Entries in the 'Spiritual Work' Category

People Fate Has Brought Me Together With

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can it be that I receive new vessels from the same friends every time?

Answer: But how do you know who your friends are? They are parts of your soul, but you look at their faces and think that they don’t change. They don’t know anything about themselves either.

You should know that if you encounter certain people in your life, both good and bad people, they are part of your soul. On the whole, all of humanity is your soul, but the people you encounter personally are the parts that are closest to you.

Today I identify parts of my soul from the level I am on in friends from my distant past, in teachers and professors who taught me at the university, in colleagues I worked with decades ago, in a research institute, in a lab, in all the people that fate has ever brought me together with. I identify in them the parts of my soul that I use and will use in the future.

It only seems that you see some physical bodies before you. They are depicted this way to you so that you will be able to connect to them somehow, since you have no other vessels, but later when you have vessels that are a bit more spiritual, you will see spiritual figures in these people and will connect to them on a different level, a bit more internally.

This is how it works. Don’t look at the world as at corporeal bodies. It is only a fictitious external picture.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/14

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The Science Of The Higher Dimension

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar, the article “Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are None Like You,” item 161: Among all the sages of the nations of the world and among all their kingdoms, there is nobody who will reach you. We exist within a particular reality. There are two approaches to perceiving reality. The first approach is a scientific research.

According to this approach, through our senses and the instruments that we construct to expand our senses in depth and breadth, we perceive the reality that we can feel with our five corporeal, earthly senses that also exist in animals.

The study of reality as it is revealed to our senses is called science. The foundation of science is philosophy, the approach to the understanding of the human perception of reality. This doesn’t mean the philosophy of today, which has become a bad word since it doesn’t have any real foundation, but the original philosophy, what it once was. From that, degrees in all disciplines are called Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)  as it is the foundation for all the sciences.

In this article, The Book of Zohar speaks about the philosophical approach, meaning the scientific approach of each and every person to the world and life in this world, to his desire to receive, to his desire to bestow, to the Creator, to the creatures, to everything, but in a sound way that a person is able to perceive in his mind and feelings. This is the approach called philosophy. It is impossible to refute it because we feel, see, examine, and measure all that exists in front of us.

However, there is another approach. If philosophy as science suddenly goes beyond its limits and begins to speak about phenomena that are not perceived by our senses, it stops being science and becomes some kind of mysticism, which is what today is called “philosophy.” This means that it is a philosophy without any real basis and without any practical examination.

What is no longer within the limits of earthly sciences, such as philosophy, are things that go beyond our senses: the origin of life, what happens before birth and after death, and the system of management and supervision. It is impossible for these topics to be discussed, since they are outside of the areas addressed by these methods.

This is within the realm of the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is a science for someone who develops additional senses within himself, and he examines and investigates with these senses. Then from his investigation, he constructs a new science in addition to the earthly sciences that we have developed with the help of our five current senses.

Humanity developed, and through the five senses wanted to discover and use everything possible until it saw that in the end, everything that it attained brought it to a crisis and to a breakdown. This is our life.

And then humanity began to probe and ask. If there was something here that had not been taken into account, with whom we are in contact, who is managing us, why do all kinds of things happen to us, and so on. We need additional data about the situation we are found in. This data is not revealed to us with our five senses. So what can be done?

On one hand various mysticisms, religions, and faiths developed for people who were looking for what might possibly help. And on the other hand, the wisdom of Kabbalah has been revealed because it has become imperative, and it invites humanity to become familiar with that reality that we don’t perceive with our five senses.

We can attain it if we develop an additional sense within us, which is not an extension of the familiar five senses, but  another approach to perceiving reality: not that I swallow everything and examine everything within me, but I can go outside of myself and not be dependent upon my body, on my desire to enjoy that creates the body for me. I go outside of it and examine reality as it is. Then I don’t see bodies, and I don’t see reality as it is portrayed for me through my five senses. And so the world becomes Ein Sof (Infinity).

The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about this. It speaks in the same way as philosophy, but it defines precisely where the part of science of philosophy exists, as philosophy once was, and not the useless quibbling of today, and where the sequel to science is, meaning the wisdom of Kabbalah that penetrates a field that our five earthly senses cannot discover.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/06/14, The Book of Zohar

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Starting Anew Each Day

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf I feel that I have no desire, no yearning, no power to move, and I cannot do anything, I must be incorporated in the friends even more, even if I have no desire to do so, and then I will receive this desire from them.

We live in a reality called this world in which we can perform actions that bring us the desire to do so, even if we don’t have the desire for it at first.

This is called a desire without a desire. I simply come to a collective meal or a dissemination event in order to help the friends. It doesn’t matter whether I do it in order to feel their respect or to be proud that we are doing something important.

I can give myself different egoistic explanations as long as I can be incorporated in the friends. I absorb their desire, even when we just sit and have a beer together. Thanks to that, my desire changes, and I already can begin to perform small actions that are related to the connection between us. I receive the friends’ desires, thoughts, intentions, awakenings, and the feeling of the importance of the spiritual path.

Therefore, this world is the most important level of all. It is outside the spiritual world, but we begin every state, every level, from this world.

When I was near Rabash, I used to wonder how this man who is always so happy, cheerful, and inspiring with burning eyes sometimes fell to a state of feeling totally dead, especially in the morning when he woke up and got up and walked around, looking at everything stunned, not understanding what was going on.

He was totally disconnected from spirituality. However, we are so small that we have nothing to lose, and our detachment from spirituality is as minor as our connection to it.

Rabash used to move slowly. He would sit down to have the cup of coffee I had prepared for him. I would read an extract from “The Study of the Ten Sefirot” to him,  usually from chapter 16 that speaks about Adam HaRishon and the worlds of BYA, and then he would gradually wake up and begin to ascend.

We should understand that every level, until the end of correction, starts from absolute zero from our world, like Rabbi Shimon who fell to the state of Shimon from the market, and it is from this level zero that we must grow until the height of the end of correction.

We must collect material, which means desire for this level, from the state where we are outside the spiritual world, entering it each time anew. This is how it works.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/14

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Condensed Steps

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the meaning of the term “time?”

Answer: Time is the number of actions that we must perform in order to attain a predetermined goal, which is the final state of the end of correction in which we are all connected into one system called Adam (a human being).

The time of evolution is a certain number of changes that we must make. We can hasten time by preparing ourselves for going through these changes in a more condensed manner. We cannot skip these steps, but they can be tightly condensed.

Suppose that I prepare myself at home so that I can perceive and understand one lesson from the teacher at school, while my friend prepares himself in a much better way by reading extra material and thus can perceive five lessons at once. This means that he hastens time and skips above it.

He doesn’t skip the steps. It only seems that way since we don’t see that one action can include many actions. Time is measured by the number of actions, whether it is long or short, since in the spiritual world there is no astronomical time connected to the revolutions of the planets around the sun.

We cannot leap above the steps, but we can condense them. It is impossible to leap over or to skip the steps because then you wouldn’t perform the necessary corrections, but we can prepare ourselves for that so that these corrections will be condensed into one. Everything depends on our preparation: on our readiness to listen, to perceive, and to join an even greater effort.

This is possible only by connection with the friends. If I connect to the friends, my vessel becomes bigger, and it can include more, and then I can perceive many actions at once since all these actions are actions of connection, and if I advance toward them by myself, I can draw more Light.

However, if I advance by the natural pace of evolution, in its time, I must wait until I am awakened for every action and then I respond. I shorten time only by rushing toward connection.

The concepts of pleasure and suffering change according to my advancement and whether I value the Light of connection that is dressed in me as most desirable, and this also depends on the influence of the environment.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/15/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There Is Nothing To Envy

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do we naturally want to receive the Torah as a kind of good, which we are “supposed” to receive?

Answer: And who said that the Torah, the method of correction, is perceived as good?

It is said: “I created the evil inclination, and I made the Torah as its spice.” The Creator created, on the one hand, evil, and on the other hand, a “spice,” against it, the force of correction. But what good is in it? What is good if I have a damaged car that needs to be fixed?

Look at the world. Who envies the Jewish people because they received the Torah? Except the people who are attracted to the purpose of creation, to correction, others can bring a variety of definitions of the Torah, and no one would name the Light that Reforms. No one will say that the essence of the Torah is the correction of evil in oneself and that we need to immerse ourselves in this process.

Our definition of the Torah as the Light that Reforms does not seem to bode well. We are talking about the force of correction which confronts all the evil that should be revealed in us. Revelation of evil is always very unpleasant, uncomfortable, and not gentle. This is something terrible: a grave illness and a cure for it.

It is no coincidence that children live through some diseases that will ensure their continued immunity. We need to experience every state on the path, discovering evil in each, suffering from it, and then correcting it.

So, who needs this? In the correct definition of this word, the term “Israel” promises sweet life to no one. If you look at the history of the Jewish people, then there is nothing to envy. Only a handful of people in the world are attached to Israel to share its fate. Perhaps they may have inherited their attraction from the Reshimot (reminiscences) of the lost tribes.

It is difficult to expect a mass influx there where we are working against egoism.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/14, “Unity of the People”

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I would like to have a scientific definition of what the unique role of the nation of Israel is in the general system. What forces operate here?

Answer: The nation of Israel is part of reality that advances towards the goal of creation under special conditions. In contrast to all the other parts of creation, every step they make forward can be done only according to their freewill.

The rest of nature: the still, vegetative, animate nature, and the nations of the world advance according to the fixed laws of nature that operate on them regardless of their desire. They must advance, while the nation of Israel has to consent to and understand every step that they make. They cannot advance unless they accept a certain step and want it.

But as a result, Israel begins to understand and feel how they advance, and discovers the force that helps them advance and where they are headed, to what form of existence, to what kind of world, and to which state. According to this understanding, Israel changes themselves, their form and their attitude towards the other parts of reality and first of all towards the other nations.

All of reality is a living, breathing system, which means a system that is constantly changing as it advances towards an ultimate goal. Israel however are the special part of the system that serve as a connecting adapter, as a link, a coordinator between the forces that manage the system and the parts that cannot come in contact with these forces by themselves since they have no freewill.

Therefore, Israel is obligated to take care of the rest of the system and serve as the link between the forces of the upper providence and the still, vegetative, animate nature, and the nations of the world.

Question: So, is Israel the technician who is responsible for the functioning of the whole system?

Answer: Yes, but Israel itself must change because otherwise they will not know how to take care of the system. They need to constantly grow: in their awareness of the upper force to call upon it to take care of the system,  in their recognition of all the other parts of the system, nature, and the nations of the world, and in communicating with them because they are the link between them.
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From KabTV’s “The Meeting of Worlds” 6/18/14

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A Spider Web of Trapped Desires

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf a person gets tired and loses interest in his work, if he feels powerless and thinks that this path isn’t for him, it means that he hasn’t learned how to bring his separated parts, currently scattered around the world, closer to him. He doesn’t know how to grasp the empty vessels in which he can receive a filling.

After all, he is like a spider in the center of his web that catches desires,  which become part of his soul. from others in this network..

It is very important to understand that since we should constantly feel and yearn to be incorporated with the friends and absorb all their desires, I am like an egoist who constantly looks around with big greedy eyes for what else I can receive from the friends, which is an awakening, the importance of the goal, and connection!

I constantly envy them. I don’t disrespect them, but actually think that they conceal something from me. I am sure that each of them has something valuable for me, and that otherwise they would have no right to exist and I wouldn’t even see them. If I identify that someone exists, it means that he is a deficiency that I need in order to complete my soul.

This is how everyone should regard his friend. Therefore it says that everyone is meant to serve me, and by that I serve my Maker.
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From the preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson /22/14

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The Beginning Of The Unity Of Humanity

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe oneness of the people of Israel is derived from the source that we call the wisdom of Kabbalah. The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about the whole, the unified system and its laws. This system is nature, divinity. The law of the Light and Kli (vessel) operates in it, and everything is derived from it.

In relation to us, this system was created long ago. We were the last who were created within it and we must learn how to use it to bring ourselves to the first state of wholeness: the goal of creation. That is what we must attain.

In this system there are forces that act and parts that are acted upon. It is very complex. Thanks to its influence and the forces that act upon us, we develop.

As a result of this development we reach a state that is indicated by the wisdom of Kabbalah. Beginning with us and moving outward, we become active parts that can even activate the system. If we don’t do this, the system will influence us so that we still will want to use it properly.

After all, we live through feeling good or bad. Ultimately, this is all of our existence: We are between a good feeling and a bad feeling and we constantly try to get as close as possibly to the good and as far as possible from the bad. This is how the system motivates us.

In our development not all of us are equal. If we were equal, we would be one block and not many parts. Each part has its purpose, its cause, its source, as well as its process of correction and final form. Every part must carry out what is imposed upon it, what the system expects from it as an active part that needs to be in its place to realize its obligation.

In relation to all the parts of the system, humans are divided into two categories:

• Those that receive the opportunity for spiritual work, meaning, the opportunity to get to know the system and to work consciously within it through feeling and intellect, as they are obliged to come to self-realization.

• Those who still have not accepted this opportunity and will accept it much later, as is written,  “For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:33).

This process gradually spreads out and includes everyone.  Also, we are also not the first. Before us there was Adam HaRishon (the first man), and Kabbalists in every generation. And we are active in our era. Therefore each one must learn about the source of his soul, know and comprehend it.

Those who receive spiritual awakening, to the extent of its implementation, are called Israel,  Yashar-El, directly to the Creator. And those who have not yet received an awakening are called the nations of the world. But this doesn’t mean that they don’t have the possibility that was given to Israel; it simply hasn’t as yet been realized.

As a result of this, special work has been imposed upon Israel not only in regard to themselves, but also in relation to the nations of the world. And if among the nations of the world there are people who have accepted this message from Israel, then to that extent, the work of connection, help, support, encouragement and so on is also assigned to them. These two parts must work together, requiring unity among everyone so that they will interact correctly..

Further, Israel is also divided into parts: Cohanim (priests), Leviim (musicians, singers, teachers of Torah),  and Yisraelim (Israelites), who differ in their work. Among the nations of the world, there are seventy latent sources that also put a stamp upon their individual parts. But all of this will become clear on the way.

Today, in the present stage of development, everyone has received an awakening, an “invitation,”a call, a push, an opportunity for correction and for participation in the process. For some people, this call comes in a more conscious and focused form, pulling them forward. Others are not attracted as much and it pushes them from behind through blows, and “kicks.” One way or another both of them are moved by various kinds of suffering. There are “sufferings of love,” and there is a great variety of different kinds of suffering.

But in general, the present stage of historical development is characterized by everyone beginning to feel more or less, that we are living in a unique time and that humanity must pass through major changes. This is especially in matters of self-perception: What is it itself and what is the world? Here, of course, we are helped by various sciences.

A unique time has arrived which Kabbalists spoke about in advance. And all of the development of the people of Israel was intended specifically for this time; from the Babylonian era they passed through all kinds of stages of preparation, elevations, breakdowns, and exile so that today, they will be ready for their true, final role.

After all, Israel is a unique group in humanity that received direction, yearning, knowledge, mind, and feeling, everything necessary, to correct all of humanity.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/03/14, Lesson on the Topic “Unity of the People”

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Join In The Good Method!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If a person watches Channel 66 all the time and in spite of it all doesn’t understand the essence of the method of connection, is viewing like this beneficial to him?

Answer: I agree that our channel is still not really accessible to everyone and it needs to be improved to be more understandable to every viewer. But as much as we try to do that, we always are behind schedule.

This is because time passes until we hear, begin to understand, learn, scrutinize, and try to realize this phenomenon among us. We are within it and must work with the new material and with the new feelings. Only after this can we realize this on our channel. This doesn’t happen immediately, and in the meantime, the audience has grown.

For some time we have been talking about the necessity for connection, and the audience of viewers gradually is beginning to agree. But still there is no feeling that connection is the solution to every problem. Through our separation and distance, we see this material world, and specifically when we connect all of the stitches between our hearts, we will see the upper world. In the meantime, we don’t hang all of our material and spiritual hopes on this. It takes time.

Certainly we must always improve our channel, and we are investing a lot of time and resources in this.

Question: If a person watches Channel 66, is he going by the way of “I will hasten it” or not?

Answer: Yes, this is certain! We need to try for our channel to be attractive, interesting, understandable, and more fascinating than the World Cup games or some series.

But even now, if the viewer watches and doesn’t understand anything, he is already participating in the general connection. This is because there is a group along with me and many higher forces, that are connected to the broadcast on Channel 66. So every viewer who sees Channel 66 is connected through that channel to the end of a thread that joins our world with the upper world in a way that is stronger and better than he can find elsewhere. And in general, there is no connection like this anywhere else.

Certainly if a person doesn’t just watch the channel but also participates in the workshops and the roundtables, he will strongly hasten his advancement. One could fly in a rocket, another in an airplane, and a third could ride on a donkey. But in every case, this is advancement towards the good.
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From the preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/03/14

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Fulfilling Our Mission

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is your response to the murder of the boys who were kidnapped by terrorists? The whole nation is mourning their death now.

Answer: The nation of Israel has a mission and we have to fulfill it. If we don’t do so, we won’t bring the world to the right correction and head it in the right direction. As a result, we encounter phenomena such as kidnapping and of course, murder.

This didn’t start today. We study the roots of what happened in the shattering of the vessels and about the upper actions that we have been through. After all, we are in a system that is controlled by rigid laws, as it says: “He has given a law that cannot be broken.”

The Upper Light is above the shattered vessels, and if they correct themselves as a result of its influence, which means that they take part in their self-correction, everything will progress along the good way of I shall hasten it. This is the desired way in the eyes of the upper force and also in the eyes of other people, including the nations of the world, which will then have no complaints about Israel, no anti-Semitic feelings or no negative feelings of any kind.

Kabbalists say a lot about the fact that only Israel can bring the world to correction, since they have the sparks and the connection to the Light that Reforms in the first place. But if the Israeli nation does not perform the corrections, then to that extent, they are the source of all the evil in the world.

All this goes back to the gathering at the giving of the Torah. After all, the Torah is the Light that Reforms, the upper force that brings all the goodness to humanity. This force can be revealed in the word only by our participation, in coordination with it.

We invoke the upper force when we do what we have to do and then abundance and goodness pours unto the whole world, everyone respects us and is ready to participate in our activities. But if we don’t fulfill our mission in every moment of our life, we don’t draw the Light that Reforms and there is a deficiency of Light in this world, a deficiency of the upper force, which means that we cause harm to the world.

No wonder then that evil is first revealed among us, the Israeli nation, including general hatred and anti-Semitism. Ultimately we summon this by ourselves by not participating in the correction of the world.

Baal HaSulam cites the Talmud in “The Introduction To The Book Of Zohar” saying: “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” And in the book The Light and the Sun it says, “the main protection against calamity is love and unity. When there is love, unity, and friendship in Israel among one another, there is no room for any calamity to affect them and thus all the curses and the afflictions are kept away from them.”

So we have freewill and if we do good, it will be good for the whole world, including us, and by that we will delight the Creator. Otherwise the outcome will be different.

Just think, who has free will? Not the Israeli nation, since only a couple of million live in the land of Israel. Those who work for the Creator to some extent have it. This means that those who take this work upon themselves have freewill. This includes us and other groups.

Many speak about God’s work, but the mission is to accelerate the process through those who understand that it is about the correction of the world, which depends on them accelerating the process. If people who have received this opportunity don’t fulfill it, they are to blame for all the evil that is revealed in the world.

I am very serious. There is no point blaming the terrorists, other nations, or whoever it may be, because they have no freewill. We are the ones who design the world map.

Politicians can keep on playing their games as long as they want, it makes no difference. We should stop connecting our fate to a certain leader or another. We have already seen that nothing is up to them and that it all depends only on the upper force, to the extent that we can influence it. This depends on our work. We develop an opening for it in order to pour the Light unto the world and to bring us to the desired correction in a good way.

Therefore, anyone who hears and who understands this and who is part of this path in some way, has to try to prevent the afflictions. If they occur, we should understand that we have caused them by our negligence.

Of course hate and a variety of other emotions emerge after such a calamity, but everything is done by the Upper Light that is revealed in the world, and we connect the two. We are the ones who didn’t allow the Upper Light to operate in this world as it should, and so it is all our fault.

So let’s hate ourselves and our egos, the evil in us that didn’t allow us to act as we should. We have to regret what we did and correct ourselves and thus correct the general state.

The disasters are only an indication as to how far we are behind the pace of the evolution of the world, which is constantly developing egoistically, meaning towards evil. If we don’t connect the good evolution to this process and don’t open up the way for the Light that Reforms, then of course we bring about even worse states.

We shouldn’t count on the army or a military solution. It is only the Light that we should let in, and it will do whatever needs to be done. Only then will we be able to unite with our neighbors who hate us so much today. Only we can turn them into loyal friends. It is all in our hands.

We shouldn’t focus on forceful military responses. Let the military commanders do their job, but on the whole it is the path of suffering and not the path of I shall hasten it.

The point is that it all depends on us, not on others. We should engage ourselves as much as we can, after all, there is a “field blessed by the Lord” before us waiting to be plowed. We have to calculate the aspects that we are unable to correct yet which lead to disasters.

First I look for what is in my power to do; what I have to do, without criticizing anyone. If we seriously worked on the connection between us and by that, allow the Light to reveal its action, we would at least correct the Israeli nation and prevent such disasters.

Correcting the world is a much more complicated thing, but we can begin to understand how to approach the next phases of this process.

So let the Light be revealed where you, specifically you, can open up the way for it. Then you will see what comes next. The Light will do its work and you will understand how to continue the correction and how to spur additional circles.

The world shouldn’t count on blows or on anyone else. We have a group that is big and strong enough, but it doesn’t do everything that it can do.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/14, Lesson on the Topic “Unity of the People”

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