Entries in the 'Kabbalah Study' Category

It Is All A Matter Of Intention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Today an expert has to study his whole life in order to “catch up” with the changes in his field. One way or another, science discovers accurate absolute laws. Do such laws exist for those who yearn for spirituality? For example, are there clear, unchanging formulas without which we will not attain our goal?

Answer: What are you actually studying in the lessons? We can describe our egoistic desire as a “box.” This is the material. Above it there is the intention of in order to receive, and that is the problem. The material of the desire is stable, unchanging. It is only the intention that changes by changing all of our reality.

So ignore the material, it is unchangeable. But if you change the intention, then the feeling within the material will change drastically. You will be able to do that only by evoking it to change.

Today we fill ourselves by the egoistic intention. It is among us in our mutual relations. The desire to receive is aimed at itself; it wants to receive in order to receive. As a result, we all feel reality in the form of “this world.”

There are five phases between the intention of in order to receive and the intention of in order to bestow, or 125 steps. It is only about the intention! If I learn to use it correctly, a greater desire is revealed time after time. This is how I transcend the “Machsom” (barrier), I restrict myself by keeping myself from treating others badly, then I build a good attitude towards others, and then I bestow upon them. Then it turns out that others, and in fact the whole “field of work,” is actually myself that is gradually revealed to me.

All this is according to the stabilization of the intention. There is nothing we should worry about except the intention. The only remedy is to evoke among us a concealed internal power that will change our intention. Then, gradually, in our environment, we will discover the worlds of Assyia, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, Adam Kadmon, and the world of Ein Sof. We will discover them here, among us, and not somewhere in unknown distances.

I should only discover an attraction, a vector inside my desire that is aimed at changing the attitude to others, which is the intention. Let’s hope we succeed in preparing and doing that in the Arava convention in the desert.
[68250]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/3/12, The Zohar

Related Material:
At The Peak Of Intention
The Point Of Spiritual Elevation Above Myself
All The Difference Is In Intention

Questions About The Studies And Amalek

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do the daily lessons start at 3 A.M. Jerusalem time? Is there a special reason for it?

Answer: This is how we studied with my Teacher Rabash.

Question: Many of your students come from the orthodox Judaism and follow its main principles: observe Shabbat (Saturday), eat kosher food, and so on. So when in one of the morning lessons you said that “the orthodox cannot be my students,” it confused us.

Answer: I do not have a single orthodox student! Many of them listen to the lessons from home, but are not in direct contact with me.

Question: What is Amalek: a historic personality of a force within us?

Answer: Everything is within man, including history.
[59675]

Related Material:
Amalek, A Cunning Enemy
A Praiseworthy Flexibility
Religious Resistance To Kabbalah

A Game Arranged From Above

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can you make a faster decision, see what matters, and not waste more time on it than is necessary for its analysis?

Answer: For this we need the power of the group; a person alone is incapable of it. This is exactly why one person was not enough to correct the breaking, and he had to be divided into many pieces to learn what connection is from the lack of it.

Now we need to do this around the world. Today Pharaoh is being revealed in the world: the power of our breaking. We simply need to have the right attitude towards it, and then we will know what we need to do.

On one hand we need to reveal the breaking, and on the other hand, we need to understand that it is a tendency of nature; we can find the power that will correct it all and achieve connection. We are given all the means for this.

A person alone is incapable of this, but next to him he has friends and a teacher, whom he listens to. And this will awaken him and properly aim him toward solving problems, so he won’t treat them as personal problems, but instead, will only perceive them in the form of a subject for correction, as a revelation of the breaking, the Pharaoh.

Everything that happens is only given with the purpose of solving problems and reaching a corrected form. And under no circumstances should he delve into different egoistic calculations: Conversely, this will lead to even greater breaking.

It happens that not just one person, but an entire group can become so confused that it is unable to come out of its problem state. But there are other groups and a teacher to help them. It is impossible for them to remain in their same state if they are studying: The Light will still illuminate and evoke changes in them, and eventually they will understand that this is a game, which was arranged for them from Above. But if they are unable to come out of this state, they are probably not studying or listening to what is being said during the lessons.

Otherwise this would not be happening. Because when a person studies and does not deviate from his usual schedule, the Light influences and awakens him, and the Creator gives him the right point for analysis.

But there is nothing that can be done when people do not want to listen. They will go down the path of suffering, and then a part of them will leave and stop studying, a part will grow, and a part will drown in this swamp. This happens when you do not return to the principle of: “There is none else beside Him” and you do not go with Him to Pharaoh.
[68973]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/6/12, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
The Irreconcilable Quarrel Between The Creator And The Pharaoh In Me
Pharaoh Himself Will Help Us Run Away From Him
Pharaoh’s Troubles

Who Is The Teacher For Me?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: At what stage should we introduce students who study through virtual courses of the Education Center to veteran students and the groups?

Answer: I don’t think it’s possible to restrict this connection in any way. In general, it’s best not to intervene; it should occur by itself. And certainly some of our experienced friends need to assist the teacher in working with new students, by giving lectures, answering their questions, and helping establish communications with them. However, the veterans need to be careful not to show themselves as “big” since by doing so they would undermine the image of the teacher in the eyes of the students and prevent them from the possibility of learning in the correct manner.

It is possible only to learn from a “great man.” Conversely, if you think he is small, then you are already the teacher and he is the student. Thus, it is very important that the assistants don’t stand out, but remain as assistants to the teacher and display a respect for the teacher. They will set an example for the students and will elevate respect for the teacher in their eyes, and this will help the students receive more from him.

After all, in the wisdom of Kabbalah, the material is comprehended according to the importance of the teacher. The more the student annuls himself before the teacher, thus he will be considered a better student. We are not talking here about knowledge that I comprehend with intelligence, but specifically about how I see myself as small in comparison to the teacher, or the teacher as great in comparison to myself. The greater the gap between us, the more abundance will descend on me. There is no measurement for abundance in itself. I define its intensity precisely according to the same greatness that I elevate the teacher in my eyes. This is very important. The assistants need to correctly build the relationship of the new students to the teacher. Success depends on this.
[68767]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/12, Learning Kabbalah

Related Material:
How To Start Hearing The Teacher
Spirituality Cannot Be Expressed In Words
“Things That Come From The Heart, Enter The Heart”

Everyone Has The Right To Learn

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: People who recently found out about Kabbalah have doubts about whether or not it should be studied methodically. What is the use of regular, systematic study of the science of Kabbalah?

Answer: Throughout history the only people who came to Kabbalah were those who felt a burning worry, a burning desire. A person could not hold himself back. It was important to him to find out what the essence, source, or meaning of life is. And according to this desire, he “ended up” with the science of Kabbalah. And that’s because everything we see in the world is a spiritual force field in which we move. If the spiritual desire awakens in a person, being an aspiration to the Light, to bestowal, to the Creator as the source of Light, then he finds Kabbalah by moving to it naturally, similar to a charge in an electromagnetic field.

This happened in every generation. However, today is a special time when not only individuals, but masses are discovering that our world is empty. They feel this from the suffering and inner emptiness, and then they also ask the question about the meaning of life. However, their question is aimed not so much at the source of life as at the cause of what is happening: Why do they feel bad and where could goodness come from?

This desire is vested into the garments of our world. It does not yearn for ascent or the search for the source of life, its force, its Governor. A person just wants to know how to arrange his life to avoid losing everything. His family is falling apart, his children are strangers to him, he has no job, everything is vanishing into thin air, and who knows what will happen next? This is driving millions and even billions of people to the same Source, although on a lower level of desire.

Therefore, today we accept everyone to the study of Kabbalah. If a person wants to study and find out some things, then let him come and study. At first we present the science of Kabbalah to him in an easy, friendly form and talk about “rights” rather than “responsibilities.” But later a person sees that just like in any other area, here he also has to exert efforts, and he has to do it more and more. In order to acquire something important, one has to work a lot. This is not a secret, but a person first has to see that there is something to gain here.
[68770]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/12 on Kabbalah Learning

Related Material:
A Course For The Development Of The Soul
Know The Secret Of Life
So You’ve Come Out To Protest? You Have Mail!

Be Relevant

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When we start talking about current global problems during the lesson, many of our friends take it negatively feeling that we are “missing” part of the lesson. I feel that this attitude should be changed. Without current affairs we have no right to exist. If we are not relevant people won’t hear us out.

Answer: This is also true. Baal HaSulam wrote about the Jerusalem Kabbalists who studied Kabbalah like mathematics and didn’t realize that it’s about the connection among us, about how to correct the broken vessel. Today we discover the shattering of the common soul of Adam HaRishon (First Man), and so the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us in order to correct the shattering.

If we don’t examine the current events from this perspective, then why should we study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Clearly we study only for this reason. Missing the lesson means that I come out of the lesson and throughout the whole day I have nothing to hang on to so that my life won’t go by aimlessly. If my wisdom isn’t connected to real “substance,” it disappears. Even if I feel important, that I have acquired something, and that I understand something, it’s only an egoistic filling, nothing more.

Therefore, if someone thinks that we are talking about current problems just to pass the time, then he shouldn’t come here. After all, he is here thanks to the relevance of these current affairs. Only because of this was each of us brought here so that he would contribute to the correction of the world. But if a person sets himself another goal, he can leave. We don’t need him.
[68313]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

Related Material:
Our Amazing Generation
All In Good Time
The Daily Lesson For The Whole Day

Coming To The Lesson With A Request For Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we prepare all day long for the lesson like for a meeting with a king, where it is possible to come with only one request, how would tomorrow’s lesson look?

Answer: You would receive a very great Light. You would feel how much it gives you. Through the material studied, you would begin to feel the spiritual system that bestows upon you. Dry lines (of the text) would be resurrected. They would acquire depth and transparency and create inner volume in everything. It would become clear to you that our entire world is flat, like a picture on the wall. And behind it, you would suddenly see a new dimension, a system that moves the whole picture and assembles its parts. When you feel the importance of the goal, you will begin being in it.

But in the meantime, we belittle the goal, reject it subconsciously, thus, of course, it is distant from us.

In any case, we must advance forward, and first of all to be concerned about understanding its importance. Even if we are advancing now, we must always pass over to the left line for critical clarification and see that it is not enough. With each day we must add efforts to the connection, and only to this.

Besides that, we must thank our friends from all over the world who perform dissemination and distribute explanatory materials. We need to support them in their work, it really helps us all very much.
[67491]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

Related Material:
Spiritual Energy Charge For The Whole Day
Preparation Is The Key To Success In The Study
Why Do I Get Up For A Lesson?

Spiritual Energy Charge For The Whole Day

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During a convention or the friends’ meetings it’s easy to attain the feeling of love towards the friends and the connection. But why does the opposite sometimes happen during the lesson?

Answer: The morning lesson isn’t meant to fill the student. The lesson should shake him strongly and put him in his place, so that afterwards he will be able to choose the direction correctly, to exert himself during the lesson and also afterwards, and to continue living in it the whole day.

The morning lesson is the minimal daily portion that everyone receives and continues to process the whole day. From it he chooses several principles for his internal work and for dissemination. I remember that when I studied, I never missed a lesson except for one time when I was very ill. If you spend the morning without a lesson, you will only feel your corporeal body the whole day and will serve it the whole day.
[67451]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/12, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
The Daily Lesson For The Whole Day
The New Habit
One Prayer From One Heart

The Meaning Of Life As A Basis For Building A Person

Opinion: (Michail Barbolin, The Institute of Adult Education, The Russian Academy of Education): “It is well known that the concept of good and evil are relative. Where is the line we need to adhere to in order not to harm either oneself, or the others, or nature? Where is the mechanism which would regulate and guide human behavour? How can we arrange a world, where not only we will bring no harm, but will also know how to organize life? To accomplish this, we need to grasp the meaning of life, the meaning of modern civilization, and from there, to determine the necessary changes in society.

“With the advent of man, his destiny in this life is inherent in his essence, which he must realize by manifesting morality, interacting with the environment, and realizing love and duty.

“The meaning of life is the result of systemic activity of the human body. Its form of expression is a mental representation, as reflected in the way of life.

“The significance of meaning binds the psychic activity and the objective reality, and at the same time, belongs to the subject and object, connects the mental and physical worlds. Providing a qualitative change, the meaning of life acts as the law that connects people and actions.

“Personality is a set of social relations.

“The law of the meaning of life integrates the moral qualities of the inner world of man and their manifestations. Through the thought and meaning, man’s nature, the self, which does not concur with nature, and material actions get adjusted.

“The deep meaning of life is in an endless continuation of life through the way life.”
[66637]

Related Material:
Overcoming A Potential Obstacle
Change Of Human Nature In Our Time
Know The Secret Of Life

Discover The Creator’s Goodness, Not His Presents

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Creator doesn’t hide from us; rather, it is our ego that hides Him. Our opposite nature is what separates us from Him. So how can we take on the Creator’s form? How can we reach Him according to the law of equivalence of form? How can we discover Him and find out that He is in us?

In order to do that, we have to perform certain actions. Who performs these actions, us or Him? There is probably a need for cooperation here. We can’t advance without the upper Light. By “rocking” us, It demands our cooperation, which is called “free will.” This cooperation is all of our work. There are no restrictions here. It is open to everyone and is implemented by the correct studying of Kabbalistic books.

These sources can be the “elixir of life” or the “potion of death.” It all depends on our approach.

  • If I intend to discover my evil inclination and to correct it, I can succeed, and the wisdom of Kabbalah will be the “elixir of life” for me. I will discover “death,” my ego, inside me and will want to correct it in order to come to life.
  • But if I study to attain egoistic achievements, if I am looking for knowledge, power, respect, control, etc., then the studying only reinforces the egoism in me and my success is opposite to bestowal and I am not even aware of it. Such a study becomes the “potion of death.”

Thus we go through the stages of the Creator’s concealment. The concealment is divided into single and double concealment; the revelation first reveals to us the governance as reward and punishment and then the revelation of His eternal Providence.

Actually it all depends on my desires, on my vessels. With regard to the Creator, there are no restrictions. He doesn’t hide and is not concealed. It is my desires, my vessels, that hide Him, and if I work with them properly, they are gradually corrected, and according to their correction, I discover the Creator. One way or another, I am the one who hides Him from myself. [Read more →]