for the effort that we have to add ourselves! These efforts build a human.
[45057]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/2011, Shamati #161

Related Material:
Intercepting The Initiative From The Ligh
A Laboratory Looking For The Secret Of Life
A Puppet Bringing Itself To Life