Entries in the 'Perception' Category

Breaking Out Of The World Of Fantasy Into The World Of Truth

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I feel the others if the heart doesn’t feel that they are close yet?

Answer: You have to think that the others are part of your soul and that only by the connection with others can you build the vessel for receiving the Light, the revelation of the Creator, the revelation of the true state, which means bestowal. The world of truth is the world of bestowal. We, however, are under the domination of a lie, in some fantasy that this world seemingly exists by the force of receiving. We have to think about this as much as we can, until it’s clear that everything exists according to the force of bestowal.

Our fictitious and distorted perception that forces us to think and feel differently is only in us. So because of it we don’t see the real world, and we are like blind people walking in the dark, feeling our way by holding on to a wall. We don’t understand where we are!

Thus, all of humanity is wandering blindfolded in the dark. We have to make our greatest efforts in order to remove this concealment, and then we will see that all of reality exists only by the force of bestowal and love. We will see reality as some kind of an enchanted fantasy world in which everything operates by the laws of total bestowal. We wander around this enchanted city and we have the chance to constantly correct and improve ourselves, by acquiring additional power of bestowal each time.

Thus we increasingly assimilate in this city and can use everything and understand and feel more. This is called ascending the spiritual ladder.

But the moment the spiritual ladder is revealed to us, it becomes clear that all of reality is bestowal and love alone. Besides, there is a small bubble in this reality in which we sleep, like in a coma, not regaining consciousness. This sick fantasy is only in our heads like in a mind of a person who has lost consciousness and different fluid, chaotic thoughts, flow in his mind. This is what is happening to us now…

The reality of our world does not exist! It’s only a kind of fantasy, but it’s very important since only from it can we ascend to the truth.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/04/13, The Zohar

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Contact With The Information Field

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Will the communication between people change in the integral society? Will they move on to some kind of deeply sensitive system of communication?

Answer: By their complementing each other, people will create such devices and mechanisms for measurement that they will feel the next level, the world, that in the meantime they don’t feel today since we aren’t connected to each other.

The thing is, despite the presence of the relative repulsion, there is no attraction between us which means there aren’t two forces which work to build the picture of this creation.

A person has to have a new sense organ called the “soul.” By uniting in integral groups, people find contact with their soul and then start communicating with each other on the level of the general soul—the unified information field to which they have to connect.

Therefore, there is the appearance of a large group of sensitive children because humanity is now more prepared to have contact with this information field.

Question: Can we expect some evolution on the level of biological bodies?

Answer: No. The biological body exists only within our feelings. To the extent that our feelings will begin to change into being higher, then the body will gradually lose its importance within our feelings until such a state that the whole world will begin to disappear like in a fog. Already physicists and psychologists are speaking about this. These are purely scientific statements.
[109308]
From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/20/13

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Life And Death In The Eyes Of A Kabbalist

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You and I are the same age. Today we see different flaws in the young generation that were taboo in our times, how can we find the power to love these people? Suppose a person behind the wheel runs over a boy before his mother’s eyes, can she love the killer afterward?

Answer: It isn’t about loving the killer. You are bringing an extreme example, but I will try to explain. The mother has to rise to the level where she sees what actually happens: That nothing in this world is done by people, but that everything is fulfilled by the system of cooperation between all the people and the one upper force that leads us towards the goal.

What does “her son” mean?  The boy that was killed is her son on the corporeal level, but on the next level, on the human level, it is part of a system that appears and disappears. When I discover the whole system, I don’t see any flaws in it; I see that everything is managed by only one force.

But in this case I am not on the same level the mother is, where we see, God forbid, how her son is killed. I feel all this differently. I am not the mother anymore, and he is not the child, we are all mutually connected and I already understand that both life and death are perceived in a totally different way. It is an endless change of states. What is the difference between feeling ourselves in our body and feeling ourselves outside the body? These are different levels of perception. We learn all this in the perception of reality.

So there is no answer to your question as you ask it. It is impossible to explain to a mother who is on the corporeal level of her development what has happened to her son. But a person who attains spirituality certainly perceives everything differently.

I also saw it with my teacher. Several months after I came to study with him, the mother of one of his students passed away. According to Jewish custom the relatives of the deceased sit Shiva at home and mourn. I came to express my condolences and what do you think I saw there? They were having small talk as if nothing had happened. I was shocked. It really affected me at the time.

This means that I began to realize that people see life and death in a totally different manner; it isn’t a tragedy for them, not the loss of life. When you begin to feel the whole network of forces, you see that nothing disappears, and no one goes anywhere, but simply disappears from your perception and not more than that. But it is hard to explain that at the moment.  We have to advance towards revelation and then a person will discover the answer to all the questions by himself.
[109887]
From the 1st Preparation for the Convention in Krasnoyarsk 6/13/13

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Whom We Correct

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam “Peace in the World”: Everything is evaluated not by its appearance at a given moment, but according to its measure of development. Everything in reality, good and bad, and even the most harmful in the world, has a right to exist and should not be eradicated from the world and destroyed. We must only mend and reform it because any observation of the work of Creation is enough to teach us about the greatness and perfection of its operator and Creator.

From here clear and far-reaching conclusions can be made. Everything that happens in the world at every moment comes from the single source, from the Creator. I correct only my own perception, my own vision. Moreover, I correct it in only one direction: to achieve bestowal fully. Thus I discover the world, which is less distorted by my nature, more complete; I see that this is its true, immutable form.

Question: If we correct only our perception of the world, then why do we need to disseminate among other people?

Answer: I want to bring them closer to the goal through dissemination. In fact, they are parts of my soul. The whole world is parts of my soul, and I work with them twofold: on the one hand, I carry the Light to them, and on the other hand, I create the condition for them to get closer to me. The main thing is that thanks to these two actions, directly and “through the back door,” alternating them we unite, and eventually I return all the parts of my soul.

This is the way I have to look at the world, including the still, vegetative, and animate nature. All reality is the essence of my soul, a unified desire. It’s revealed to me now because by definition, I cannot feel anything but it. The desire is my “sensitive material,” and I need only to reveal its reality correctly. I work on that, on correcting my own perception.

How? According to the principle of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Why? I do so because now parts of my ego, which distort the picture of the world, seem remote to me, often disgusting, opposite, and I have to correct my perception.

Thus, in the end, I correct only myself. That is why Baal HaSulam writes that even bad things should be not destroyed, but corrected. Now they are bad, hateful in my eyes, and when I correct my vision, my attitude, they will become good and useful for me.

It’s impossible to correct anything in the world, but oneself. We already see that this brings only harm. And hence it’s necessary to understand that all the corrections, all the positive changes, are realized precisely in our attitude.

Even if I see the most evil person in front of me, I need to correct myself so that he ceases to do harm. You can destroy someone only if he wants to stop my action of correction, meaning to kill me. Thus, he leaves me no choice, and in this case it will also be a correction. However, while I have a different solution, I must act, work on correction, so that evil is eliminated from the world.

Question: Still, why do we tell people about the integral methodology as if we want to convince them of something?

Answer: Because in this manner we assure the correction of ourselves. To whom do I explain the method? I explain to the parts of my soul. However, I do not correct them, but just give them a tool to correct themselves. And for me, this is self-correction.

We must imagine a system where my parts are outside of me, and that is why I can correct them in this way. I do not destroy or suppress them, but pass the method of correction by gentle explanations. I care about them to the extent of how much they are able to use it, and to the extent of their inability, I create the conditions for them to get closer to me. However, I do not pull them by force, do not demand obedience. After all, we are separated by the evil inclination and I have to correct it. In other words, I do so and they approach me, in spite of mutual rejection. And thus, I return them to the source.

We have to think about this picture. An evil motive penetrated the unified desire, broke it into pieces and scattered them in different directions. Now, when instead of belonging to one whole, we experience oppositeness, hatred; we need to understand how we transform this separation into unity; in the new power of our unity, we need to understand why we start correction in this way, preserving everyone’s uniqueness. I have to protect the egoistic desire. It’s like the “Angel of Death” that will turn into the “Pure Angel.” Without it, the whole creation is worthless.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/9/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Responsible For Each Other

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur sages said: “All of Israel is responsible for each other.” This is clear even from the days of Abraham who discovered the method of correction and gathered people who understood that it is possible to change the world only by changing man. In addition to that, by changing man we don’t simply change the world but also change our perception of reality and then instead of this world we feel the upper world. These are the people that Abraham taught how to connect, so that they would be able to establish the attribute of mutual bestowal in the connection between them, which is the vessel for the revelation of the upper world, the upper state.

The state of the egoistic connection and of what is felt within it is called “this world.” The new state in which we are connected and love one another is called “the upper world.” Besides, in this new state, in the mutual connection between us, we feel the general force of nature. We have not designed ourselves by ourselves in mutual bestowal, but there is a force above us that stems from nature which is in equivalence of form with us and is now being revealed in us. This is called the “revelation of the Creator to the created being.”

So, a “created being” is those who managed to connect as “one man in one heart,” in mutual bestowal. Thus, according to the equivalence of form, we reach the upper state. So, the principle of “all of Israel is responsible for each other” can be understood in two directions, straight and opposite:

·         If you belong to the category of “Israel,” you are responsible for everyone.

·         If people connect and want to belong to the category of “Israel,” they have to be responsible for each other.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/05/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Increasing The Sensitivity Of Our Spiritual Perception

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we acquire the integral approach with regard to the whole world to all of reality?

Answer: Imagine that you tell someone about your work place, about the place where you live, and about the world in general. You are not required to make any special efforts since it’s your life, and you feel that the world is yours. You “breathe” it and so you can wander around in this inner picture mentally and describe it in words.

We should also see the inner picture of the integral world in which we discern all the details and the connection between them. The same rules operate here too. There are states in which I can follow the general connection between certain phenomena, but the details of the mutual cooperation are still unclear since I have not yet entered this area. I see certain parts in general lines and they are relatively understood, but when it comes to individual parts, there are problems and I am not sure about what is going on.

This is the process in which I gradually penetrate more deeply and discover more subtleties. It’s as if I fly in a spaceship towards earth or check the scale of a map on the Internet until I “land” in a certain part.

But there are also exceptions: In our world we see bigger areas but fewer details, and when we get closer, we see more details but a smaller area. In spirituality, however, it’s not so, there both the characteristics of quantity and of quality of the picture of the world gradually increase. I encompass the whole system at the same time including its separate attributes; it’s because in this system every detail includes all the other details.

By this wonderful spiritual “patent” I see the general picture and each of its details as one, exactly the same.

Question: How can I become more integral? How can I increase the sensitivity of this perception in me?

Answer: Ask for it. There is no other means. No matter what you do, add a request to it that is as clear as possible and you will see how it works.
[109190]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/05/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From Faith To The Truth

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must yearn to actually see the friend as the greatest in our generation, to actually feel it “within reason” as if it were the truth and not as it seems to a person’s desire to receive. The desire to receive always wants to feel good and comfortable and so it instinctively diminishes everything around it so as to be “on top.” The most important thing for it is to rule.

So accepting the thought about the need to connect with the friends as a means for reaching connection with the Creator is only possible in “faith above reason” since we certainly don’t see things as they really are. It’s only according to this minor external condition—that a person yearns for the same goal and is ready to accept all the necessary conditions to advance towards it—that we begin to relate to the other as a friend as a means of connecting to the Creator.

According to these external signs, we decide to start working on our attitude towards that person. If he is ready to work together we dismiss all the other demands of our ego and we get closer to that person and connect with him in order to actually discover the connection between us, not only in “faith above reason.”

To the extent that we actually communicate, we approach the building of the spiritual vessel in which the Creator is revealed. The connection can be “‘above reason” when I don’t see that the friend is “worth it,” but I still connect to him. I use it as a means, which is called the time of preparation when I respect the friends not because I see that they are great. According to my senses I feel that I am greater than them, but I work above my senses and don’t agree with them and imagine that the friends are greater.

In order to transcend from a state of “faith above reason” to the state of “within reason,” which means to truly respect the friends, I have to correct the vessels, my perception. The correction of the vessels is when we begin to work on the connection between us, despite the fact that we know the opposite. We establish a society in which everyone impresses the others with the feeling of the greatness of the group and the goal.

By working together, we draw the Light that Reforms, and eventually we move from “faith above reason to “within reason,” and thus we continue to rise. The next levels are more difficult, of course. First the friends seemed quite average, having some good sides and some bad sides. When I had to work “above reason,” I could easily do it and accept them as equal, as partners along the spiritual path and even as the greatest in our generation. Their goal seemed important, and they seemed great.

But then came the hardening of the heart and I began to see different flaws in them, it became difficult to accept them as great and to see the Creator behind them, to warm myself by the fact that I don’t pay attention to anyone except the friends who become the most precious of all for me. Thus, each time becomes more difficult until I manage to overcome these interruptions and fill my measure.

Then all my efforts of working “above reason” turn to “within reason” and become the right vessel in which the first revelation of the attribute of bestowal takes place, which means that a person is filled with the feeling of the Creator inside him. Thus “faith above reason” is a gradual process, as we ascend from one level to the next, but when we build our vessel we have to yearn to have it within reason as much as we can.
[109091]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 06/03/13, Writings of Rabash

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When does the corporeal reality become a spiritual reality for a person?

Answer: It happens when he can relate to others as to himself, when the boundary between the two is erased.

In fact, we cannot even say that we acquire the attribute of bestowal, although this transition is described that way. We cannot actually acquire new attributes. Our essence, like computer hardware, remains unchanged.

The whole point is to what extent I “take in” the other as if he were myself. I operate above my growing ego since otherwise there would be a natural closeness between me and the other, just like between a couple or between partners who worry about one another because of common interests or interdependence. This is the reason that the resistance of the ego should build up and above which I still bring the other closer to me, until he actually becomes like myself according to the principles of “don’t do to others what is hateful for you,” and “love thy friend as thyself.”

This doesn’t mean that I exit myself. More accurately, I “swallow” the attributes of the other, which seem external to me. Then the whole world is mine.

Question: The problem is that when I look at my group of ten, I don’t want to “swallow” it….

Answer: It will come, and then you will feel that the friends are the closest people to you and that no one is closer than they are. Even your relatives, even your family will seem much more distant than the friends. After all, the friends are close to your soul and the family is closer to your body. The family is like a contract that we have to keep, and the mutual guarantee between the friends is very dynamic, constantly changing, by joining, getting closer to you more and more….

I repeat, eventually, you will not come outside, but will actually let all the friends enter you.

Question: How can I speed up this process? Since it comes back and hits me time and time again.…

Answer: That’s right, the future is knocking at your door, and you don’t let it in and thus you feel pain. You have to open the door in advance before it can be knocked on, since otherwise it’s too late.

It says in the “Song of Songs”: “Open the door for me my beloved.” But his beloved is not ready, she doesn’t want to receive her beloved, and her door is locked. When she does open, the beloved is already gone, and is hiding: “I searched for him but I did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.”

So you should open your door in advance, open up to the Creator together with the friends.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/03/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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We And Time

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We live in the flow of time. There are people who waste a lot of energy learning how to plan their time. Does this depend on how much a person has to do?

Answer: It depends on a person’s desire. Essentially, the internal self-organization of the person depends on his psychological setup, and everyone has their own.

There are people who are very organized internally: They consider each step from the start, they are compelled to plan their day, sometimes even long before they materialize their plan, and this is how they operate all the time. This is “in their blood.” But if there is a desire, it’s possible to learn this.

There has to be a clear task set before an individual, the obligation to carry it out, the desire to fulfill it, and the influence of the environment on him or her. All of it has to be organized in a way that it will work within a person.

On the other hand, there is a worldwide trend of evolutionary development, which changes our desires and values. And therefore, even if we obligate a person to work according to the previous values for attaining goals that are no longer important to him today, it will be very difficult for us to get a good work yield out of him.

This also depends on time. A very serious change in man and society is taking place today. Every people, every civilization (today there are six or seven civilizations in the world) has its own sense of time, and therefore we need to take this into account.

For example, the inhabitants of Africa, China, and South America comprehend time completely differently than the inhabitants of Northern Europe and North America. They have an absolutely different approach, internal sensation of time, and they ascribe different value to time. For some time is money, like an immense potential they were given and now must realize, while for others time flows calmly and they flow together with it.

Question: If the representatives of various civilizations feel time differently, does it mean that the amount of activity done by them will also differ?

Answer: Certainly! If I employ a worker from India, with his mentality and with his relationship to time, or I take a person with a Nordic character, they will have completely different requirements for themselves, for those around them, and for everything.

We need to understand that the sensation of time in various modern civilizations is different. In accord with this we have to plan our interrelationships, attitude to general connections, associations, and so on.
[108688]
From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/17/13

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Very Helpful Imaginary Friends

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Yesterday, you spoke about Abraham who discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah by introspection. What is that?

Answer: All of reality is in a person. What is more, reality doesn’t actually exist, there is a picture of it that I develop inside me. It is felt in the vessels, in my desires, by a certain sensor, by inner frames of a photographic film that reflect the reactions to the upper Light that depict my lack of equivalence of form with it.

A “flashlight” of the simple white Light is directed at me, but I am made of 613 different desires, different attributes that form a colorful, three dimensional picture of the world filled with sounds, scents and things I can touch on the background of the white Light. In other words, I actually “draw” or design the world in which I live.

However, according to my perception of reality, everything depends on my attributes and not on anyone else. It turns out that, if I change, the world will change. This is what we can do by introspection when I understand that I can change the world by the changes I make in me.

So, how can I change? I cannot do that by myself. I only have an unpleasant feeling in the current reality, and I cannot pull myself up by the hair out of the swamp. After all, even the thoughts about a change are part of this swamp.

This is exactly where the force of the shattering helps me. In my fictitious reality, there are people around me who tell me, “You know, we also think about that.” I see that the other parts of the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature are managed by one general mechanism, but my imagination draws people who have the exact same vector as I do, and this enables me to practice and to exercise. Now, I can see myself from the side. I can work with them just as I work with myself, like with an external reflection of myself.

When I work with them, I discover that this game is very creative. The relationship with the images of the friends helps me advance by acquiring a new perception, a new feeling. They don’t develop my old attributes and don’t add to the previous mind and previous feelings, but rather develop new qualitative attributes in me, attributes that I didn’t have before.

For example, a multi-dimensional perception or rising above the concept of time: Before, I could see the past, present, and the future, and now I stop feeling time. The external movements disappear and I perceive everything internally and connect it with the inner movements. I change, and as a result I feel changes on the background of the white Light.

If I work with the images of the friends that I see this way, I understand that it is true that they are depicted by my imagination, but the right attitude toward them allows me to acquire a special means for inner changes. Through the mutual efforts with these images, I attribute a certain independence to them—to the extent that I want to be independent. Eventually, when I play with them this way, I acquire the perception that takes me out of the current picture that is drawn on the screen of my consciousness to a new reality.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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