Entries in the 'Spirituality' Category

The Physical Actions We Make Cannot Correct Anything In The World


There is no sense in trying to correct anything in our world, as it is a world of consequences, which descend from the spiritual roots. However, if we can somehow affect the upper roots, we will also  be able to change the material world.

The roots cannot be affected by separate individuals. It is only by uniting together that we can achieve a connection with the root, since we do not exist there as individuals. In the roots, we are all united as one system.

Therefore, if we wish to change our reality, we have to unite. When we have this desire, it will draw the Light upon us, which will correct everything here in this world.

We will then truly “correct the world.” But if we try to correct the externality – the external actions, behavior, or religious commandments – then it is pointless, since there is nothing to correct here. All of these all merely an imprint on the inanimate matter of what happens Above.

This is like trying to hit an image that’s projected onto a wall using light, or kissing it and asking for forgiveness. That is what our actions are like, but we think we can change something this way.

Only a person’s inner corrections can influence the material world. This is why we disseminate Kabbalah instead of encouraging people to correct the ecology, the crisis, and finances.

Nevertheless, a person is always more willing to “correct” the material things, especially if he knows that his efforts will be seen and valued by others, or if he can be proud of his own actions, society will support him. In this case, a person is willing to do anything, and this drives him to carry out such actions.

Inner, spiritual work is difficult precisely for this reason: it isn’t valued by the people around us or even by our own egoism. However, the true work occurs only inside a person, and it does not depend on his body or the physical actions he makes.

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230 Years Later…


A question I received: Kabbalah says that there are 230 years left until the end of the world. Will babies still be born in 231 years – in the world to come?

My Answer: We think of time in terms of our perception of reality and therefore we can’t grasp the way a person alters reality by changing his or her attributes. Reality is what I feel within. By changing my inner attributes, I discover a different picture of the world.

Take a computer screen, for example. When you press a button, you change the pictures that appear on the screen. That is how you are now living in different pictures, jumping from one movie into the next.

The 230 years that you are talking about, and babies that are or aren’t born, are not real issues. That is because when you rise to the spiritual dimension, you will suddenly sense that everything you used to perceive, all these bodies, people, men, women and children, this entire world, including you who eats and drinks, simply don’t exist.

You will suddenly realize that what you saw before was just an image on the screen, while in reality this picture was drawn by the two real forces standing behind it all – the will to receive and the will to bestow. The “reality” you sense now, simply does not exist. It exists only on your screen.

What does it mean to give birth, to build a house, and to live in this world? It is a certain combination of these two forces, which create such a picture for you. And that’s all! So, you don’t have to wait 230 years to experience the sequence of images that will come one after another.

What does it mean to live in the world? Is it my body that lives? I exist in a specific form of the will to receive, until I complete all of my corrections, whereby I will attain the will to bestow.

I have to rise from the lowest point, called this world, until I reach the highest point, adhesion with the Creator. Then, at the last stage of the correction process, the Lev HaEven (heart of stone) will also be corrected.

What happens after that? The picture changes, altering everything along with it: all the attributes, awareness and comprehension. If you ascend spiritually even a little bit, you will already begin to sense that this world is what you feel within. The sensation will shift, and something different, more internal, will emerge to take its place.

Everything takes place inside your desires. This is why it is written: “I saw a reverse world.” And that is why there won’t be anyone left in 230 years that will still perceive the world the way you do today.

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The Difference Between Inner Light And Surrounding Light (Advanced)


A question I received from my student: How does the Surrounding Light affect us? Can it be felt or is it an exclusively spiritual phenomenon that is not expressed in the corporeal senses in any way?

My Answer: We don’t sense the Surrounding Light itself, just as we don’t sense radio waves, for instance. That is why it is called “Surrounding,” because it shines on us in a concealed way, and its action is invisible to us. We only feel the outcome of its activity.

If I feel that some force is openly helping me and I can clearly sense where it comes from, it is called the “Direct Light.” If, however, I cannot envision the source from which it stems, it is called the “Surrounding Light.”

But we shouldn’t think that because the Light is called “Surrounding,” it means that it exists somewhere outside of us. It is inside of us! It’s just that when a phenomenon is felt together with its root, it is called the Inner Light, and we are able to construct an image of its source. But if, inside one’s qualities, one cannot yet construct an image and its likeness to its source, then this Light is called “Surrounding.” One already senses it in nine out of one’s ten qualities, but cannot yet identify it for what it is and where it originates in the Creator.

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 09.04.2009


Preparation
As soon as I am ready, I automatically make the transition into the spiritual world.
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Part 1, on Shamati #122
It is precisely at times of uncertainty and confusion, when it appears that there’s no way out, that one receives the chance to make a free choice, above knowledge.
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Part 2, on Part 1 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Inner Reflection”
The spiritual system is built such that during one’s life in this world, every person is able to reach the Final Correction.
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Part 3, on “Introduction to the book From the Mouth of a Sage
The entire system of the spiritual worlds was created for the sake of a “small” person, in order to raise him to the highest level of all reality.

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Change Yourself And You Will See A Gleaming World Full Of Light


A question I received: You’re saying that people shouldn’t correct the world, but only themselves. But what can I do if I see that half the people I know don’t want to correct themselves, wishing only to lead the life of an animal? How can I correct myself?

My Answer: You have to correct yourself until you stop seeing that people lead the life of an animal. Instead of feeling sorry for these people, feel sorry for yourself for seeing them the way that you do. The moment you correct your vision, you will see these people as happy and successful. If you change yourself, you will see them in a completely different way! Someone that appeared unhappy to you will turn out to be joyful and happy. You will see a wealthy man instead of a pauper. You will see that someone whose sole interest in life was beer and football is actually a sage’s student who has attained all the worlds.

You have to grieve and lament over your seeing them as such, because the distorted picture you see is nothing but a result of your own corruption, of you looking at them with uncorrected eyes. The whole world is a reflection of what you have within. Within you are all of the vices of the world. If you see the poor, the sick and the corrupt, it testifies only to your own corruption. Otherwise you would see a world full of goodness.

If the Creator is good and does good, how can there be evil in the world? It’s all because there is no goodness inside you; otherwise you would see a gleaming world. A person doesn’t need to correct the world, but only his vision of it. There’s no one to correct but yourself. As soon as you do, you will see that the world is full of Light. It’s the World of Infinity, abundant and perfect. We can’t see it, however, because we are corrupt. It’s concealed from us behind 125 curtains, which we have to remove.

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The Spiritual World Is An Integral System (Advanced)


We live in an integral system, where any change is reflected in all the spiritual worlds, in all ten Sefirot. Therefore, any time I change anything inside me, this causes a change in every single person and even the entire universe. And each particular change in a person, in turn, causes new changes in everyone, and so it goes. This process comes to an end when the whole system reaches its final restful state. At that point the beginning and end unite into a single, unchanging, eternal state.

The spiritual world is not built on a piecemeal foundation; it is not made up of separate pieces. It is whole, complete and integral. And even though we treat each other and our surroundings in a “linear” fashion, in actuality we are speaking of an analogous, integral system that eventually “calms down” and becomes balanced out.

A person has to be an active part of this process until he comes to encompass this entire system, until he takes this entire system into him and it becomes his nature. This is why our task is not to gain an external understanding of the science of Kabbalah, but to make internal changes in accordance with the system we are studying. We need to completely absorb it within. Only then will everyone be incorporated in each other according to the principle of love of others. We will then attain full control over our eternal, complete, and integral existence.

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 09.03.2009

Preparation
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Part 1, on Baal HaSulam’s Letter 21
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Part 2, on Chapter 12 of Talmud Eser Sefirot
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Part 3, on “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” Item 140
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The Deepest Point Of Our Being: The “I”


Every person has a point that was created “out of nothing” by the Creator. This point is what makes a person feel individual and unique. Our entire life is a battle for this “I,” for independence and uniqueness – Midat Yehud.

A person is driven by a desire to prove himself, to feel that he exists. All the pleasure and fulfillment he feels is secondary. The most central point is to ensure that this “I” exists.

This “I” is something a person can never give away. He can give up anything else, even his life, but not his “I,” because this point is above him, and it emerged before he even gained consciousness. This is why a person has to tread such a difficult path: to renounce his previously egoistic “I” and obtain a different “I,” one that is similar to the Creator.

The Creator helps a person to change the foundation on which his “I” stands. Rather than being nourished by pleasure, one receives the energy of bestowal and rises above his egoistic “I” to his true “I.” This is how he gains true independence and the sensation of an eternal “I.” And when he returns to the point created “out of nothing,” he reaches the state of rest and perfection.

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The School Of Desires Teaches Us How To Build The Spiritual World Inside Us (Advanced)


Instead of examining our desires from within, we should examine them from above, “under a microscope,” and as quickly as possible. Our objective is correction, and only this “school of desires” will enable us to reach it, or to work for the sake of bestowal.

The entire spiritual world is something we build inside us, by using our desires. We stack them up into a “hill” and then rise on top of it. And we repeat this process again and again. The hill grows, and we grow together with it, becoming more and more giving.

The result is that each of us erects Mount Sinai – the mountain of hatred (in Hebrew, Sina means hatred), in order to rise to its peak and build a king’s castle there, the Creator’s palace. We create all this out of our own, broken, egoistic desires, which are revealed inside us one after another. It is precisely by correcting these desires, and inside them, that a person reveals the reality of the Creator. Or in other words, one builds his work “for the sake of bestowal” from these desires.

Therefore, all the spiritual worlds and degrees are inside us. Everything becomes revealed inside our desires that we correct. This is because the Creator created just one common desire, and we reveal the Creator inside the forms of this desire.

The 125 spiritual degrees are not something outside of us. Their potential is instilled in our Reshimot, and each one of us must personally develop his desires from these Reshimot, work with them, and change the way he uses them. This is how one builds the spiritual world from them.

I was given a desire (matter) and Reshimot (forms). Now I must attract the Upper Light upon myself and thus connect these two components with each other. This way, I unite the Lights, the sparks, and the Kelim (in Hebrew this is called ANAHOrot, Netzutzim, Kelim). They will then form my soul, and inside it I will feel the spiritual reality. Right now I also perceive the reality inside the soul, but only in its lowest layer, called the “material world.” In order to truly reveal the soul, we must attain the Creator.

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How Does Spiritual Development Measure Up With Material Prosperity In Different Countries?

laitman_2009-06_1300_wQuestions I received about spiritual transitions in different countries of the world:

Question: You said that we cannot lump humanity together by force because all people are different. Does this mean that in the near future there will be a certain number of people in every country (more in some areas and less in others) who will be able to perform this complicated and difficult transition into the spiritual?

My Answer: Yes, but in fact, not everyone will perform it consciously, with understanding, in detail, and in steps. There are people in the world who have a greater understanding of this, those who have a lesser understanding, and there are also those who don’t understand it at all and only know how to use it by living the simple life of an average man.

Question: Does that mean they complete the transition almost without realizing it?

My Answer: They realize it, as it passes through them, but it passes in a relatively passive manner – only because they connect to those who attain actively. Ninety-nine percent of humanity is comprised of such passive people.

Question: There are countries where the majority of the people are still on the level of animal desires. Since we can’t push them anywhere by force, how will a new world order be organized?

My Answer: First of all, I see that Europe has more people who are on the level of animal desires than perhaps other “less developed” places. Second of all, the order of correction will organize itself, so we don’t need to organize it.

In this regard, our views and assessments of these civilizations: America, Europe, Africa, etc, are erroneous. We look at the level of knowledge, the level of our corporeal culture, the level of prosperity, and comfort of life. However, this has nothing at all to do with how well the “human” part is developed in a human being. Bedouins who live in tents in a desert could be much more human and much more open than modern European savages.

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