Whom To Trust? – Laitman Unplugged
Posted on December 4th, 2013
The path to revelation consists of implementing all conditions, again and again, on each degree, until a person comes to the limitless, endless revelation, a perfect adhesion. He reaches adhesion on each degree. Each degree is similar to the next one, the difference is only in the quality and quantity of the details that get accumulated there and make us perceive a degree as a new world every time.
“Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one” derives from the fact that initially, we are in the world of Infinity, fully merged with the force of the Creator, the force of Light. There, there is no difference between the vessel and the Light, and thus there is no Israel, meaning someone who aspires to the Creator. The created being becomes Israel only under condition that it is separated from the Creator but nevertheless aspires to adhere to Him and to reach adhesion, still remaining independent.
Two opposite conditions are needed: From one side, separation from the Creator, and from the other, adhesion. That is, one needs to remain independent—this is the entire meaning of creation.
Israel, the Torah, and the Creator have to connect for us all the time in their final form—as much as we are able to imagine this for now. The creature is equal to the Creator to the extent that it can envision the Creator’s image, His properties that have already been dressed onto the creature. We imagine ourselves as being at the end of the path already, meaning having completed our current degree, because we are unable to think of something beyond our current degree.
But we aspire at least for this, meaning we wish to become Israel and to reach full adhesion with the force of bestowal and love for the wicked and for the righteous, for the enemies and friends alike—till the end of correction. Although in reality, this is only our current degree. After all, everything that we can only imagine to ourselves, the entire creation from end to end, exists within this framework, this very tiniest Sefira, which is being revealed for us now, for the meantime. And still, we must imagine to ourselves that we want to reveal everything, correct everything, and to adhere to the Creator in everything. We want to do it so that the entire world becomes my soul, and all the properties are corrected to bestowal and love.
We picture ourselves corrected in this way, to aspire for this, we study and perform all the necessary actions for this in order to attain this final state: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” But along the path towards attaining this goal, it’s necessary for us to fulfill the Creator’s commands, meaning to study all types of bestowal, which is what we do in the group. Most important is love for the friends in which all these notions are being clarified.
Having received such instruments out of love of friends, the vessels of Galgalta ve Eynaim, with their help you will be able to correct the receiving vessels, AHP, of that very degree, meaning those who are outside the framework of the group, to the degree when we start relating to everyone in exactly the same way. We relate to the group as to the place of our inner work and the source of strength. Yet, the real place of work is the AHP, meaning the entire world.
GE are created so as to take care of AHP. The breaking occurred namely for this reason, and the sparks of bestowal from GE penetrated into AHP. This way, the rudiments of correction were created in AHP. After all, without it, AHP has no hope for correction.
For this reason we need to always prepare ourselves in our GE, in the group, the studies, our connection, a friendly hug, and seminars, and afterward come out to work with the desires of AHP. The true realization is carried out in AHP, while preparation is in GE.
Although it seems to us as if we correct ourselves while working between ourselves in the group, essentially it is only the work of preparation.
Our work is called the “work of the Creator.” We do not act ourselves, the Light does. Meanwhile, each time, we need to reveal the area in which the Light will be able to work, as it is said: “Open the tip of the needle….” Our request, rising upwards as a prayer, MAN, opens the sluice to the Light, into which it enters and operates. The Creator carries out His work, and we need to only open the entrance for Him. This is called revealing the world: Each time we come to a new world.
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From Preparation for the Lesson 9/11/2013
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The Creator wants the created beings to understand and to attain Him correctly. He chose the language of “pleasure” or “sufferings” to which we respond. The Creator created the desire to receive so that will feel this language.
The Creator “pricks” the created being, and he cries, “Ouch!” He spills a drop of sweet syrup on him and the created being is impressed, “Ah!” And so our whole life goes by between the “ouch” and the “ah.” He speaks to us by using this language: A drop of sweetness, a drop of bitterness, and different combinations of the two lead to endless nuances and various shades.
Thus the Creator develops the desire from a primitive desire to a more sophisticated, versatile desire by feeding it gradually: a spoonful of sweetness and a spoonful that is a bit more bitter, so one tastes all the different flavors.
This variety (TANTA) is born in my desire to receive, according to the way I begin to respond and to feel the Creator’s bestowal. He constantly influences me, either by pleasures or by deficiencies, by bitterness or by sweetness.
I don’t know why the Creator has chosen this bittersweet language to communicate with His created being. I only know that if I perceive all this bitterness and sweetness, if I feel them in all my desire to receive, then by that I will learn to understand the Creator. I will be able to understand not the actual bitterness and sweetness and how they are felt in my desire, but I will discover Him, the one who has chosen this language in order to communicate with me.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/08/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot
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…when it is accustomed to falsehood and deceit, it is then impossible to walk by another way, and this forces man to proceed with falsehood and deceit when one is alone, too.
It turns out that one must deceive oneself and cannot tell oneself the truth at all, because he does not find any special preference to the truth.
We might say that he who thinks that he is deceiving his friend, is really deceiving the Creator, since besides man’s body there is only the Creator.
We are continually present within the Creator’s nature and permanently deal with His forces, although we don’t remember this, neither do we completely realize this fact. Nature’s systems react to our deceit and as a consequence we receive negative feedback.
… The Creator wants man to feel that he is a separated reality from Him; but except for that, it is all “the whole earth is full of His glory.”
Otherwise, we would be fully subordinate to His authority and would not feel “autonomous.” But in fact. nature always rules over us.
Hence, when lying to one’s friend, one is lying to the Creator; and when saddening one’s friend, one is saddening the Creator. For this reason, if one is accustomed to speak the truth, it will help him with respect to the Creator.
By doing so, we gradually start to feel the upper system and have reciprocal contact with It; eventually we come to understand and completely merge with It.
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From Baal HaSulam, Shamati #67, “Depart from Evil”
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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”, Item 17: Thus, we are already in that measure of perfection, worthy and fitting of the Perfect Operator who made us, even in our current, second state, for this body does not defect us in any way, since it will expire and die, and is only here for the time necessary for its cancellation and acquisition of our eternal form.
As it is written, “I created the evil inclination.” It is all about the corrupt form that reveals itself within us so that we will rescind it. By doing so, we will attain the full depth of creation and will come to know the upper force, the one, the only, the unique. This is the way it works. We must be grateful for having circumstances that allow us to act in a certain way, thus ascending to the level of the Creator.
In this world, while learning something, we stay who we are, with the addition of some knowledge that is external to us. In spirituality, new things disclose themselves internally and come to us through our desires and roots.
As a result, we constantly change and are born anew every single moment. Each internal change turns us into someone else. Our new form is not connected with the prior states in any way, that is, with something that previously happened to us before a new spiritual action emerged within us.
There is nothing but a chain of causes and effects. Other than that, all our thoughts and sensations acquired at a new level completely differ from the prior step.
We must get ready for that and prepare ourselves to go through various conditions while we still are at the preparatory level. Desperation, disappointment, apathy, and indifference are replaced by enthusiasm and excitement. We go through the entire spectrum of sensations that allows us to analyze ourselves and see prior states vanishing as we transition to new levels.
At this time, the amplitude between our ascents and downfalls is not so great, nor are the various details of our perception of the world really significant. Nevertheless, our animate sensations can be opposite to the judgments we make. For example, when we fall to the very bottom, we regard this state as the ascent to a new high. The main thing is to realize from whom we are getting the descents and what does He want to achieve by sending them to us. Or it might be the opposite: Elation, like doing drugs or winning the lottery, can be regarded as a dead end that doesn’t contain even a tiny spark of the Light and draws us down to an animal state.
I evaluate the situation not by their feelings, but by their importance and the purpose. Everything depends not on the state per se, but rather on the evaluations we make. And therefore, our prime concern is to transition from sensations to analysis of closely it is connected to our goal. We examine everything around us to how it relates to and how closely it correspondences to, and how useful it is for the goal. For example, if the descent I experienced distanced me from the goal was intended for my subsequent recovery, then I am happy.
Thus, we try to maintain a connection with the goal and measure our internal states by it. In the end, we begin striving to stay in one perfect state. Anything that runs through us helps us to analyze ourselves and thus, adhere with the state of merging.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”
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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 19: …all the agonies in our world are but manifestations offered to our eyes, to prompt us to revoke the evil Klipa of the body and assume the complete form of the will to bestow. And it is as we have said, that the path of suffering in itself can bring us to the desired form.
Our corrupt desire has to develop, that is, to change in the course of its evolution. As it develops, it strives for pleasures as long as this pursuit doesn’t stop satisfying us. Now, on the contrary, it brings us troubles and problems.
The afflictions vary. Partially, they happen because a desire is unable to fulfill itself, which is not that scary yet. However, in addition the desire suffers from its own vices. In other words, the desire suffers not only because it experiences a lack of fulfillment but also because it feels a lack of vitality. It’s one thing when there is no abundance but it’s a totally different thing when there is a deficiency of essential things. This eventually leads to death.
From this we see that desire can be accurately directed to anything. Sufferings forces people to run away them, that is, sufferings direct us to exactly where we should be. They don’t define the goal, but simply push us away from them.
But there is another path, the path of Torah. It reveals the purpose of man, which defines the goal without painful reminders. The state in which I feel bad (the evil state) pushes me away to a place where suffering stops being the main moving force. I move away from it to a distance of, let’s say, L1. I stop there, and then, a new round of pain pushes me away again to a safe distance of L2, solely to stop the torments.
This kind of Brownian movement can take years and generations. It is the path of suffering.
On the other hand, on the path of Torah, I pursue its purpose it in a good, peaceful manner, in the quickest way, through 125 degrees.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”
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Question: In our group we have a situation whereby some want to disseminate but cannot, and others cannot and don’t want to. What is your advice for those who want to disseminate but in the meantime are unable to compel themselves to do so?
Answer: It is forbidden to compel anyone. But the people who want to disseminate must do so. Nobody has the right to restrain and obstruct someone; the instruction has already been given for everyone to be involved in dissemination. Whoever is still against it, let them be against it; that’s their own business. But in no way can someone obstruct the others; otherwise we need to expel him from the group.
If a person doesn’t want to disseminate, sits quietly, and in the meantime doesn’t feel the importance of it, although he sees that everyone is involved in this, while he is so special and has no desire for it, we let him stay. We hope that he will wise up and change. Either he will have to leave the group or with time, he will also begin to be involved in dissemination.
There are people who don’t know how to speak and also don’t need to; they will help in some other way. A group that doesn’t disseminate gradually becomes weaker and people leave it. They stop feeling the need; there is no new desire, no new blood. They don’t work with the public and have nothing to do; they turn sour: “How much can we learn the same things, how much can we speak about the same things?”
And the most important task is still ahead of us all: to organize workshops for the masses, whereby unification creates within them an absolutely new feeling, a new power, a new level of existence. They will begin to rise above themselves, completely new thoughts, a new outlook, a new—shared—mind, will appear in them.
All the upper worlds exist in our world, they are here now as well. But people don’t see them, they don’t have the “glasses,” this vision, they are not ready to discern at this frequency. They see everything in a particular range of frequency, but they don’t have the “equipment” for seeing the upper world.
We need to bring humanity to such a state. After all, after a number of workshops (even after the first workshop) they start feeling that something fills them from within. They begin to look at things in a completely different way, with another perspective of the world; they begin to think and speak differently, they feel as if they are floating on a cushion of air. After that it is possible to talk with them in another way.
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From the Stockholm Convention “Joy In Unity” 8/31/13, Lesson 4
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From Rabash’s Article “The Difference Between Alms and Gifts”: When one applies lots of exertion for a long period of time but doesn’t achieve any result, one starts to sense pain and suffering because he contributed a lot of energy but doesn’t see any advancement in his work.
Then, contemplations come to him one by one. One despairs and then strengthens, then falls and rises again and again. This process continues until a real desire that stems out of his exertion at the time of ascents and descents shapes in him. With each rise and fall, one accumulates and feels pain because he has not merged with the Creator yet. When the vessel of one’s effort becomes completely full, then it is called a spiritual desire and the Creator fills it since now one has reached a true desire.
If after several years of work you suddenly understand that you have regressed, this is intentional so that you feel the pain of not merging with the Creator. So, you need to realize that with each round of ascents and descents, you are getting closer to creating a true vessel. It is impossible to obtain the perfect fulfillment before obtaining a perfect desire.
We see that each passing year brings us a better understanding of Rabash’s words. He explains everything very accurately and his words penetrate deep into our souls.
Many years of rises and falls of every possible kind pass by until one starts experiencing a real necessity to acquire the properties of bestowal. It happens as a result of the Light’s work on us in response to the exertions we apply. Besides, “That which is not accomplished by the mind will be accomplished in time.” Because of our activities such as our studies, dissemination, mutual support, and congresses, we become integrated into each other. It means that everybody goes through changes, although some of you go through them faster than others.
Some of you confuse yourselves by observing other methodologies and allowing alien influences and surroundings to impact you. Here, I don’t mean the typical environment we all live in, but rather your attempts to find alternative spiritual practices. So each of you advances in your own way, but since everybody is included in the others and contributes oneself into everybody else, there are rises and falls that serve as a good sign of the internal work you do.
As a result, one starts sensing that bestowal is not “foreign” to him anymore. It is no longer flavorless, tasteless, or odorless; it is not empty words about giving, pleasing the Creator, or loving our neighbors, which previously were lifeless slogans. All of a sudden, one begins feeling the taste of them; this means that spiritual vessels begin to shape in him. We start feeling real life in these words, a taste: bitter or sweet, ascent or descent.
Bitterness and sweetness are felt in the heart, and higher or lower are evaluated according to reason. This is how we assess these concepts, and suddenly they start triggering internal responses in us. When one hears words about love or hatred in relation to spiritual work, to bestowal and receiving, one reacts to them in one’s heart and mind. Thus, he starts differentiating between these two qualities internally.
However, it is not sufficient. One should continue working until a true desire for the Creator, the perfect property of bestowal, appears. Nothing is incomplete in spirituality. The smallest spiritual vessel, which is revealed in a person, the desire to merge with the Creator, the property of bestowal that completely fills him, is in fact the entire person.
One senses that he is completely defined by spiritual genes (Reshimot) that unfold in him. At the next level, he will discover that his previous Reshimo constituted only one gram of his subsequent Reshimot, which in their turn already weigh a million tons. So far, he is as an infant who received a sweet piece of candy, is completely absorbed by it, and thus feels the entire world as sweet.
Those who advance eventually clarify their relationships to one another at the spiritual levels they reach; thus, we understand that everything is continuously accumulated and accrued. So we need to make our share of efforts and desire to achieve the perfect property of bestowal. We have to strive to become completely filled by this property in our minds and hearts, hence entirely altering our present attitude to the world by pushing aside our old outlook.
We have to lose our current attitude and evaluate everything through the Creator’s eyes, the eyes of bestowal. We still don’t know what that is, but gradually we enhance our readiness for it; this happens as a result of the Light that Reforms. When it occurs, we reach the full capacity of the desire that was completed for us by the Creator.
We are totally unable to complete this work on our own. We can reach up to 99% of the desire to bestow with the help of the Creator, but we will never attain 100%; it is beyond our power. This is why it is said that the Creator will finish this work for me, will fill our measure, and then we will receive the perfect fulfillment for a perfect desire. This is how a person is born on his first spiritual step.
We see that we are approaching this step. We have gone through many changes and continue to have a better understanding of Rabash’s words; we see that he clarifies every single step on our way. Eventually, we’ll appreciate the level of his meticulous precision. However, it is obvious that he had to clothe this knowledge in such garments so as to attract us and not repel us. So, he avoided speaking openly of what the outcome of this program could be in the very beginning of our studies. Each time he reveals it a little more, to the degree that is beneficial for the students. This is the way Kabbalists write their books.
Rabash’s articles show that he took good care of us and unveiled a new methodology of correction for us. Since we didn’t understand his writings before and started to comprehend them only today, we can now state that we really follow his path with the help of the Creator.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/13
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