Entries in the 'Inner Work' Category

“Who” Created “This”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can a person reveal his or her role in this life?

Answer: This comes after the question about the purpose of life: “What do I live for?” This question becomes more and more acute every time, rising above other questions of the heart.

There are many questions (desires) in my heart, and I have to deal with them, organize them in order, and take the highest one so that it is not obscured. I have to go with this particular question, and the rest only support me in reaching the answer to this most important inquiry.

Each person chooses his or her goal for this core question, be it money, honor, power, or knowledge. One would like to become a scientist, another a member of the government, and a third one just dreams of becoming successful and enjoying life. And there are also people who ask about the meaning of life.

However, to find out its meaning, it is necessary to connect with the root from which this life comes. It turns out that this search is higher than regular earthly life. It’s not inside society, but above it where this life descends from. It is impossible to find an answer to this question within human society.

Long time ago, I naively thought that it was possible to approach the solution to this question through science, to understand how this life began, to artificially create vegetative, animate or human life from the still level of nature, to solve the mystery of life: Where does it come from and why does it exists? In the end, I realized that our science does not answer such questions, and my interest in it disappeared at once as though it was something frivolous.

A person should try to clarify his most important question, his highest requirement, and go with it. Then, he will gradually find out how he is pulled toward increasingly more exalted questions. As a result, he will come to the question: “Who is the Creator that has created me? Where do I come from? Who am I? What is my purpose?”

This is the question at the degree of Bina, bestowal, that asks within Malchut. It is explained in The Zohar in the article “Who Created These.” MI (who) is Bina, and ELEH (these) is Malchut. A person has to come to this question: “Who Created These,” meaning “Who created me?” When he attains “Who” (MI), he will know himself. This is ELEH because ELEH becomes clarified only in the unity with MI.

Then, he reaches the name Elokim (God, the name of the Creator made from ELEH and MI) that becomes dressed in Him, as it is written: “May the name of the Creator be upon you.” Thus, he attains everything.
[44432]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
The Exit From The Labyrinth Of Suffering
Unwrap The Point In The Heart
Like Student, Like Teacher

Study On The Verge Of Revelation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the studies, sometimes I think about how I can attract the Light, and sometimes I try to understand the inner meaning with all my might. Do I have to try and regulate these states, or should I just accept them as they come?

Answer: We have to study the upper system the way it is explained in “The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Pticha) and The Study of the Ten Sefirot. Without this, we will not acquire the language of Kabbalah, and we will not have anything in which we can clothe our sensations, to express them in any way, or give them names.

That is why we have to know the definitions. In every science that we begin to study, we first of all learn the definitions and terms in order to understand its language. Having learned the definitions, we can start linking them together and come to know more complex concepts. However, for now, I’m just learning the terms and not the qualities I would be feeling. For now, I’m just playing with them like a child with toy blocks.

Hence, we need to study, and this is study in the mind. Yet, you shouldn’t immerse yourself in it too deeply. This system has to gradually become clearer in a purely mechanical form without your trying to attract your sensations or spirituality into it. Otherwise, these examinations will harm the inner work.

However, after you have learned the system, you have to look into how it can relate to you. That is why when reading The Study of the Ten Sefirot, you are sometimes thinking about your inner states without any connection with the text. But in some states you understand that all this is happening inside you, and you try to look for these states.

Sometimes you even start feeling that with every word you read, something is happening inside you; you already have inner, sensory reactions. Furthermore, you start to react in your sensations just by recognizing familiar words.

This means that the Light is spreading inside you and coming closer and closer to the degree of Malchut, organizing the inner HaVaYaH inside you, taking it to the first spiritual step on which the revelation occurs. That is why you start feeling and reacting to different qualities.

Of course, during the studies, you not only have to look deeply into yourself in an inner search, but also align yourself with how you are connected with the group and how you want to reveal the quality of bestowal between you.

You have to align yourself as follows: me, the group, and the Creator whom I reveal in the connection between us, and that’s what I’m reading about right now. Now you only need to start studying, trying to reveal this common network in which you will reveal the state you are reading about.
[44425]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Let The Light Teach Us
When In Touch With The Upper Force
Grow Playfully

The Path To Infinity

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar, Chapter “Truma” (Donation), Item 75: One who wishes to set out to the road should rise while it is still night, watch by observing the hour on the east side, and see in a vision the letters that strike the firmament, one going up, the other going down. This is the sparkling of the letters with which the heaven and earth were created.

Of course, all these phenomena take place within us, within each person, and we have to look for and recognize them inside ourselves. We are talking about the connection between us, its kinds and nature. This is how Kabbalists talk about it. After all, there is nothing else.

Ultimately, we reveal the perfect network of connection between us called Malchut of Infinity and on the way, see it partially, in various forms. Consequently, when we reach the final correction, there are no more forms. Everything is dissolved in the white Light. As it is written, “He and His Name are one.”

However, for the time being, there are all kinds of forms, properties, worlds, and concealments hiding perfection from us, which we reveal once again through the structure of all these worlds. Concealment was created from above downward; from below upward, revelation takes place by the same steps, in the same worlds.

That is why we should try to imagine the entire text in the connection between us: what it talks about and about what forms of connection.
[44443]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, The Zohar

Related Material:
There, Behind The Words
The Central Point Of Connection
Revealing The Light Of Infinity Between Us

Playing With The Infinite Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll that occurs after the four phases of the Light’s expansion in the will to receive is nothing but the creature’s reaction to its discovering the Creator. The entire creation outside of Malchut of the world of Infinity is its impressions of what it finds inside itself, which is regarded as the worlds, expansion from above downward, the breaking, and returning back up, from below upward.

Everything unfolds solely inside Malchut, and beyond this, there is nothing else. The entire reality is made of emotions and feelings, Malchut’s response, until it reaches the final clarification, the “End of Correction.”

The tip of the letter "Yod,” containing the active, abstract force of the Creator, is where His action ends. It results in the following: matter, form clothed in matter, the abstract form, and the essence. Besides that, the upper one, the creative force, doesn’t work on the creature any further. His job was finished once He stamped His name on it.

As to the lower one, it has to find this Name with the help of all other names, meaning its experiences and impressions. Whenever I feel that I exist as a consequence of the act of the upper force, what I experience is the Creator’s name.

This is why He has so many names. The entire Torah is the holy names of the Creator, even Pharaoh and the other wicked such as Bilam and Balak. There is nothing else except for what matter and Light experience together since the Light has imprinted matter with it. When all of this unfolds, it will be the "End of Correction."

This is why in the world of Infinity, where “He and His Name are one,” the Light imprints desire with its entire form, and this is all He can give to Malchut. Further on, Malchut works on its own with the Light that it now contains.

It conceals itself so as not to feel Him, then disappears from Him, connects with Him, and creates all possible combinations with Him regarded as Partzufim. However, all of this is a game it plays by using the screen, the game with the infinite Light that fills it.
[44448]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
Know All Forms Of The Upper One And Conform
The Perfection of HaVaYaH
From Love To Hatred And Back To Love

An Obvious Demonstration Of Your State

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the reading of The Zohar, I feel very strong disturbances and hardly feel the text itself. How can I overcome this obstacle?

Answer: Everything depends on the persistence in one’s thoughts. During my life, I have talked to many people suffering from serious illnesses. They fathom their illnesses in great details and are familiar with all the medical terms known only to the specialists in this area. Why? Their lives depend on that. The desire to survive forced people to learn the causes of their illnesses and to seek remedies and various methods of treatment.

We don’t fully realize that we are dependent on our understanding of the “disease,” on the search for its cure. I shouldn’t rely on anyone else; I have to invest all of my effort into finding the cause of my illness, the remedy appropriate for my condition so that finally this remedy takes effect.

If people really feel danger, this forces them to learn how to save themselves. You are saying: “I hardly feel anything…” True, you do not feel the “disease.” Thus, the group has to work harder on you, and you should try to be persistent in your thoughts and pray that you will be shown from Above that we are talking about you.

The abyss between the world of Infinity and your current state can be seen in this obvious demonstration that The Zohar is now showing within you. Imagine this: If you were corrected now, you would feel the world of Infinity, the entire Zohar would be revealed within you, and you would see everything. To sense this, you lack only the vessels of perception, the corrected desires. At least realize what is happening.
[44510]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, The Zohar

Related Material:
The Book About You
Desire And You Shall Reveal
Expect To Be Healed By The Zohar

Who Produces The Next Degree

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can women include themselves in the common desire during the convention? What should they do?

Answer: They should do the same as the men. I do not understand why women always separate themselves. When you tell them that they are like everyone else, it doesn’t make them happy.

A man procures actively, just like in our world. He is a hunter. He works on an active connection, coming out of himself, becoming closer with others, while a woman stands behind him and takes a more passive role.

However, everything a man procures then passes through a woman. A new degree is produced in the woman both for her and the man due to the fact that whatever the man attains goes through her. This happens in the exact same way that they, together, produce the new generation in our world. It is the woman who continues the development, the human race.

Question: My husband and I study Kabbalah. My husband attended the conventions, but now he is proposing that I go. Should I use this opportunity or send my husband instead?

Answer: Of course, it is best to send your husband to the convention because a man attracts the Light, while a woman receives and realizes it. This is why between the two of you, your husband’s presence at the convention is more important.
[44534]
From the Virtual Lesson, Fundamentals of Kabbalah 5/29/2011

Related Material:
Two People – One Goal
Our Strength Is Our Weakness
Woman Is Where Changes Take Place

I Am Going To The Convention!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What would you wish for a person who has not yet decided to attend the Moscow convention?

Answer: I would wish the undecided to quickly and categorically decide: “I am going to the convention!” Right now, you have this opportunity, and you do not know when another one will present itself. Even if we were to have yearly conventions in Russia, you should not wait for next year.

Question: If I really want to be at the convention, but I am unable to go, what should I be doing during the convention?

Answer: When a person is unable to attend the convention, he should be with us virtually as much as the time allows. First of all, conventions are held on weekends, so you should free yourself from all things and problems, of all responsibilities as much as possible.

Try to get together with your friends who study Kabbalah and create the same convention-like atmosphere. Set a table with treats and have a good time together observing us. Be with us with your heart and soul.

Question: What should I do when I am afraid of the problems and disturbances that arise before me? How can I overcome this?

Answer: You need to connect with the group, with your friends, and with us. You need to try to evoke the upper Light, and you will see it lift you above these problems. I do not see a solution other than this.
[44537]
From the Virtual Lesson, Fundamentals of Kabbalah 5/29/2011

Related Material:
A Shock Absorber Against The Blows Of Nature
Dissolving In Others
The World Does Not See A Solution

The Portrait Of Man On The Easel Of The Group

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe have only the desire to receive and the form of bestowal with which we must clothe desire time after time. This is man’s work which can only be performed by connecting to the group, the right environment, and assuming its form. There is no other place where I can learn the correct form which I need to assume.

The environment “sculpts” a person. By continually connecting to the group and performing his role, taking his place, in it, a person begins to assume the form of “Man.”

The group is like a template which imparts to a person the correct contours. The breaking of the vessels and the process of preparation are all that we need for everyone to seek out his own place, time after time, perfecting our efforts until we become a single whole.
[44520]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
Lift Your Eyes Up
Where Is The Light Hidden?
The Powerful And Exalted Idea Of Bestowal

Real Deal

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I can request only correction. Does this mean that I decide or define something myself?

Answer: I have the line of the Light and the line of the vessel. I build myself as the third line between them. I take as much as I can from the desire to receive and from the Light and build the final form, the sum of these forces (Σ).

This form is a human being. Even though the components are not mine, I have to combine them and decide the right combination. I decide this myself.

To do that, I first have to feel the shame that I do not resemble the Giver, determine the working material, and find the force that corrects it. I am required to create a human being within me, to desire that he become formed. I already have the forces and material. I have only to check the form, and I perform this check every time on the 125 degrees of similarity to the Giver.

I check myself relative to the upper one and identify my abilities. This is a very big job. Thanks to it, I begin to accept, feel, and understand Him. I “format” or “draw” myself in search of exact solutions. As a result, I become like the Creator, not according to superiority, but according to bestowal. In receiving in order to bestow, I make myself similar to Him.
[44527]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"

Related Material:
Egoism Is Finally On The Verge!
On The Border Of The Light And The Kli
A Calculation That Makes Me A Human

Let The Light Teach Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: On one of the lessons I heard you say that when we read The Book of Zohar, a kind of flow arises that connects us. How do we join this flow, despite the various disturbances that awaken during the lesson?

Answer: This happens gradually. You must get used to it, to exert a certain amount of effort, to discover how to approach the text, how to connect it to yourself, to the state in the group, to the world; to learn where you get confused and where you don’t.

You must unify yourself and the Torah in one. Then, to the extent of your desire to connect to the Torah which speaks of your inner state, you begin to receive the Inner Light contained in it, which influences you, allowing you to see within the system it describes.

This happens in the process of the study, when the Light (the Creator) teaches you. If you try to move straight toward the goal, as much as you can, to use the group and the study correctly, if you’re ready to relinquish your egoistic aspirations and plans at least a little, then the Torah teaches you—the subsequent spiritual states are revealed in you.
[44440]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, The Zohar

Related Material:
Through All Obstacles And Concealments
I Want The Light!
Opening The Way To The Light