Entries in the 'Perception' Category

The Current Of Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the real sensation of the Light?

Answer: I don’t have anything to give to another person, but when I really want to give him something, then inside of me, in my attitude to him, in the aspiration to bestow and love, a special “current” becomes revealed which is called “Light.”

In order to perceive any external phenomenon, it is necessary to reach equivalence with it. Like a radio that is tuned to a specific wave, I generate the wave, the quality that is outside of me. Inside of me I create an example or model of the quality of bestowal that is outside. And then I catch and perceive this quality.

If I truly want to relate to another person by the law of bestowal, then suddenly, in my attitude to him, I develop a certain fulfillment that seems to come from outside, although in reality it floats to the surface from within. This response that I felt in my aspiration to bestowal is the Light.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/11, “Arvut”

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The Light At The Other Side Of The Picture

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When will the Light unite us? How can we advance together while we exist in evil?

Answer: We work to overcome. We understand our state and examine it, and we must support one another in mutual guarantee. Then the Light will settle between us.

It also helps us now. If the Light did not fulfill us to the smallest degree, we would not feel the desires that are nevertheless being revealed in us.

After all, we, all the people, and the entire reality exist in a perfect system. Now, a little Light is appearing in some people, and they are beginning to feel where they are, why, and for what purpose. They are beginning to receive the Light in the form of a connection with the environment, in the form of a mentor. They are beginning to feel the Light in their vessels as if they were studying books in the group. All this is happening “as if” because the corporeality does not exist.

In reality, all of this is the revelation of the Light. There are no people, no group, no mentor, and no books. These are the forms in which you reveal the Light that presents itself to you as the means of spiritual advancement.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Upbringing Works On Every Age

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We are trying to teach the world about unity, but an egoistic one for now. How can we later raise people to the level of love for the Creator?

Answer: They will make this transition under our guidance. After all, we are leading them into the framework of the new upbringing, rather than just gushing in front of the public.

People will have to enter the network of upbringing, which envelops every age group, from 0 until 120, and which is in effect from now until the end of correction, throughout all times. Everyone will have to undergo an unceasing process of upbringing. Say, a third of the day will be spent on work, and two thirds on upbringing, which is also work in and of itself.

Then, through a gentle, customary presentation, we will explain to people the principles of Baal HaSulam, adapted to the whole world. After all, the science of Kabbalah talks about the will to enjoy and the will to bestow pleasure, about their relationships and interactions, about how to correct our nature. There is nothing “virtual,” imaginary, “spiritual,” or mystical about it. It is talking about forces that act inside of you.

By revealing them more and more, you will see that no one is forcing you to “float up in the clouds.” “Spirituality” is the intention for bestowal. If I attained bestowal to another person, that means I am spiritual. But if I care for myself, then I am material. Our relationships, which are based on bestowal, are the spiritual world, whereas our current relationships are the material world.

But we are not even talking about any kind of “worlds.” After all, it’s difficult for a person to give up his old notions, and therefore he will become confused. Therefore, we are giving him simple explanations, presenting the entire science of Kabbalah without any special terminology, with scientific words.

We have to build up this system of upbringing so we could gradually give people the knowledge about human nature. Nothing more than that is necessary. We are talking about man’s nature, which is the only thing that was created.

Thanks to this, a person will constantly develop until he discovers what lies on the outside – the system of his interconnection with others. And in it, he will reveal the Creator.

In practice, we can give explanations in terms of perception of reality: A person isn’t even revealing a connection with others, but himself. The desires that appear external and alien to him become revealed as his own. It turns out that this is him. By bringing the external parts closer to himself, it’s as if he sews them on, implants them, and joins together the separated organs of his body. And according to this, he feels and reveals the perfect reality.

Now I see only what is present in a small part of the broken body. But the more parts I reunite with it, the more I reveal in it.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/11, “Arvut”

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Radiating Love Onto The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we continue to work on our inner unity and interconnection, will we also love each other more in the outside world?

Answer: Yes, but it doesn’t only apply to us, but to the whole world. After all, it is all one system. If at our level (which is higher than that of the rest of the world) we try to draw our spiritual parts closer to unity, in so doing we will also bring the material parts, meaning people, to unity between them.

Indeed, there are no people, and there is no unity or rupture between them. These are the same souls, only they picture themselves and the connection between them from the viewpoint called “this world.” Everything that you see is the same very souls in the same network, only they perceive themselves and the web of connection between them as our illusory world.

Therefore, if we aspire to build this connection, being within this common system with them, only at a higher level of awareness and understanding, naturally this will impact everyone else.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/2011, The Zohar

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And The Secret Will Come To Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I cannot understand the meaning of creation and the existence of our world. Is this the creature’s fault or the Creator’s design? Who is to blame for this misunderstanding?

Answer: No one is to blame here. We are in a state where instead of the world of Infinity, immense and perfect, we see our world and ourselves as imperfect. So, let’s make an effort to view everything in the light of bestowal, rather than in the light of reception. Then, we will see that in reality, we are completely corrected, in a vast and perfect sphere filled with the Light, the Creator.

There was nothing else. It was just a misunderstanding of where we existed. We exist in this beautiful realm now, just as we did in the beginning. So let’s put our efforts into making this a reality.
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From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 7/10/2011

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The World Where “There Is None Else Besides Him”

Dr. Michael LaitmanA human being is created in such a condition that it seems to him as if other people exist and a huge world surrounds him. But all this is his inner desires which he has not yet been able to join together to see that there is only he alone, standing before the Creator.

One should attribute all the distortions, disturbances, extraneous thoughts and desires, and seemingly “random” incidents happening to him not to their numerous and imaginary sources and reasons, which still appear to him because of the imperfection of his work, but only to the Creator.

This is what the internal work consist of. After all, everything that a person does not attribute to the Creator, but rather ascribes to other forces, such as other people, all sorts of reasons, fate, and even to himself, all of this is called “idols” (foreign gods). Thus, it turns out that he considers himself dependent on something other than the Creator, as if there is some other force that can be a source of influence on him, either good or evil.

We must realize the principle of “there is none else besides Him” above all the obstacles intentionally leading us astray so that we learn to tune ourselves to the single force, one source. This work consists of several seemingly different types and stages:

  • To clarify the uniqueness of the Source, whether other sources exist or it is the only one;
  • To clarify the nature of the Source, whether it is kind or evil;
  • To clarify our relationship with the Source: Is it “for oneself” or “for the sake of bestowal.”

A person performs the work related to the Source with his personal spiritual vessel, desire, by uniting with all the others, and then he feels himself as the only creature. He also unites all the forces acting on him, all the various sources into one Source. In other words, there are several types of work, depending on how those two, a human being and the Creator, connect.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/2011, Shamati #15

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Like Clay In The Hands Of The Master

Dr. Michael LaitmanDo not imagine the Creator to be somewhere far, in some far-off  worlds, existing separately from you. Everything only exists within our desire; everything becomes revealed within us.

It only seems to us that the entire reality, beside for us, exists somewhere on the outside and is divided into the layers of the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature, which are either closer to or distant from us. But all of this exists within our desire.

It only seems to a person as if it were not his, as if it were foreign, and this confusion is given to him intentionally, as a consequence of the breaking. But as he begins to work on attaining bestowal, he gradually, to the extent of his readiness to bestow and sacrifice his egoism, starts to sense these parts of the universe that appeared to be foreign and external to him: the still nature, plants, animals, and people.

Evidently, everything belongs to him, and it only appeared to be foreign to him due to his ruined perception.

This way the Creator awakens a person with His invitations and stings at any opportunity, and the person becomes more sensitive to responding to bestowal. He only needs to carry out the instructions with more precision. This is why the Torah is called an “instruction” (Oraa) so we could use all the means given to us in this world (the teacher, the study, and the group) and transcend it.

It doesn’t matter that one does not understand what he is doing or that he just tries like a small child playing a game. If he really desires to attain spirituality and is prepared to cancel himself before the teacher, the group, and the study in order to change with their help and become manageable clay in their hands, he will begin to feel the changes happening within him.

A person does not know where they come from. Kabbalists say that they come from the Surrounding Light. But we do not perceive the Surrounding Light because it does not become the Inner one, and we only notice its influence by the results. We suddenly begin to understand and feel more; we become prepared to be closer to bestowal, the teacher, and the group.

This is how the Surrounding Light operates, and everything depends on our sensitivity to the changes we must receive. I must desire for them to happen directly within me, within my desire, for the Creator’s image, the image of the giver to dress itself in me, and for my desire to receive pleasure to acquire the form of bestowal.

And so I will attain adhesion: I will sense how I merge with the Creator inside of myself. But I connect with the Creator and exist within Him, and the Creator exists within me. This is why He is called the Creator (Bo-Reh) or “come and see.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Let’s Live!

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” Item 432: …all the people in the world know that they will die and return to dust, and therefore many repent and return to their Master because of this fear. They fear sinning before Him.

Question: What is the meaning of “to die”?

Answer: “To die” or “to live” talks about the desire. According to The Zohar, “alive” means bestowing and “dead” means receiving.

In spirituality there is no life or death. We talk about life and death in our world because we perceive only one form of existence and we see that this form seems to disappear from us. We think that life is the body when it’s breathing, and death is when it stops breathing.

But to a person who starts to feel spirituality, this distinction becomes very strange: How is it possible that this is the indication by which we tell the difference between what exists and what doesn’t exist, what is alive and what is dead? That’s because this person shifts to perceiving a different form of existence, and the earthly notions of life and death disappear for him.

If a person shifts to a more important perception where bestowal is considered life and reception death, then he rises above the level of an animal to the level of a human, and then life to him means existence on the human level and death on the animate level. He does not connect life and death to the existence of the animate body.

Then this animate body disappears from his sensation, losing its significance for defining his state, life and death. Even if the body dies, a person is already on a different degree of desire in the sensation of life and death in relation to spirituality, and he is united with them.

Therefore, this world no longer causes him to experience breaks in the process of the soul’s development.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/11, The Zohar

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The Light Revolution

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is it possible to explain the Kabbalistic method using terms of modern science?

Answer: Can you explain the mathematical Fourier transform to a cow? These are different degrees. A person who does not have a “sixth sense,” a point in the heart, cannot understand what you are talking about. He does not have a need for this, and therefore, it’s pointless to talk to him. Therefore, in our wide dissemination, we have to conform to the desires of the masses rather than of those who study Kabbalah.

Throughout all the generations, the world did not understand Kabbalists. And the world is right: From their degree people are not capable of this yet. It says in the Psalms, “You save humans and animals…”—but when? Today you cannot explain to people about the altruistic intention Lishma. It’s even difficult to talk to them about the topic of the perception of reality. This is intriguing and provocative, but they don’t understand or grasp the essence because they simply can’t.

In order for a person to really be able to hear words about the correction of his desires, he needs one more level of desire. But until then, we can only accelerate his development using external means. One way or another, as long as he doesn’t feel the sting in his heart, he won’t understand your explanations.

That is how the world is built. People are on different levels of development, and even at the end of correction the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels will remain. Yet it is written, “Everyone will know Me from the smallest of them to the greatest of them,” meaning each person according to his level.

The time will come when we will see how people will start grasping our words: some through scientific terms, others in the language of feeling, and others yet by virtue of simple actions, which are enough for a person to join the unity. Some need to attain and feel the adhesion, to actively participate in it, whereas for others this is unnecessary. Everything is determined by one’s desire.

We shouldn’t suppose that everyone will receive the same degree of desire for bestowal and the Creator’s revelation. However, every person will receive the full measure in accordance with his own vessels, and will be filled thanks to the common inter-inclusion.

That is why to this day Kabbalists concealed their knowledge. But now this knowledge can be revealed, although every person will hear just an insignificant part of it. Nevertheless, as a whole the Light is already starting to operate in a big mass of the common desire. This is the revolution that is happening in the world today. The modern crisis is essentially the inter-inclusion of desires.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/11, Shamati

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The World Through The Prism Of Desires

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do our efforts to unify during our reading of The Book of Zohar impact the world? What changes does it instill?

Answer: There is no world per se. Your efforts build this reality for you. Right now, it seems to you as you see it. To the degree of your exerted efforts, you create another reality, a different world. What you make is what you get.

Spirituality has no image. It doesn’t have any specific picture unless a person forms it within himself, within his desires that he collected and linked in one.

We should reflect on this as much as possible in order to get accustomed to this view of reality. This isn’t about spiritual attainment. I am saying that every person in our world, who hasn’t attained any spirituality yet, can still choose to view reality as suggested and in so doing begin experiencing certain sensory impressions.

Question: But how do our efforts to unify affect the desires of the most coarse level within us, where there is no yearning to unite? It seems that at the deepest level, I don’t have the slightest aspiration or desire to unite with the others….

Answer: I am made of desires of all kinds and forms, of all levels of Aviut (thickness, coarseness), including desires that don’t change until the final correction. These desires unfold in me in all possible combinations which I am not the one to set up.

I must, to the best of my ability, mold them into a spiritual form, meaning to bring them to unification with the desires that seem alien to me and which I reject, despise, and wish to have nothing to do with: “Who are they, anyway?! Why do I need to unite with them?”

I must overcome this resentment and try to unite with them if they have a desire for spirituality similar to mine. For now, it’s only with them. And if we try to rise above our mutual resentment and unify, we build the “place” for revelation of a more inner degree.

Question: Sometimes, I feel as if I am standing against the wall, trying to push through it with all that I”ve got, but it won’t move. What do I do in this state?

Answer: Ask the friends for help….
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/2011, The Zohar

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