Entries in the 'Inner Work' Category

The First Article, Which Is The Beginning Of Everything

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur main problem is to establish our attitude to the Creator. Clearly, it is subjective and depends entirely on us, on how we think and feel. It does not change depending on the Creator’s attitude, which is unknown to us, but is determined by what we think about Him.

On one hand, we are talking about nature, about the environment in which we develop. Once upon a time man began revealing nature, thus ascending in our world from the animate level to the human level as he researched the nature around him. After that he began to research the spiritual world, once his desire grew to that level. Thus, to the degree his desire grew, a person delved deeper and deeper into nature.

However, a person consists of two parts: one that feels and one that understands, and the two have a specific connection and influence upon one another. Precisely through them, feeling and reason or the heart and mind, he researches what he feels. Anything that does not enter his senses remains unknown to him. He researches only his impressions, whereas the things that are inaccessible to one’s sensations cannot be discussed at all because that would be empty philosophy and fantasy.

Therefore, our ideas of the Creator are not based on how He actually is, but on how we perceive Him. We will never know who He really is! We only know that there is an upper, external force that is perceived as the nature around us.

We call its closest part “this world.” But there is a greater nature which becomes revealed to a person when he undergoes a special development. It is called upper nature. Yet, no one knows who the Creator Himself is.

Therefore, the science of Kabbalah talks about everything in relation to man. It is written, “There is none else besides Him!” That is how a person feels and what he discerns as a result of his research.

Kabbalists tell us about their impressions of this single upper force, and it turns out that the Creator seems to get angry, or to get happy, or to enjoy something. But this is how a person feels. This is how he senses the upper force! However, we do not know what really happens to it.

Nevertheless, it is very important for us to establish our attitude to this upper force so we would know where this form, picture, impression, or sensation comes from, which we receive from Him. Whom do we feel: Himself or ourselves? Or do we perceive ourselves on the background of His Light? Or do we feel something that’s common to both of us, some interaction between us? That is something I have to know!

When I feel good or bad, then whom does this sensation depend on—on me, or does it come from the Creator? Or perhaps it depends on our similarity to each other, on some special connection?

If I perform any action, whether in words, thoughts, or physically, is He forcing me to act that way or do I have some kind of freedom? But where can I get that freedom if I am a result, a product of His work?

That is to say, we must somehow define ourselves in relation to our connection with the Creator. Otherwise we will constantly get confused. This bears great significance for our attitude, our inner work, and our connection with Him. This is also reflected on all of our relationships with one another, inside the family and when a person is one on one with himself.

Therefore, this is not an abstract question for us. Establishing our state, connection, and attitude to the Creator influences all the layers of our lives. This is the most fundamental thing there is. That is why Baal HaSulam’s opinion is so important to us in this regard, which he lays out in the article, “There Is None Else Besides Him,” the very first article in the book Shamati.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/11, Shamati

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The Importance Of The Daily Kabbalah Lesson

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person can’t advance in spirituality without participating in our daily lessons. Those who can’t watch the entire session can watch one of its parts.

There are people who prefer the first part of the lesson that includes Rabash’s articles and the second one on The Book of Zohar. Some like the third part of the lesson on The Study of the Ten Sefirot. The fourth part is general, where we analyze world issues, education, and all the rest. Each of you should pick the most suitable parts, although I recommend switching them at times.

Perhaps, it’s difficult for you to attend the entire three hours of the lesson which includes all four parts. But today, there is such a wide assortment of communication devices that you can record lessons or listen to them on the radio. Our Internet site is constantly updated. You can also wear headphones and listen to the lesson all the time, and then you will definitely advance much faster.

But at any rate, it is vital to get connected to the daily lesson (at least part of it). It is said: “If you abandon Me for a day, I will abandon you for two.” A person who skips one day of studies gets disconnected from the spiritual source twice as much. This is the law in the spiritual world regarded as “measure against measure.” So, beware!

But the most reliable means is an MP3 player or other similar devices, with the help of which you can stay connected to us all the time.
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From Lesson 5, WE! Convention 4/2/2011

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Dissemination Is Like Giving Birth In Spirituality

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: My question pertains to dissemination. At school, I talk with my classmates about Kabbalah. There is an impression that they are interested in it, which creates a certain contact between us, but as soon as they go home, the contemptuous attitude of their families and environment toward Kabbalah spoils everything. How do we get those families to see the importance of the goal?

Answer: I am not sure since I never dealt with this. After all, we are talking about love of friends and love of others not with the outsiders, but with those who have already joined us.

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches that we must spread it passively, forcing no one into it. I need to provide a person with certain information: Why the world is suffering, what the cause of it is, where we are heading toward, and why crises occur.

We also try to explain to him that all of it is happening due to nature’s program so as to demonstrate to us that egoistic evolution on the rising exponential curve has reached its final point and now we are headed for the downfall. This means that we will feel pain and problems (possibly serious ones) since our egoistic development has ended, and we need to rise above the ego.

This is the kind of information that we need to spread in the world. But if I start talking with people about it, it will take many hours to explain things to them until they comprehend it. This is why we spread the wisdom of Kabbalah in a passive way, via books or the Internet, and those who become interested in it and feel that it meets a certain need in them will find us.

We are in the field of the upper force, in the field of Light. And if a person does have an inclination for a personal correction and sort of gravitates to unification, to spirituality, which equates to love of others, bestowal to the Creator, he or she will find our sources. There is absolutely no need to come to them, apply pressure, and start huge propaganda.

You may talk with friends about Kabbalah, which is not prohibited at all. But if you see that afterward they immediately forget or lose interest in it, or if they quickly change their mind, even if they initially agreed with something, all of this is a sign that this wisdom most likely isn’t for them.

If I were in your place, I would give them a book to read that would, in your opinion, suit them best. Collect a small library at home. I suggest everyone does the same.

All those who study Kabbalah must have a complete collection of our books. Additionally, keep three or five books most suitable for beginners and lend them to others to read one by one, and after they are done, get them back. And then you will see if they do show any interest or not.

A book has a unique power. And even though I usually read and work with a text on a computer, I still keep a book in front of me. It has a spiritual root, which a computer does not.

But what I really appreciate in this young man and praise him for is his desire to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah. He is so great! And we should follow his example.

Each of you should check what you can do in dissemination since the more you spread the wisdom of Kabblah, the more internally enriched you become. And in correspondence with how many people receive the knowledge of the spiritual world or spiritual fulfillment through you, the same degree of spiritual fulfillment will pass through you as well. It is as though you give birth to them, and they become your children afterward, which stimulates your growth.

And a person who didn’t bring anyone closer to the wisdom of Kabblah and didn’t impact anyone spiritually in this world is similar to someone who never gave life to anyone and has no continuation. Each of us must become a disseminator.
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From Lesson 5, WE! Convention 4/2/2011

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The World Is Fine, The Problem Is In You!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You said that nature will force us to change if we don’t wish to do it by choice. What change can our small Kabbalistic group make in the world if the majority of it don’t want to think about anything whatsoever?

Answer: It’s much easier for the majority of the world to change than it is for us since they don’t have free will. You do have free will because you possess an egoistic heart and the point from another world.

There are two forces in you, and that’s why you are in constant argument and struggle between them. This pertains to you but not to the whole world! They are fine: When they feel bad, it’s bad, when they feel good, it’s good, so what spiritual world are you talking about?

Without these two forces, there is no free will to choose between them; there are no upheavals and descents; there are no thoughts how to move forth; there is no faith above reason. Reason and faith above reason? Malchut and Bina atop of it?! Most folks have no connection between these two worlds. The connection between them exists only in us, in every one of us! It’s our problem, and the rest of the world doesn’t have it.

Hence, as soon as you make a choice, you impact all the other souls who don’t have free will; you “pour” your choice, will, and yearning into them and lead them on like a shepherd who leads a herd of a thousand cows. Obviously, it’s easier to be a cow than a shepherd since he has to know the way. But it’s not up to you; you will have to become a shepherd!
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From Lesson 6, WE! Convention 4/3/2011

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Put Yourself In Someone Else’s Shoes

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When a person eases someone’s suffering, does he thereby distance that person from spirituality?

Answer: It seems that the person will suffer less, but then he will not ask himself why there is suffering. Does this mean that if I wish people well, I must force them to suffer?

Basically, the main commandment of the Torah is “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Simply put yourself in that person’s shoes. For example, think what would you do if it were your small, favorite child, and then you will do the right thing.
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From Lesson 7, WE! Convention 4/3/2011

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Egyptian Bondage As Big As The Universe

Dr. Michael LaitmanPharaoh and all of his ministers are the Creator’s loyal slaves, meaning “angels” or the forces that realize the program of creation. They carry out the orders of the upper force, the Creator, since besides Him, nothing else exists. But for now, the Creator is placing Pharaoh with all his loyalty as a ruler to work for the Creator and rule over man in this world instead of Him, in order to give us the sensation of darkness and bring us to the need to reveal the opposite force, that of love and bestowal.

Right now, Pharaoh himself is being revealed in our world. Before, only his helpers, his ministers, were being revealed to us. We did not hear about Pharaoh himself until the actual end of the “Egyptian exile,” when it suddenly became announced that “a new king has risen over Egypt.” Until then, certain directors and ministers were in control.

The same also happened in the history of mankind. We were influenced by different smaller forces which pushed the development of human society: new inventions, the discovery of new continents, new technologies, until we reached a global world. And here Pharaoh is beginning to reveal himself: He is the force that prevents and does not let us unite.

Many people around the world already feel that salvation lies only in connection. We see that, given such a degree of interdependence, we are not left with any other choice since the world has become so global. The only way to improve life is to come together. We don’t have any other choice when we depend on each other so much. We won’t be able to divorce one another like in a failed marriage and go our own way. We are living on a single, tiny globe, and we have nowhere to go: We are locked up, like in a cage.

But we are unable to agree with one another in this world, create a common world government, or achieve somewhat of a single opinion, and we constantly argue. And these disagreements will not end; they will only keep growing.

It will be very strange seeing it because everyone really depends on one another: Europe, America, the Arab countries, Asia, Russia, Japan, China. Is it really that difficult to gather in one place, have another “G-50,” and come to some kind of a common agreement? Otherwise, the world will simply go back to the initial “chaos and darkness.”

But people will not manage to come to an agreement. The force of evil will keep getting in the way and stand between them, and they will not be able to understand how they can connect. They will only reveal their inability to connect and will not learn how to attain it. This is because revealing the “means” of connection is the same as revealing the upper force, the only thing that can connect us. This is the state we are heading towards.

This will not be a simple time. So far, people are somehow managing to continue living as before, as if the world has not become global and they can continue to exist without taking the interests of everyone else into consideration. But our development must absolutely lead us to unification. Yet there will be no strength to unite. This is where Pharaoh, who is separating us, will be revealed.

And then, as it is written in the story of Egyptian bondage, “they will cry out (this time it will be the sons of the entire world),” not knowing what to do. And here they will reveal that there is a method, the wisdom of Kabbalah, which reveals the Creator to the creatures in this world.

After all, we won’t be able to have even a very ordinary life in this world without revealing this force. We simply will not be able to exist: We will consume one another. It is in this way that the need for Kabbalah, as the means of revealing the Creator, will be revealed. And we will learn that the world was created this way and has undergone this development only to become like the Creator and unite with Him while striving to reveal Him. The entire program of creation will be realized thereby.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2011, Writings of Rabash

 

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Now That You Have The Method, Pass It Forward

Dr. Michael LaitmanAmerica is the largest, richest, and mightiest world power. Americans still have that pioneer spirit; they love to recall their roots.

This is why we have an opportunity to influence the world through America. At first, we won’t mention Kabbalah, and instead, explain to the masses our current state and the method that offers the solution, and then, gradually, we will bring them to the original sources.

If we have a shot at bringing the wisdom of Kabbalah to the world, it can only happen through here. The world pays attention to what’s happening in the US. The vast majority of the Internet is in English. The language, might, and authority of America will play their role. All this means we must begin the war on a global crisis from precisely here.

We need to work together to organize a dissemination system. This is our primary challenge. And here you must find the resources to meet this challenge. The Kabbalah Education Center has been successful in educating people with a point in the heart. But if we want true spiritual advancement, it’s only possible if we work according to the “pass it forward” principle.

We must disseminate Kabbalah without pressure: no shoving fliers into people’s hands, accompanied by passionate efforts to convince them. Rather, we must act in a composed, respectable manner, but also consistently and as efficiently as possible, using our principles and all sorts of scientific and research data as foundations.

There were dozens of other students studying with Rabash besides me. I was the closest to him, and also his assistant and secretary, which has helped me tremendously. But that wasn’t the key. What helped me the most is that in 1983, when he was still in alive, I wrote my first three books. I was always disseminating, giving lectures and lessons.

After Rabash’s death, there was a period when I had no strength to start anything new. I kept to myself and wrote books. But a few years later, I resumed active dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is the only reason why I’m furthering correction and my personal advancement.

Participating in dissemination, to whatever extent you can, is essential. Of course, not everyone can write or educate, but every person must have some responsibility, working on passing the method to the whole world, wanting to help people, and thereby express his love of others, to see everybody unified, happy, connected, banded into a single whole, until we are all one soul.

This is why we must create a US-based global dissemination center so that the method of correction will spread from here to the entire world. And you all must rally around this center so that everyone could exert maximum effort, their maximum potential and talents towards our collective success. Because if we don’t, the crisis will get out of control.
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From Lesson 7, WE! Convention 4/3/2011

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Wake Yourself Up!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I am getting an impression that all my friends fell into a “sleeping mode” now. What can I say to them to wake them up?

Answer: If they feel that you need them, they will wake up. It all depends on the person himself. He must trust that the group is willing, but that he is the only problem. As soon as he opens his heart, he sees that he is connected with all hearts, burning and alert. Don’t say anything to them, say it to yourself.
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From the evening meal 4/21/2011

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The Void Before The Revelation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You said that when we read The Book of Zohar we should focus on unity. But how is it expressed? What action should I be thinking about? After all, the very word “unity” doesn’t strike a chord in me.

Answer: A feeling of unity builds up in a person very gradually, over the course of many months, until he begins to sense a certain “taste” in unification with the friends and finds some type of reality in it.

We experience on ourselves all the actions in the process of which, during millions of years of evolution, the vegetative degree formed from the inanimate one, the animate from the vegetative, and the human from the animate. But we undergo similar states at an enormous speed.

You ask about the state you haven’t obtained yet. You are trying to tap where this sensation of oneness may unfold, the feeling of unity and bestowal, when you step out of yourself, your ego. But nothing is really clear to you.

This is a sign of attainment. You start approaching the state which you seek and don’t know how to find: “I am looking for my brothers.” I seek unity and don’t find it. Does it even exist? What is it? How do I get hold of it?!

This is “the void before the revelation.” You are already standing at the threshold of it. And so it is, always. The question about the state you don’t possess is the very state that precedes it. You must simply go on, give the Light time to do its work. If you are present in the group, at the lessons, disseminate, and do everything you can, give the Light a chance to do the job.

As described in the “Introduction to The Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 133: “ And only the heroes among them, whose patience endured, defeated the guards and opened the gate. And they were instantly awarded seeing the King’s face, who appointed each of them in his right place.” Just be patient! If it takes ten years, so be it. Another ten, big deal.

And those who think they are smart “jump off the carriage,” and in ten years you see that they don’t have anything. You can say: “But I don’t have anything either, do I?!” You possess great desire, an understanding that you are lacking unity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Pharaoh And The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What can we learn from Pharaoh?

Answer: We can learn from Pharaoh loyalty to the Creator. He carries out his task to the letter, faithfully and diligently. He is a true Creator’s serf like no other.

In fact, we are dealing with a mechanical force hidden in nature. On each path and at each degree, in every molecule and atom, in every combination and relation, it calculates how to take possession of everything it can possibly have. It is a unique internal program that works in every particle of creation, every system, and every combination.

That’s what “Pharaoh” is: something common, omnipotent, and present in every desire, in all of created reality. It doesn’t leave any particle of creation alone for a second. Amid the stars and galaxies, in our world and all others, there is this universal, integral program. And this is what we have to learn from Pharaoh: a persistent, compromise-free approach to our responsibilities.

Moreover, instead of the old program, we must make sure to install the new one. Besides, this upgrade pertains to Pharaoh: We employ him and by no means delete him for uselessness. Spiritual upgrades are always installed over the already existent program support. We work on Pharaoh, on our receiving desire, replacing the egoistic intention with the altruistic one, while Pharaoh’s desire as such remains.

We have the intention and desire to receive, which is a pre-set, active system; that is what exists. And then, we switch this intention to bestowal, while keeping the desire to receive. Thus, we come out into the spiritual reality, the one that will be.

Below there is Pharaoh, above there is the Creator, and they oppose each other. And the transition is made by way of the Light.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2011, Writings of Rabash

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