Entries in the 'Q&A' Category

A Treasure Gathered From Pennies

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It is written, “Penny by penny, they accumulate into a great treasure.” Does each person put in his “penny”? Or is it our collective “penny” on the path to the goal?

Answer: A person puts together these “pennies” or small desires that he receives from all the friends. By uniting with them and aspiring to enter the mutual guarantee, he acquires aspirations from everyone and they unite inside him, giving him strength for the path.

However, even this is still insufficient. I have the strength, but I don’t have the “material.” This “material” comes through in small portions. Egoism is revealed in me piece by piece, and I overcome it to the degree these portions appear.

Here too, “penny by penny,” they accumulate into a great sum.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/4/10, Writings of Rabash

How Do You Put A Call Through To The "Heavens"?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the will to enjoy attacks me during the Convention, I feel weak and “fall” down, is there an emergency number I can call or someone I can tell about it?

Answer: Every person will receive the phone number for emergency situations at the registration. But how do you put a call through to the “heavens”?

“The heavens” is the next level, and that means it is the group that is united as one and that I imagine as being in mutual guarantee and perfection. And it really does exist in this state. I can be outside of it or I can see myself as inside.

The “heavens” are the common desire or Kli of the higher level. It is all of us, but more consolidated. Spirituality does not exist in a ready-made form. We build it. Nothing exists in front of us. We contain Reshimot that gradually awaken. But they only awaken, while you enter various states and build them according to your desire and intention.

We create the worlds and levels ourselves. Before we act, there is only informational data from which we build levels. But there are no worlds before us. That is why you can imagine the future states only in the form of greater unity of our common desire or Kli.

That is where you should turn; this is “the heavens.” And they will respond, “If you want to, come closer, and if you don’t want to, then stay where you are.” It’s true that a person cannot pull himself out of prison, but he has to ask, demand, and make efforts to be helped.

If a person is not trying to be in one connection with us, then he does not receive the opportunity to advance. If you ask, “Who should I ask for help?” It is written, “I am looking for (asking) my brothers.” That is whom you ask for unity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/4/10, The Zohar

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A Very Simple Intention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can the environment bring me to something other than my own egoism, when it itself is also comprised of egoists?

Answer: But you yourself choose the environment. The Creator has put a single desire and a common aspiration into a group of people, and He has gathered them here. They neither looked for nor needed one another, but He brought them together. They do not know where life will take them, but they differ from any other environment through their sparks and spiritual aspirations, which the time has come to correct.

I unite with my friends in order to establish a connection with their sparks, and this is the essence, this is my environment. One is pleasant looking, another is not so much, the third is quick-tempered, and the fourth a scholar, but I do not pay attention to the exterior forms because all of them pertain to the beastly properties of our world.

Instead, I look at the sparks that have ignited in my friends and are connected among them. These sparks are the consequence of the screen that connects us, and as I permeate further, I arrive at the place where it mends us together the same way.

Everything depends on the depth of immersion in our common “pie.” Its upper layer is the exterior, superficial view. And then I begin to look further inside. After all, an inner unity is now being manifested among my friends. I was brought to them so I would arrive at the essence, starting with the exterior impressions.

I can find this connection in any part of the world, and conceptually, I should not need to travel anywhere. All people are interconnected, but not all are already experiencing this desire to reveal their unity.

And so I have been pushed into this layer of humanity, which now needs to be corrected. That is, this layer has to reveal the common interconnection, and the Upper Light or the Creator within it. Now I try to discern this system as fast as possible, I am ready to be in it.

The mutual guarantee is the law of this common system, and the correction becomes revealed even more deeply. Nothing else exists; we are simply submerging ourselves deeper into this “pie,” the essence of the exterior images, the root of everything that happens.

I am always directed inward in order to find and strengthen the connection between us. During the Convention we concentrate on this simple intention.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, “And the Children Racketed Within Her”

Infinitely Inward

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is required of me at the Convention? Should I be writhing in agony regarding my own birth or that of my friend’s?

Answer: Neither. Let everyone care only about tuning into the environment. This way one nullifies himself and becomes inspired with a friend’s desire. When every person does this, we automatically enter a deeper layer of our relationship.

Imagine a “pie” with many layers. On top I see the Convention participants, beneath them I see the friends, and even lower I see united sparks. With my eyes, I want to penetrate as deep as possible into the net that connects us, stretching across all the layers into Infinity. And this only depends on me.

One can jump impatiently or stand quietly, but regardless of what I do externally, the main thing is to concentrate as much as possible on the desire to reveal our inner connection which surely exists between all the creatures. Once I reveal it, I reveal everything in it.

For that I reject myself, striving to submerge even deeper in order to become a part of the common net, blending into it. This intention, this inner concentration is enough for me to begin to feel reality, the authenticity of the collective unity, more clearly.

In our world, we observe the consequences of a global interconnection, similar thoughts, and phenomena that appear in different people and different places. But all of this is the consequence; it is the “tip of the iceberg.” And yet there, deep down, is an unbreakable iron connection that binds us.

This connection is what we must reveal. The aspiration is enough. The rest will be revealed in it: the desires and the revelations that will lead us inward.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, “And the Children Racketed Within Her”

Be Ready For The Revelation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The Convention is our next state. What do we need to do now in order to come to it with the correct desire or demand?

Answer: At present, we still need the feeling of lack, aspiration, and longing, just as before an anticipated meeting and expectation of a joyous event. We need the desire to unfold the connection between us so that it would open in all its might and, within it, the force of bestowal, the Creator, the Light that fills this collective soul, would emerge.

Right now, we are preparing ourselves for this revelation. However, we should not seek the lack itself. Rather, we should constantly think about the desired state. As a result of this seeking, from my ideas about unity, I will start feeling that I don’t possess it. Because of this, the void (the desire) will appear within me. The Light creates the desire!

A person who doesn’t seek a good state of existence will not feel what he is lacking. After all, when you seek it, the Surrounding Light of that state affects you and increases your desire for it. You will yearn for the good states, for love and unification, and, accordingly, you will discover the opposite states: rejection and hate. In fact, we all act in two opposing systems: reception and bestowal, the left and the right lines.

Man is the reversed imprint of the Creator, the form of egoistic desire. All the Lights that affect us only turn our form inside out, bringing us to the authentic form from “for the sake of reception” to “for the sake of bestowal.” This is what the Light does with me. But in the beginning, I always discover the reverse or egoistic form.

If I aspire to the good form, then, inevitably, the descent will come, and I will discover hate and resentment. However, there is no need to dive into the depth of evil and make discernments. This egoistic form will emerge on its own and will force me to study it. Inasmuch as I make efforts to get rid of it, will I get to know all its details in order to transform it into bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/10, “This is for Judah”

The “Graphics” Of Mutual Inclusion

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What happens at the Convention?

Answer: Something very simple happens there. Imagine that we are in some kind of box. It contains our desires, each of which must unite with the desires of others and become included in them. Suppose there are 24 desires inside the box; then each of them will have a force equal to 24.

This is the first level of unity, the first spiritual level, when each person includes everyone else inside him once: 24 desires, and each of them consists of 24. This is the mutual guarantee.

If we attain the state, then we become equivalent to the Light of Nefesh, which then fills us. Why? It’s because we have attained the state where we are all included in everyone, where every person loses himself inside everyone and each one absorbs everyone inside him. This is the first level of our equivalence to the Light.

I have canceled myself in relation to others and acquired their desires as my own. This is called “love your neighbor as yourself,” and thus I become equal to the Light of Nefesh, which fills me.

Now if we increase the degree of our mutual inclusion and bring it to greater depth, I will include everyone else inside me and every other person will include 24 desires (24 x 24). In other words, I go from a small system of mutual inclusion to a more inner, qualitative, and complex system. Then instead of the Light of Nefesh I will be filled by the Light of Ruach, and thus I will ascend to a higher spiritual degree.

This way, to the degree of our mutual inclusion in one another, we reveal completely different forms of mutual inclusion. In order to receive the Light of Nefesh, this took place inside a two-dimensional plane, but in order to receive the Light of Ruach our inter-inclusion acquires the form of a three dimensional space. Then I already have a completely different attainment, one that includes depth. Gradually our mutual inclusion turns into a multidimensional system whose form resembles a honeycomb.

People are not coming to the Convention to study, but only for their souls to become mutually included. This happens on the inner level and a person does not know how. For three days you are among a huge amount of people and this connection constantly works inside you.

It turns from a point into a line, from a line into a square, and from a square into various other forms, until it turns into a sphere – the symbol of perfection.
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From the talk on 10/27/10

Keeping The World At The Right Distance

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I stop pursuing the pleasures of this world and acquire an interest in connecting with others?

Answer: The external “race” stops when we include ourselves in a group and start concentrating on its interests. Baal HaSulam and Rabash explain to us that in this world, we should only pursue our immediate needs. That doesn’t mean that we have to limit our requirements to plain biological necessities in our everyday life. The limitations concern mostly mass media.

If we need to get information for further dissemination of Kabbalah or for our professional advancement, then it really is mandatory for us. Nobody forbids us from listening and watching the mass media, nor demands that we isolate ourselves from the world. However, you have to understand how to choose the right information since it clearly affects us.

It is impossible to absorb something and, at the same time, manage to stay away from it. When you let the information flow through you, the impression stays. That’s why we have to protect ourselves from the wrong information. Otherwise, we expose ourselves to the whole world, and it “infiltrates” us.

Maintaining connections with other people is essential, but they have to be thoroughly calculated. The measure that we have to absorb in order to advance spiritually is called “necessary” or “essential.” Of course, no one suggest that you cloister in a monastery or go back to living in a cave, but at the same time, it is not good to expose yourself to the mess that the world around us produces.

In everything else, we have to stay under the right influence of our environment and study the authentic sources. With the correct intention and the help of the group, we will enhance our desire and will view our goal more clearly.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “The Need for Love of Friends”

How To Place Yourself Under The Influence Of The Environment

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Now, when so many people are about to arrive at the Convention, will each of us be able to attain the sensation of the spiritual world?

Answer: This entirely depends on us. I think that we are going through very good, advanced states and the right preparation. Lately there are many drastic ascents and descents happening every day and I am very happy about that.

These states are wonderful because in order to unite correctly, we have to reveal both the evil and the good. Both the evil and the good become revealed one after the other, alternating.

All the states we are going through are the preparation a person goes through with awe and excitement. We should not be feeling rest or a static state, but as if we are about to enter an important event and go through inner sensations.

We have to understand that all the states we are now going through are given to us from Above and each of them is absolutely necessary. In spite of these states we have to carry out everything that is incumbent upon us.

If I place myself under the influence of the friends, if I cancel myself as if I have closed my eyes, and I completely don’t care about what I want and my only desire is to feel their influence, then it is a blessing from Above. This might seem like easy work, but when you do it you are immediately faced with obstacles and worried thoughts. They come to us deliberately and we will have to overcome them and remain under the influence of the environment.

People who know how to work this way will benefit a great deal. They don’t separate from the problems, but “swallow” each of them, and above every obstacle they advance by faith above reason, explaining to themselves that what is happening at the Convention now is more important to them.

Thus they shift “back and forth,” each time entering and exiting various states, tuning out of the Convention and returning, as it is written, “The Torah will come out of Tzion,” meaning the Light will come out of the exits (descents).

The Torah comes out of these kinds of exits and entrances (into spiritual states), when there are obstacles and people constantly analyze their states; eventually, the Light appears inside them. If a person is able to behave this way and at the same time to sing and dance, then there is nothing better. If he holds himself this way, then he will definitely feel the spiritual world.

A person will suddenly feel that the world is eternal, that it is common and interconnected, and that he is inside the flow of a special Upper Force.
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From the lecture on 10/26/10

Our Main Trump Card

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we create a virtual spiritual environment for children in all the study groups in the world, will this affect the acceleration of time, as it is written, “Israel accelerates the times”?

Answer: Education would seem like a secondary aspect, but in reality it is the most important thing. If we provide an example of the right upbringing where our children blossom like flowers and excel at everything, including education, their behavior, their ability to perceive and to express themselves, then we will be able to show the world the new humanity. No one will be able to withstand this example.

We will show that this kind of education system can be organized not just in one place, but it can be done in a virtual form in many places all over the world. Thus we can create a new generation of humanity.

The current generation has a problem because it has no continuation; there is no next generation. All the suffering experienced by parents and even by people who don’t have children or a family, is accumulating together. If we set up a network with a system of educational television in the main languages of the world, we will be able to strengthen the social connections among children, organize special children’s camps, and much more, and then no one will be able to provide anything better. After all, the national education systems continue to fall apart.

This is the trump card that will allow us to win! When people see that every child who is educated in this network is successful in all the subjects, stands out with his good behavior, correct attitude to life, understanding, and his physical health, then there is no doubt that this will tell all.

It is impossible to copy this system; others can only join it because its foundation is common unity, while copying it would mean disunity. Therefore it won’t give a separate group or country the same result.

This system can only be organized based on the principles of unity: the world is global, the connection is integral, the necessity is to unite, and all people are brothers. It turns out that the world will have to accept our method, which will take on a systematic, scientific form.

Our network must be diverse and include children from different countries. We have to show that they all study the same primary source and the same method, and are all connected together. They are the new humanity with universal values, which is what evolution demands from us.
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From the talk on education on 10/31/10

The Convention Will Revive Our Collective Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What kind of work do the people attending the upcoming Convention have to do? What is our role in the unification of the global world so that we may become the people through whom the wisdom will pour onto the nations of the world?

Answer: This work is exemplified by the law that governs the existence of any living organism. Suppose that receptors of the nervous system are placed throughout the body. In the same manner, the vascular, lymphatic, and other systems spread through the entire organism. Likewise, people from all over the world are arriving to the Convention. On one hand, they all belong to one system, the system of Israel. On the other, they all live in different countries located in various corners of the globe and seem to belong to diverse, alien nations.

Each place where they reside is affected by various spiritual forces. The entire globe and each of its parts is affected by a certain Upper Force “responsible” for the continent, country, or nation. Therefore, a person who is part of the system of Israel and is arriving from some other country or place in the world is, in a way, our representative in the collective system.

Let’s take, for instance, the nervous system whose receptors exist in the leg, arm, chest, and stomach areas. And now, these parts of ours (as it were) that are located in different countries are arriving, and we unite together. It turns out that, together, we awaken our collective system, for instance, the nervous system of the collective soul called Adam. And then, through our friends living in various places in the world, we, together, awaken the whole world.

We see that after our conventions, awakenings occur in previously unheard of places, and people whom we have never heard about start joining us. Each of them is a force able to awaken billions of people. After all, in spirituality, if the contact is made, the Light immediately reaches the organ wherein this soul belongs.

Thus, we observe that our collective soul expands throughout the entire world and exists in all humanity. And the response of this collective soul clothed in all humanity is amazing. We begin to feel that this is, indeed, the integral global mankind, for the first time beginning to understand that we all depend on each other.

Thus, by means of such gatherings, when we unify together with our friends (the integrated system of Israel in the whole world), we thereby revive the entire system of individual souls that are mutually connected not by the egoistic principle, but by the principle of Isra-El (aspiring directly for the Creator).

This is what is called the correct, internal circulation of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the whole world. Uniting, we thereby fulfill our role as Israel in relation to all nations of the world. Thanks to that, we will be finally graced with unity and the Creator will dwell in the assembly of our souls.
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From Kabbalah for the Nation Introductory Lecture Series, “Israel and the Nations of the World” 10/26/10