Entries in the 'Q&A' Category

Questions About Co-Workers And Americans

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I have a problem at work: Some people annoy me a lot, and I have to admit that I look down on them and feel myself to be better than they are. Should I just ignore things that they do and accept them and love them as if they were pieces of myself?

Answer: You have to love them no matter how repulsive they seem to you.

Question: If before correction we are all being guided unknowingly, like puppets, by the Creator, particularly the politicians and nations, then why do you single out America as if we are some rogue operator who, as you say, “is trying to destroy Israel”? Why do you make snide remarks about their intentions? If you have a problem with the U.S., rather than post such divisive rhetoric, why don’t you take your own advise and “go to the craftsman who made them”?

Answer: To help you overcome your arrogance and, using your influence over the world, to correct it as soon as possible.
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The Uppermost Ideal Is “We”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to unite? Is it by our thoughts or by practically hugging someone? What is the meaning of the concept of “unity”?

Answer: If you are talking about the ninety-nine percent of the world’s population, they need to understand that they have to unite on terms of equality and mutual concession. They have to realize that we are all in the same boat on this one, small planet that could explode any moment.

The concept of “unity” refers to the unification of all of our efforts for attaining agreement above all the differences that tear us apart. It is when we put collective interests above personal ones.

The uppermost ideal is “we.” All the rest is meaningless. It makes no difference who is right and who is wrong. First and foremost, it is “we”! This should be the basis for making decisions, organizing different actions, and creating plans and programs. Everything should be done only in terms of “we”!

Gradually, we are beginning to understand that we all are so different only so that this “we” will be rich and varied. Each of us still will be able to exist in it namely with his or her individualism.

Take any electronic system, and you will see that there are many separate parts, but they all work together. The collective idea exists above all opposite elements.
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From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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Inside A Unified System

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If all the women of the world group really worry about the men’s advancement, will they be able to integrally influence the thoughts of the entire world?

Answer: Of course they will. This is because we are part of the world, and we are connected with it globally and integrally by millions of different networks, whether we want it or not.

The entire system of creation is so mutually interlocked that every thought, every desire is part of this system. You don’t give orders to influence or not to influence. All of our internality, all our desires and thoughts, our hearts and minds, are in this system. So undoubtedly, by being a strong internal part, we strongly influence the entire external world.

Especially now, when we are beginning to attain the upper world, we will become a billion times stronger than anyone else. So the same kindness, cooperation, concern, and mutuality will gradually permeate the rest of the world, and all people will feel a need for it. They will begin to understand that nature is arranged in such a way that we all are interconnected and should be joined together by positive forces, by positive thoughts and desires.
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From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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A Single Whole: “I, The Group, And The Creator”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When you return to the point of unity, what should be the correct internal movements in order to develop this point?

Answer: It is “I, the group, and the Creator.” You should try to feel them as something that has volume. “I and the group” means that I am part of the group and dissolve in it to such an extent that “I” becomes “we.” The Creator is also in the group. Together, we reach a state where there is neither “I” nor “we” nor the “Creator,” but rather all of us integrated into one whole. This is the point of unity.

Question: If a person sees that he has a great desire to care and think about others, is this the right attitude?

Answer: Yes, but this is not enough. There also should be the point of the Creator from Above. Otherwise, you are simply creating a group of people who care about others.
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From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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Example Of The Creator On Our Lives

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean to be like the Creator?

Answer: It is written: “Just as He is loving and merciful, so shalt thou be loving and merciful.” We have to gradually reveal the connection between us, which means to be like the Creator. We don’t have any other examples of how to be like Him. The Creator does not let us sense Him, He does not send us pictures, images, or documentary films of Himself. We can only imagine Him based on our lives.

Those that have attained the Creator tell us that His example in our lives and the form closest to Him is the connection with the group of friends, and the articles about the group lead us to this very special bond.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Advice For A Person Who Wishes To Correct His Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can a person use the concept of “love of friends” so that he’ll advance toward it even when he doesn’t feel this love and connection?

Answer: If you feel that you must advance in the direction of love of friends because by doing so you are correcting your soul, then you know exactly what to do.

However, if you are in a state where you don’t feel the need to obtain this love, then you have to search for advice that will help you reveal the necessity and the importance of attaining the love of friends. This is the only thing that exists. If “love thy neighbor as thyself” is the main rule of the Torah, then besides it, there is nothing else for you to fulfill. All of your actions, in mind and heart, have to be directed at obtaining greater love and connection.

It seems like a simple thing. We don’t feel the taste for this work, and we don’t understand what’s so special about it. We want to be engaged in more serious activities, and we don’t get the principle of love of friends.

However, if I realize that the matter of creation is egoism and that the only way I can work on it is by working on the connection between myself and my friends, then our connection becomes a field. If I use it correctly, it becomes a field that’s blessed by the Creator and if not, it becomes a field that’s lurking with thieves and predatory animals.

We may feel that this isn’t serious or important and that there are far more exalted goals in this world. We are asked to love each other as if we are asked to be good children. However, there is really nothing else besides this.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Fundamentals Of Kabbalah – 12.18.11

A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Point Of Unity Is In Everyone

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There were plenty of people at the last Arvut convention who attended physically or virtually and did not feel the point of unity you and many others talk about. Could we say that the convention was useless for them and gave them nothing?

Answer: Of course not! They are also co-participants of this achievement, and it is in them, only it has not been manifested clearly, personally. It’s similar to how children live with us in one world, but cannot feel everything that adults do. If these people make necessary efforts, they will feel the point of unity that was achieved by everyone with their participation. It already exists in them in a hidden form.
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A Gift That Grants Us Infinity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: After the convention, we received a “gift” of distance, heaviness, and tiredness. Since to some extent, this is a consequence of attaining the common Kli, is it possible that some friends will receive such intense heaviness and tiredness that it would throw them off the spiritual path?

Answer: Of course, why not? Everyone receives a precisely calculated measure of Lights against the Kelim (vessels). No one receives it without a reason and there is no protection here.

Everything occurs in accordance to the balance between forces and desires since we are situated within a system of laws. Although we say that this or that is done according to the Creator’s desire, these are merely words. However, if you exist within a system of laws, then it simply cannot be that He just decides to do something.

The Light is at absolute rest. Desires change according to their Aviut (thickness or coarseness), according to the Reshimot (the informational genes) that are revealed in them. Therefore, there is no particular desire from Above that wishes to do anything. By praying and asking, we prepare our desire so that it becomes more acute, and thereby we perceive more than before.

Praying means judging ourselves. The correct interpretation of the word “praying” is when I do something with myself, rather than with Him. Who do I affect with my request? In my prayer, I think about how I may change so that I may perceive all the goodness from Him. After all, the upper Light is “the Good who does Good to the wicked and to the righteous” and no changes come from Him.

Thus, if some of our friends were thrown off the path after the convention, if some descended, others became a bit tired, and yet others got confused, this indicates that everyone was granted heaviness of the heart according to their Kelim. If he is able to manage this heaviness and return to the same degree of excitement and inspiration that he felt at the convention, he truly will reveal the soul.

At the convention, he achieved the point of unity and was thrown off it into the outside circle purposely. Now, if he returns to the same point of connection, the entire external circle will join this point. It will acquire “flesh,” meaning that it will have a Kli and Aviut.

Within this Aviut, he will reveal the world of Infinity. This will be his very first, minimal spiritual degree, but in his sensations, it will be revealed as infinity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/2011, Preface to The Book of Zohar

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Back To Unity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: After the convention, I feel more and more emotional at every meeting of friends, sometimes to tears. Is this indeed happiness and an ascent?

Answer: After the convention, we certainly have begun to relate to unity differently. It is easier to return to it now. It became more exciting and attractive; it no longer seems artificial like before.

We have reached this spiritual reality, the beginning of a spiritual degree. And now we need to join a little more of our effort to it so that it would penetrate within us and grow “flesh,” thickness of desire, on this point. Then in this thickness, we will feel real, spiritual reality.

Every person should exert effort, constantly returning to that understanding of unity that has already permeated into his sensations. In spite of the current emotional rejection or blurriness of feelings, I try to return to the state we have achieved.

What for? Maybe in order to feel good or in order to proceed further, even without positive sensations. And maybe I feel obligated in regard to the friends with whom we are in mutual guarantee.

The reward can vary, but overall, we all require a craving for unity. This is the most important thing: to aspire to unity constantly no matter where you may be at a given time.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/2011, “The Peace”

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