Question: What should we beware of during these final days we have left before the Convention?

Answer: We have to beware of foreign thoughts and think only about the system of connections we want to reveal between us, so every person will feel connected with others at the bottom of his heart.

Those of us who will reveal this inner connection will immediately feel the true Light there, the Creator! The Light and desire will immediately become equal. The moment you feel even the slightest spiritual desire, it immediately acquires a form because a vessel cannot exist without form.

In spirituality it is impossible to discover a dysfunctional mechanism that needs to be wound up and made to work. Baal HaSulam writes that in the spiritual world “the entrance and the door” are always revealed together. The door can only be seen once it is open, meaning that we always reveal the vessel (desire) and the Light (Creator) inside it at the same moment.
[25805]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, “Exile and Redemption”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Resolving To Escape
Laitman.com Post: Everything Depends On The Person’s Desire

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spirituality - No Comments →

Question: What should we do with our “animal” desires? Should we enjoy them or limit them?

Answer: Don’t do anything with them. Just leave them alone. Let the animal graze out on the grass as befits it. If it lets the human in me act according to my mission, then a person will use the animate part of him correctly whenever necessary, and leave it to its own devices the rest of the time.

I have separated from the “donkey” and in the meantime I am going about my business. The human being in me must establish a connection with other people. I am working on elevating and raising him. The time will come when I will direct my attention to the animal in me, but for now I am simply giving it what’s necessary.

After all, I wouldn’t treat a cow to steaks and salads. It has its grazing field and it happily eats there. If we treat our animate body correctly, it won’t need any excess. On the contrary, any excess would harm it. An animal needs only the things that support its balance with nature.

Therefore, provide it with the vital necessities and “leave it out on the pasture.” If your head yearns for the “skies,” for spiritual attainment, then your animal won’t demand anything extra from you and won’t break through the fence. After all, now all the excesses for you belong to the human degree.
[25766]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, Writings of Rabash

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Spirituality - No Comments →

Question: People who are new to Kabbalah are taken aback by the word “Light” and associate it with something mysterious.

Answer: The Upper Light is a vital force that animates us like the sunlight on which our lives and health depend. That’s why the Upper Force is also called the “Light.” As sunlight “animates” our material life, so the Upper Light conveys spirituality to us.

The entire system that operates in this world (the earth, the sun, and the moon) corresponds to work of the World of Atzilut where all influences originate and where the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) clothes in the Light of Bina and descends to our souls. This is the reason why spiritual objects are given these names, in accordance with the “language of branches.”

The Upper Light, like sunlight, brings us life. But in this world, we are not surrounded by the real Light. Rather, we are enveloped only by the light that animates our “protein matter,” maintains our metabolism, and thus allows us to stay alive for approximately 70 years.

We strive to receive the real Light of life that illuminates our souls and is able to grant us eternal, perfectly fulfilled life. The wisdom of Kabbalah is a method of attracting and receiving that Light by a person. When a person receives the Light, it means that he has attained the wisdom of Kabbalah which makes those who are empowered by it “alive.”

Our life stems out of the Light of Hochma. The Light of Hassadim (Mercy) represents correction, but everybody in this world is eager to be fulfilled by the Light of Hochma. That is why the science of Kabbalah bears a name of “wisdom of receiving” since it teaches us how to receive the Light of Hochma.

It is prohibited to receive the Light of Hochma directly, but only within the Light of Hassadim. That is why we study how to dress the Light of Hochma into the Light of Hassadim and eventually obtain the whole Light.
[25377]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/20, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do you Measure The Upper Light?
Laitman.com Post: The Fast Road To The Spiritual World
Laitman.com Post: an.com Post: The Method Of Spiritual Birth

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Mutual participation is the only action we constantly perform whether we like it or not. In our world everything is based on mutual engagement: processes of consumption, absorption, and secretion that take place in an organism, as well as various chemical reactions, attraction or rejection of objects, their behavior in a magnetic or electric field, and so forth. They are all examples of mutual participation, which are based on the actions of the spiritual vessel and the Light.

When we seek how to measure the quality of our actions, we must always evaluate the extent of our participation in others. In other words, it is by how well I can engage in the greatest number of souls: not in children or adults, and not in the actions of still, vegetative, animate, or speaking, but in the souls.

Souls are points in the hearts. Therefore, when I arrive at such an enormous Convention, a gathering of thousands of points in the hearts, which I intend to plug in to, then it becomes the most effective action for my spiritual advancement. This is the most powerful act that may ever occur in reality, in all the worlds.

From the TV Program Kabbalah for Beginners 10/27/10

Filed under: Conventions, Spirituality - No Comments →

Regardless of the fact that we exist in the unified system, the connection between us is broken. A person is given a chance to feel the initial point of his connection with all others, and this sensation is life in our world.

Thereby, I receive an opportunity to renew and enhance this connection based on the principle of bestowal in order to live a spiritual life. If I fail to do so, the spiritual spark in me expires.

Further on, I am given a new desire, a new spark. In other words, I undergo a Gilgul (reincarnation or a new life cycle) and arrive at a new reality. Here, I discover a different connection with the system of Adam HaRishon, and I feel that I am living in this world anew, at one or another point on the timeline, and within a certain framework of relations between people. This is my other chance, at another level of desire and mutual connection.

If I fail to take advantage of the setting yet again, I once more will be transferred to another degree of mutual connection. In other words, I undergo a Gilgul in order to appear in another generation, another timeline, and receive one more chance to unify.

Every time, I am shown a specific level of interconnection with the others so that I can find a way to unite with them through ties of love. In the corporeal world, I am forced into a minimal degree of connection. If I obtain some degree of connection founded on love on my own, then instead of our corporeal world, I experience a much more exalted and intense form of existence: the spiritual, eternal life.

Now, instead of the chain of Reshimot (spiritual records, genes) that create in my perception a constant revolution of life and death, I myself keep restlessly renewing the connection with others and rise above the chain of “reboots.” The connection no longer breaks; life doesn’t stop with the loss of the body.

No matter how we look at it, everything lies within the unified system, where the law of correct interaction of the parts rules. This law is the Creator or love.
[25284]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/10, “Klalut Adam”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Love Is Ordained By Nature
Laitman.com Post: Connection Is Life

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spirituality - No Comments →

The approaching Convention is a unity event. We want to create a unity so great that in it we will reveal the Upper World. That means that by the force of our common consolidation we will ascend above the personal egoism of every person.

Every person should feel that this ascent holds a new sensation of a new world, a breakthrough into a new dimension where we exist in bestowal instead of reception, as we do here.

The second half of reality lives by the law of bestowal, unlike the reality of our world, which exists by the law of reception. By uniting with each other we want every person to receive great forces from the group which will enable him to climb out of the “bottleneck” and, at least slightly, to feel the world that lives by the principles of bestowal.

Even though we might fall back, nevertheless with time these “exits” will become more frequent. A person will start getting used to being between two worlds and will understand what is happening to him, until his efforts end up being successful and he will become a “permanent resident” of the spiritual world.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “The Need for Love of Friends”

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spirituality, Unity - No Comments →

If the will to receive acts without restrictions, it is regarded as “a circle.” If the will to receive establishes the order of importance in relation to bestowal, the Creator above and itself below, then it is called a “line.” The circle is the fully corrected desire that has no restrictions because everything is corrected, or this is the state of desire before correction (without restrictions). This is why our world is regarded as round: The will to receive acts as it pleases.

Our work is to perform actions in a line. It means that, in the work related to the goal, I not only utilize all my qualities, but I also organize them correctly. This inner order is called the line that measures equivalence between the desire and the Light. In accordance with this equivalence, the will to receive can illuminate as the Light, and the Light is the appearance within the desire.

If there is no oil in the lamp, it will not light up. The wick is a kind of measure of the equivalence of the oil or wax to the flame. After all, nothing can start burning without the fueling matter. There has to be a vessel that contains the Light within itself. What the Light inside me is, I don’t know. The Light is the Kli (Vessel) that has equalized itself with the Creator. To the degree of this equivalence, it illuminates, and we call this phenomenon the Light.

So far, I am only matter, oil or wax, and there is no Light in me. However, if I become a wick, I will illuminate; I will feel the appearance of the Light within me. In order to equalize my qualities with the Creator’s, I must construct a line, and to accomplish this, I am given the group.
[25018]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/22/10, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Floating In The Circles Of Light
Laitman.com Post: A Mini-World Of Infinity

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, My Similarity to the Creator, Spirituality - No Comments →

Our work is divided into three parts which don’t seem to be connected: the relationships between people, the relationship between a person and the Creator, and the relationship between a person and the friends. When we have attained the corrected state, then all of the above will be united: a person with the whole world, a person with the group, and a person with the Creator.

All of reality must become inseparably merged together so that nobody has a greater or lesser importance in comparison to the others. This is what we call equivalence of properties. But since we don’t know how to arrange all these types of relationships correctly, how to measure each of them, we keep getting confused; so the Kabbalists explain that the most reliable thing to do is to work in a group.

After all, the Creator broke the collective Kli specifically so that each of its parts could work on its personal quality in relation to the others, so while separated from the Light, the relationships with others would replace the relationship of the creature with the Creator. This allows us to constantly examine whether or not we are working correctly.

According to the works of all Kabbalists, we need to extract this main principle: There is no Creator, creating being, or mankind; there is only the group. If I see a group where I can realize the laws of Arvut (mutual guarantee), then I must unite with them; I must do so.

Our unity must be such that no differences or distance will remain between us. We are together as one in the same sensation on the path towards the goal. And we understand that the spiritual world will be revealed only in this connection between us.

Then, to the very essence of our connection, I add the Creator because He defines exactly how to unite so that we do not become a gathering of scoffers, but an authentic group.

We don’t know what bestowal is, but we must demand that the Creator be our witness, model, and the connecting link. Hence, a person, the group, and the Creator become one whole. We will all work until we demand the revelation of the Creator among us.
[25035]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/27/10, “Make Yourself a Rav, Buy Yourself a Friend”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Secret Of The Group
Laitman.com Post: Unification With The Group Leads Us To The Creator
Laitman.com Post: What Do We Gain From Love Of Friends?

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spirituality, Unity - No Comments →

Question: While forming a group we have to pay a lot of attention to external things, as if we’re taking care of a baby. How can we keep from losing the inner essence during this process?

Answer: Every group encounters this problem and every member of the group asks this question.

We live in a world of material actions. How many hours a day do I spend on satisfying my natural needs, such as sleeping, eating, and washing? How many hours a day do I have to work, carry out responsibilities around the house, and so on? And how much time do I have left for myself and my spiritual advancement? I have maybe one or two hours a day left if I manage to separate from everything else in some way.

That is how our life is arranged. Who arranged it this way? Could it really be the Creator? Why does He make us drown in this material, animate existence? Why didn’t he make us like angels, unburdened by worries about our bodies, home, and children, so the only thing we had to do is build connections with each other?

Yet, in reality everything is very different. Any work we do, even work unrelated to the group, is pure spiritual work. We just don’t know about it or understand it. By carrying out the responsibilities of an employee, a family man, a citizen, and so on, I correct myself. I may not see exactly how I do it, but it is nevertheless so.

I am allowed to devote just a small part of my life to spiritual correction. As I perform this correction, if instead of studying, I work on organizing the life of the group, I thereby support and strengthen the connection in our common system.

Obviously we also can’t forget about having a fair distribution of the burden among all of us. And more generally speaking, this is a vast topic that we will definitely come back to.
[25275]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/10, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Paint Spirituality With Corporeal Pictures
Laitman.com Post: Wake Up And Look At Yourself
Laitman.com Post: To Live For Spirituality

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Question: How can I turn to the group if no matter what I do I remain an egoist in my thoughts? And how can we feel the Surrounding Light at the Convention and turn it into Inner Light?

Answer: Tuning into the group means attaining the common desire so I won’t have any thoughts about myself, any individual goal or opinion, but only the common one, “as one man with one heart.” It’s when I don’t want to feel myself and judge things with my own mind, but only be together with everyone.

I don’t know the meaning of common thoughts and desires, but I hope it will be something that belongs to everyone. To the extent we unite together in one heart and one mind, to that degree we are called a group. Otherwise we are not! By virtue of this unity we will be able to advance.

At the Convention we have a very powerful influence on one another because if a person desires to put this force of common inspiration to the right use, he will be able to intermix with the rest of the desires. Granted, this requires serious inner work and efforts. Then a person will be able to join and feel the common mind and the feeling of all the souls that have already attained all the spiritual degrees while in our world.

If we unite together even for a fraction of a percent, then we will already be included into the common system of souls and they will all start to influence us. The Kabbalists of all generations, the prophets will start to work together with us! We will enter the place where they all dwell and will unite together with them in one common mind and feeling.

We can be next to them as babies, but nevertheless we will still have the same sensation and mind and will begin to attain this common soul. This connection will remain forever, even if it later disappears from our sensation. The fact that we attained it will already be “recorded in our account”!

Nothing disappears in the spiritual world. All your attainments are recorded in your account even if you lose that sensation later on in order to rise one level higher. Nevertheless, this level is already yours!
[25207]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/10, The Acting Mind”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: At The Foot Of Mount Sinai
Laitman.com Post: Before The First Ascent
Laitman.com Post: Arvut Is Not For The Weak

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spirituality, Unity - 1 Comment →