Entries in the 'Spiritual Work' Category

Spiritual Anatomy

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah “Leviticus” (Tazria-Metzora), 14:10, 14:14-14:17: And on the eighth day, he shall take two unblemished [male] lambs…

And the priest shall take of the blood of the guilt-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleanses, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger before HaShem.

And the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt-offering.

This passage is about various types of correction. Priest (Cohen) is the highest quality of Bina. Blood (dam) from the word “domem” (inanimate) is the lowest property of a man.

Hands, feet, fingers, and ears signify the qualities with which one is supposed to work. For example, an ear stands for the property of Bina in a man. Fingers and toes symbolize ten Sefirot of Keter. The right arm and leg are the level of Hesed.

In other words, we come to a state when the Upper Light called Cohen starts correcting apparent, obvious properties in a person. The big finger of the right hand symbolizes Keter de Hesed. The big toe of the right foot denotes Keter de Malchut.

Anointing the tip of the left and right ears indicates the correction that is done with the help of blood and oil since the blood stands for “domem” (inanimate), whereas “oil” stands for Bina. Generally speaking, oil symbolizes the Light that comes from the Sefira Hochma. This is how correction happens.

In this world, there are two concepts: listening and hearing. Sometimes we say: “You don’t hear me.” What does hear mean? It means that there is a property in a man, but there is no implementation of this property. To listen and to hear are two different things. One can listen to sounds, but in order to hear them, one has to turn on one’s internal apparatus.

This is why when the inner apparatus that has the property of oil is turned on at the level of Hochma (the right ear), this property begins to perceive, feel, and attain the level at which it is positioned. In this case, one begins realizing and accepting the level that one is at. This is the point where one’s correction takes place.

Hands stand for the receiving vessels, whereas feet are the tools through which we give from what is repelled. The head is the entry point of everything that goes into our system and feet are the place through which everything goes out. This process is called circulation.

Usually, a lower system is originated from the feet since ten Sefirot of Malchut of the lower level have to grow up to Keter of the inferior Partzuf. This situation must be corrected, although there is actually nothing to correct since the remaining Sefirot will be altered by this action automatically.

Many religions have a ritual of feet ablution. It means that when one corrects, underneath him there will immediately emerge the next, inferior Partzuf, the lower system that is built of the ten Sefirot called ten toes.

Feet stand on the ground, i.e., they are positioned on the general desire. At this time, a viable object that can be further corrected and that is made of the general desire has to be shaped, meaning there is a need to form something concrete that requires correction. So, in order to self-correct, feet have to be clean.

Question: Why is there always something between the ground and the feet, for example., shoes?

Answer: There is a rule that one should never sit on the ground. One has to place something on the ground before sitting on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sheet of paper or any other object.

The ground symbolizes a completely uncorrected, non-scrutinized desire that is a mixture of the good and the evil. In order to start analyzing it, one has to stay outside of this desire, to float above it. That’s why it is not permitted to sit on the ground without an interlayer placed between the person and the ground, there always has to be either a layer of clothes or something else there.

Question: Does this rule explain why in order to receive the crops from the land we should first plow it?

Answer: No, it is a totally different scheme. The ground has to be overturned in order to sow it. If the ground is not plowed, the forces that make grain grow, won’t be released.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/25/14

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Son Of The Future World

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe moment I receive the intention “for the sake of bestowal” without receiving anything in return, I begin to be called a “son of the future world”; I enter the upper world in the perception through the intention to bestow, the aspiration to bestow.

Then I begin to perceive the Light that fills me, the Light of Hassadim, in my bestowal to others (only inside the desire, because so far I have nothing to bestow), in my attitude towards them. This fulfillment pulls me away from my egoistic desire.

It does not disappear, but I pull away from it, rise above it; it no longer feels important to me, the desires of others become important to me, just like what matters most to a mother is the desire of her infant, and she dedicates herself fully to caring for him. But this is part of her nature, and we attain this attitude towards others through the Upper Light.

In this way I reveal the upper world. And as I disconnect from myself and begin to live within the desires of others without any connection to myself, I reach a state called “freedom from the angel of death,” when my desire, where I previously felt alive, no longer feels like the source of life in me, something that brings me to life. It does not bring me to life. I perceive life in the fulfillment of other desires, Kelim, because they have become mine.

Freedom from the angel of death means that my desire, even on its lowest initial level, which seems as though my body can cease living, receiving even the minimal illumination that gives it life, Kista de Hayuta, and I do not feel as if I had lost something. I no longer relate myself to it because I have acquired a different Kli, called soul.

These others’ desires that I perceive as mine are called a vessel, the Kli of my soul. And the fulfillment within these desires is fulfillment with the Light of NRNHY of my soul. There I meet the upper force, the root of everything, and this means that I attain adhesion with the Creator.

Then I begin to understand that the little sensation in my egoistic desire, with which I had begun my journey, was a mere illusion in which I needed to live and exist in order to enter this universal reality of bestowal.

The previous reality was simply imaginary, existing only in my illusion, like in a dream. But in reality it does not exist, because there is no place for desire to receive pleasure. This imaginary, made-up world disappears like a dream.

In this way we approach a different desire. And every time a person attains within the Kelim of others, which become his own. And this is why it is written: “Man learns where his heart desires”; in that place, in those desires, he reveals an eternal, absolute, higher life.
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From the lesson 11/26/2010, Writings of Rabash

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Advice -> A Wonderful Means -> A New Calculation

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe listen to the advice of the Kabbalists about the proper way of organizing ourselves in different situations and states in order to receive the maximum influence of the Light that Reforms.

This is why we carry out different artificial, material, egoistic actions according to the principle of “We shall do, and we shall hear!” And this advice works.

But Kabbalists cannot obligate us to perform acts of bestowal. As we work with our egoistic material according to their advice, we want to attract the unfamiliar force of the Surrounding Light so that it will influence us and transfer us into a new state.

And at that moment when I begin to change, I begin to act in a different manner, with a new mind and a new heart. We work according to this chain: advice -> a wonderful means -> a new calculation.

This is why, when working with students (both children and adults), one needs to search for activities that will attract the maximum Surrounding Light, and this will have the best outcome. And, if it does not work, then there is nothing that can be done. All we can do is ask for correction, raise MAN (prayer): I want an inner change!

Everything that comes from above is a consequence of the influence of the Upper Light, which we cannot touch. It pertains to the “secrets of the upper governance.”

We attract the Surrounding Light by studying the primary sources. And if adults read the texts of Baal HaSulam, it is enough for the children to have a discussion about these articles; for example, a discussion on “Body and Soul,” “Perception of Reality,” or “Freedom of Will,” discussing their connection with some physical or chemical laws in our world. Make it entertaining, in the form of a game. By doing this, we will attract the same Light.

We need to explain the mechanics of changing a human being to children. They perceive it as facts and begin to use it. Gradually all of this will become stored in them.

Working with children differs from working with adults. It is written that teaching a child is like writing on a clean slate. A child’s matter understands everything naturally so they accept everything they hear from adults as the truth.

This reflects the between the root and the branch. When we perceive someone older than us, we perceive all of his words as obvious facts. And we need to use this property that children have in order to fill them correctly instead of that with which our egoistic world stuffs them.
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From the lesson “Body and Soul” 11/29/10

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Has The Creator Left Me, Or Have I Left Him?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Baal HaSulam said that a person must act practically in order to awaken a love for the Creator in him, but why is it so difficult to do so? Why is there such an inner resistance?

Answer: The fact is that the moment you fall, you not only cease to feel the love for Him, but  you also lose the connection with the Creator, and so it seems to you that the Creator has left you.

The truth is that His love is absolute and infinite, but the concealment on the part of your ego is increasing every day and every moment, so you don’t feel the love inside you. The point is that you forget that it is a result of your inner cooling off, and you think that it is the Creator who has left you.

Therefore, you cry out, “Why have you left me!” However, in fact, no one has left you. On the contrary, the Creator has given you a chance to discover Him even more, by yourself. This is the difference between religion and the wisdom of Kabbalah. A religious person prays to the Creator asking the Creator to do everything for him, while a Kabbalist prays to the Creator to give him the power and the means by which he can correct something.

Question: Does the idea of awakening the love for the Creator mean awakening the love of friends inside me?

Answer: It is impossible to do it otherwise. It is only through the love of friends that you can reach the love of the Creator. As it is written, “From the love of man to the love of God.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Turning The Land Of Canaan Into The Land Of Israel

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus”, 14; 33-35: And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, “When ye are come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; then he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying: ‘There seemeth to me to be as it were a plague in the house.'”

Question: I know that people can be infected by leprosy, but I have never heard that it is related to the home. What is the meaning of a home being infected?

Answer: This is only about desires. There are only desires and forces that surround us. If a force is egoistic it appears in the form of different problems like leprosy for example.

A person’s external spiritual desires are called a home, a yard, a field, and a desert. The soul is in the body and the body is in the home, the home is in the yard, and the yard is in an open place in the desert. These five levels: the soul, the body, the home, the yard, and the desert are the same five Sefirot. First they are all egoistic, and so we have to correct them.

First we speak about the correction of the body and now about a totally different level, about the correction of the home, that is about a level called the land of Canaan. A person is a mobile system while a home is connected to the land. This means that a person and his yard seemingly don’t touch one another and there is a home between them. Therefore we have to examine the level of the home now.

Canaan is the land or the desire (“land – Eretz” stems from the word “desire – Ratzon” in Hebrew) that needs to be corrected. Then the land of Canaan becomes the land of Israel. Israel is Yashar-El (straight to the Creator), in order to bestow, whereas Canaan is not that yet.

Question: There are no such attainments in modern Israel yet, so where are we living in the land of Canaan or in the land of Israel?

Answer: Only in the land of Canaan.

Everything that can be corrected on the level of the land is called Canaan. This is already a level, but a level that needs to be corrected. And there are other parts that are still very far from them since besides the land of Canaan, there is Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Babel, and the rest of the world. This is how the land gradually decreases in holiness and grows further away from love and bestowal.

The growth of the opposite attribute, the ego, begins from Egypt, where they used to embalm people. This means that they attributed godly attributes to the human body and tried to immortalize it.

If we speak about holiness, then Israel with its center in Jerusalem is the source where the upper force is revealed to the greatest extent and then it spreads to the lands that I mentioned previously.

Now these states cause the greatest problems because there are the same egoistic forces in them as there are here. Does the positive force stem from Jerusalem today? It is only terrible egoism! This of course, spreads from it, like from the center, and moves in circles to the neighboring countries.

This is the reason that Baal HaSulam said that Jerusalem is the foundation, the source of all the impure forces, and that we must correct it first and foremost. Now this demand comes from all the neighboring countries in the form of their pressure that is meant for us to correct the source of our holiness. Then everything will be fine in these countries too.

We believe that it isn’t our fault that there are wars in Syria, Lebanon, and in other places, but in fact we are to blame for everything that is happening in the world, since we are not the source of the positive force. The nations of the world are absolutely right about that, but we have to work on that. We have already seen that the pressure will not help us. On the contrary, we should all begin to approach this matter independently and work on the correction that the rest of the world expects of us so much.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/25/14

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The Way To Perfection

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It is known that to fulfill our egoistic desires, we use only 3% of our brain’s capacity. In which case would we take advantage of the entire 100%?

Answer: When we begin to include greater desires, then the other capacities of the brain will be used. If we begin to mutually operate the attribute of bestowal between us, the brain will begin to enlarge and activate areas that previously worked in a neutral mode.

But in this case, we are no longer speaking of the physical brain, because when we enter the spiritual world, we stop identifying ourselves with the body. We are not partners with it. Therefore a person who maintains his physical body (and for this there are special laws and instructions), the majority of the focus of life moves to the other side, the side of the spiritual.

For any of our attainment, each stage begins with the body, as from zero, when a person has absolutely no spiritual attainment, similar to how a newborn gradually develops, and thus we develop on each level.

The body needs to be ill, to suffer, to die, and to decompose. Everything takes place according to the spiritual levels, until we go to such a level that it already fully acts in bestowal, and thus there no longer remains opposing forces in him and the possibility of death disappears.

This state of our desires is called eternal, perfect. When we reach this state, our body disappears from our sensations. And in the end, all of this world will enter into a new state, a new dimension.

Question: This means that instead of two forces only one force will exist?

Answer: No. Two forces will remain, but the second force, as well as the first, will work for the sake of bestowal.

All the negative forces have the right to exist and a person’s main problem is to understand that when he enters the system of correction, in attaining the soul, in revealing the Creator, he only needs to change and invert the negative forces into positive ones. This is because they are the most effective and productive, giving the desired fruit.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/20/14

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The Donkey Rides On A Man

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are beginning to be disappointed by modern science. No matter how many discoveries science has made, ultimately we discover that we are not supported by it.

Science has given us a multitude of medicines, but on the other hand, medicine has become a global industry that doesn’t always set the healing of the sick as its goal.

Science has made it possible for us to produce an abundance of food, but in spite of all this, half of the world is malnourished.

Science has created a whole army of machines that are ready to replace a person in just about all areas of life, but millions of miserable people are forced to invest hours at work, sometimes for pennies, and the unemployed, in contrast, are left lacking everything and are gradually drop out of life.

We are not okay. In fact, all of the current achievements are concluding some kind of historical cycle. And today, at the beginning of the 21st century, it will become clear that this cycle was only so that we would discover and understand that it is not through science, technology, nor the modern philosophy of life that we reach a good and successful life.

I have no chance for a good life, and most importantly, we stop looking sanctimoniously at our own end. But` I don’t just want to disappear at the end of my life, rather I would like to discover eternal life for myself. But no. The best that I can do is to be less distressed at the current moment, using different “bait.” That is all of our lives.

Today humanity is doing some soul-searching: Why is all of this here and for what? And so the time has arrived to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah. After all, only knowledge of the general system, and only this science that speaks about the general plan and about the method for realizing it, only this wisdom is truly worthwhile. And without the wisdom of Kabbalah, we will not find the real answer to any question.

Scrutiny of the way through which we have gone brings us to this. Since Adam, 5,774 years have passed. The human species has existed for hundreds of thousands of years. And what’s next? What have we attained with our human development? Have people become happier, more secure? Are we living a better life in this world? Do we know at all what we are living for, or do we simply exist to hold onto this beastly biological life, so that the body will suffer less?

How miserable a person is under the dominance of his “beast,” under his corporeal needs, serving them all the time: Now I let it lie down to sleep, now I feed it, now I wash it, and so on. This means that throughout all his life he is concerned about his “beast,” which in spite of it all, will finally die.

Is this what we are living for? Are all of our wisdoms and personal resources going to this? Is the Adam (man) in me living for this, to placate the “beast?”

And so now, a person has the opportunity to discover the wisdom of Kabbalah, and then he will understand what he has acquired.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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On The Threshold Of A Grand Event

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What do we do when the feeling of unity begins to subside?

Answer: I advise everyone to seriously engage in even greater unity. Moreover, it should be distinctly aimed at creating one single desire directed at connection where the Creator will appear.

You must develop this thought in you, seek it constantly, analyze, collect, process, and refine it. It should constantly churn inside of you and you need to “suck” it like hard candy.

Strive to support each other and treat each other with great sensitivity. Do not distract one another from thinking about spirituality. Reread what Kabbalists write about the conditions of uniting at Mount Sinai in order to “be as one man with one heart.” These are the conditions for revelation of the Creator.

The entire world group stands at the threshold of this event. What is required in order to come to it? Find materials about standing at Mount Sinai and read them, trying not to perceive the language of the sources as religious.

Constantly remain in an increasingly more precise, pointed, common, mutual, and intertwining intention so that all your intentions will connect between you and create one single whole through which the Creator will be revealed. You can achieve this.

Do not confuse this most important goal with going out to the broad public. Going out among the people is meant only to “tighten” you a little more, to give you additional spiritual needs.
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From the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14, Lesson 6

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Tastes Of The Torah

Dr. Michael LaitmanComment: You once compared a book about the attributes of the Light to a book of recipes for the healthy tasty food.

Answer: Yes, indeed it is so, since it is about the tastes of the Torah. But in order to taste it, one has to feel it.

I drool when I look at what a cook prepares! In the Torah, however, I read about a lamb being slaughtered, skinned, and cut etc. so what of it?! I have no feeling that matches the description of these spiritual actions.

While reading, I have to taste and feel the matching desires and attributes; how they operate in me, what I reject, and what I am attracted to. I have to feel them because these are the same desires and intentions that I live with and are the most important for me at any given moment. This is either getting closer to the real upper source on which everything depends or drawing away from it.

This means that here I work with more prominent attributes, but they are described in the Torah in words and definitions that are dead and far from the lexicon that describes feelings. There is nothing we can do since the language of the Torah operates accurately according to the connection between the roots and their branches.

What will I taste if I take the cedars of Lebanon, birch, or a scarlet coil of rope? These things are tasteless and I don’t understand what they refer to.

Only when a person discovers these feelings inside him and when they storm in him while reading the Torah will the concealed become revealed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/25/14

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Chance To Help Humanity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When I deal with the general public, it’s quite hard for me to feel them. Even though our knowledge about these issues is vast, maybe there is a shorter and more sensory, psychological way to approach them? My inability to find connection with these people hurts me a lot.

Answer: I understand that you cannot descend to the street level. It is very difficult. Often, it is much easier to ascend than to descend. However, this stage has to be covered.

For example, Baal HaSulam ascended on his own, but in order to write The Study of the Ten Sefirot, he asked the Creator to lower him. In his article “The Prophecy,” Baal HaSulam wrote: “…even if I descend from my sublime degree, I must make a heartfelt plea to the Creator, to grant me attainment and knowledge of the prophecy and wisdom, and the words by which to help the forlorn people of the world, to raise them to the same degree of wisdom and pleasantness as mine.”

Lowering to these people is very difficult! It’s anti-spiritual! It’s against the entire creation; it’s hard even in this realm! A real teacher who can lower to the level of a child and talk with him as an equal is a rare and wonderful professional. Usually, it is done mechanically.

In the workshops, you should practice to think as common people do, sense them and talk with them at their level. At the same time, it is quite dangerous. Try doing it very accurately and measure your ability to play as if you are one of them.

You have to learn how to transition between our level and lower degrees. You should dynamically switch between various levels and be in different states: become as a man, a woman, a child, a more or less educated person, or an ignorant one. You should play these roles very seriously and feel their reaction, needs, demands, and opinions.

At the same time, you have to remain at your own level and still be “dressed” in their image. This is called “Levush” (clothing). Only then you’ll establish a good contact with them.

Let’s say, your level allows you to define the other people’s degrees. How can you descend from your level and make contact with them? This process is called a “descent,” “clothing,” it is a pedagogically spiritual maneuver. Teachers use this method subconsciously. In our system, it should be accurately measured.

You must make a special Zivug de Aka’a (cohesion with the Light); i.e., you should transform yourself into a lower state and make contact with ordinary people in a way that both of your states merge. It is a very interesting job that we will have to learn to do. That’s why we are called “the teachers of humanity.”

It is very good that we already have a demand for this kind of work. Try talking about these issues with each other. This is actually all that the The Study of the Ten Sefirot is about. All our work is about it too. Then, through working on these states among you, you’ll start feeling them internally.

Also, it’s interesting because when one goes through these states, when one dresses in numerous new Partzufim, one becomes “round” and equal to the world of Infinity. This is the type of connection among people through which unity, love, and complete merging occurs.
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From the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14, Lesson 4

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