Entries in the 'Workshops' Category

How Difficult It Is To Begin To Speak Through The Heart

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The last workshop was more difficult than the previous one since instead of a short question you read an entire paragraph from an article and then asked us to discuss it. But it wasn’t at all clear what exactly should be discussed.

Answer: I did that on purpose in order to force you to talk from the heart, from within feelings. If, during the reading, you follow me through your feelings, then you don’t need to remember the question and to think. You simply feel and say only a few words about it. That’s enough!

This is exactly what I wanted to achieve: to direct you to emotionally penetrate into the text so that together we would feel what is hidden there behind the words. If we try to follow the feelings that come after my words and not to look for the answer through the mind, then it works.

I don’t want you to discuss through the mind, but to begin to connect between you through the impressions you received from what you heard. In each paragraph there was some emotional development. And together you had to find your overall impression from it. Building a mutual Kli (desire, vessel), means to come to a shared impression.

A group, in general, is a shared impression in separate Kelim, desires, that connect in order to operate together. When they are ready for this one, shared impression, then this is revealed in them.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Preparation Talk For The Workshop: “The Collective Prayer”

Dr. Michael LaitmanThroughout the seminar, each group, each circle, must find a question that he would like to ask. Discuss it among yourselves, come to the state when this is really a very important question for you, the most important one, which you all agree to clarify from the bottom of your heart, and that is exactly the question you want to ask.

Do not yield to your friends now, like we usually do it, saying: “They are great, they are big, they know better; I bow before what I hear from them.” Here, it is the opposite: “No, I believe that my opinion is more important.” I want to captivate them with my opinion instead of our common work. So in no way can there be any concessions here, but on the contrary, the realization of the brightest prayer, its peak: what we should really ask! And it should be of the feelings and of the mind. It must combine everything that we really need in it.

“Chew it thoroughly,” analyze what you will ask for. Do as in a fairy tale: You are given one wish, once you will say it, it will be implemented!

Afterward, we will try to hear and possibly unite all of these desires. We will write them out, connect them all together, try to find what is the most common among them, and that will actually already be a collective prayer.

Most importantly, express yourself concisely, coherently, clearly, so that it will just break the heart!

First of all, we need to warm the hearts up so that they all become soft, melt, and unite into one. Then it will be possible to come to the collective agreement about what is important for us.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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Let’s Ask All Together!

Dr. Michael LaitmanAn appeal to the Creator, a prayer, in our state can be only collective. Otherwise, the Creator does not hear. He hears only when people gather together and come to the same opinion as one man with one heart, one mind, because, thus they create a collective desire.

What do they want? Him to correct, raise, fulfill them, and so forth.

One person is worth nothing, means nothing: Such a prayer does not exist. You can scream as much as you want, but it will be the voice of one crying in the wilderness. If ten people get together, then, no matter how they shout, even falsely, their plea will taken into account because they are trying to connect with each other.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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Uniting In One Prayer

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During yesterday’s workshop, some circles weren’t able to reach a mutual agreement. How can we reach a mutual agreement during today’s seminar? What are we doing wrong?

Answer: I don’t think that you’re making any mistakes, just like you can’t say that a child is making mistakes. This is a natural process of growth, and it’s called education not mistakes.
I think that we got excellent results from yesterday’s workshop, regardless of the fact that not all groups spoke up. Perhaps they were too shy to disclose their conclusions. We must understand that even if yesterday we all had the same phrase, we still would think differently and imagine those words in our own way.

Ultimately, by uniting in the group, we reach a state called the “prayer of the many.” This is when all the mutual phrases, which are different for each person, unite into a mutual integral desire. This is what we have to achieve.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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Weeping For All

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I am sure that at this convention we will achieve something very high, powerful. But with this confidence, I feel an alarm, an additional animal fear for the world, a fear that others will not ask.

Answer: You have to ask for them.

Israel is now in a state before war. And atomic bombs, thousands of missiles, and everything else are at the ready from two sides. For every citizen of our country, we have perhaps, a few missiles from all sides. We understand that; otherwise, our people will not stir, and the Creator has to act in this way in order to bring the nation to its usual prayer, to the correct state.

But how can we come to this? That is why we, as a group, feel that we are responsible not for changing the actions of the Creator—that’s His business to decide—but for maximally directing us all at the goal and, thus, somehow try to win over all the others.

That is the solution to every problem. These problems are never solved physically. We see that the more people get involved in physical problem solving, the more they multiply other problems. So, sometimes, it may be enough for one person to ask for the world. And the fact that you cry is good, you cry for all of us.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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“Can A Computer Replace A Teacher?”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from BBC News): “Professor Sugata Mitra, from Newcastle University, wanted to know what happens when the adults stand back and allow children to use a PC unsupervised.

“This year, Professor Mitra is conducting a series of experiments in locations around the world including Brazil and India, in which children are given access to computers without a teacher to guide them.

“One location is a ‘suitcase school’ classroom, in Kiddapore in Calcutta, India. The school which is run by an ngo to give young people from disadvantaged backgrounds more access to education.

“In Kiddapore, Professor Mitra asked teachers are asked to stand back and let the mouse teach. Teachers observed impact on behaviour.

“In particular, a pupil who had misbehaved was helping younger children use the PC, and acting as their teacher.

“This is not the first time that Professor Mitra has asked academics and educators to think twice about a teachers role.

“In 1999, he launched a set of experiments known as ‘Hole in the wall’ in a slum wall in Delhi, India.

“Given access to computers, Mitra observed that children started to learn English and naturally fell into organised learning groups.”

My Comment: This is the ancient tradition of studying the Torah and Kabbalah: Students must first hear the teacher and then discuss the studied material together. The Talmud is studied by several students in a group discussing it without a teacher.

Our workshops (sadna) is arranged in the same way: The teacher or moderator sets a theme or question, which is then discussed by the group of two to ten students. If there are more than ten students, another group is created.
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The Space Where All The Answers Lie

Dr. Michael LaitmanFirst of all, we need to determine exactly how we actually move on the spiritual path.

Trying to figure out where we are, where we should go, and how to find meaning in existence, we see that everything is closely connected, intertwined, and confused. Turning to human society, we see that everything is messy, unclear; everyone does what he wants, everyone has his own theory, his own philosophy of life. Overall, this is the mess in which we live. On the other hand, studying nature, we see that everything is logical, everything happens according to laws.

The question is why?

Because human society is not subject to the laws of nature. Our body obeys nature. In life, we also carry out the instructions of nature, but partially. And all that is human in us—not animal but namely human—we are absolutely on our own and do whatever we want.

How are we to organize this human in all of us? If humankind were capable of it, if it understood how to do it, then everything would be clear and correct.

Maybe too clear? Boring? Perhaps, in this case the illusion of freewill would disappear? Maybe we would have felt less flavor in the search, in life, in daring? Or not? Here is the problem that is hidden in humanity.

When I come to Kabbalah, when I finally try to use it to discover the meaning of life, when I, not only in theory but in practice, seek to understand the depth, the foundations of the world, to understand what drives it, how to participate in this and become as the whole world in my mind: perfect, eternal, infinite, then I find that I am confused.

This confusion happens because we need to constantly connect the two opposite ends of the universe: us who are at the bottom and just start asking questions and the most perfect, highest point: the Creator, that is, the fundamental force of this world that has created everything.

Between these two points there is a space that we know nothing about. If we find this link, if we fill it with the correct understanding of what is happening in this space, we will know everything.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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A Nation’s Fate Is Determined At The Roundtable

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You say that it is possible to see a quick result by simple actions and to actually feel a new, powerful force evoked among us within a couple of days that will become our strongest defense and weapon. What actions are necessary in order to attain that?

Answer: I recommend that we begin to hold what we call workshops, discussions in circles or roundtables. There, we will discuss the most important questions that determine our fate.

We will try to rise above all the individual egos in such roundtable discussions in order to find answers that stem from love, connection, and mutual guarantee. First, we have to find out what love is, what connection and incorporation in each other’s desires means, what mutual guarantee is, and the common point so that from it, I can solve all the problems.

We must clarify how we can connect more strongly and thus solve economic problems, problems in education, culture, with drugs, theft, and, actually all the problems we are facing in society. It doesn’t matter what we speak about. What’s important is that every deficiency that is revealed is only a cause that helps us better clarify the concept of mutual guarantee.

Then, we will see that all the problems, including the threat of attack by Iran [in Israel], come only so that we will reinforce mutual guarantee among us. It is as if we look at everything from the other side. We don’t yearn for mutual guarantee in order to get rid of all our internal and external problems, rather, all our internal and external problems are revealed by nature in order to bring us to mutual guarantee, to the completion of our mission, and to unite the people of Israel in the land of Israel.

In order to begin the process of connection and unity, we all must sit at the roundtable. It can be a family or a single person sitting at home in front of the TV screen watching a discussion that takes place at the roundtable. The goal of the discussion is to clarify the question: What do connection, mutual guarantee, and love mean to us, and what state should we reach?

We should speak less about the problems; otherwise we would simply drown in them. Instead, we should rise above them and speak more positively about connection, love, and mutual cooperation, about what builds and not about what destroys. So, we should speak as much as possible about positive factors and as little as possible about the negative ones.

I suggest that we have such debates everywhere: at home and at work. Today, everyone is speaking about the current threat, but a person is where his thoughts are. I don’t want to sink into the threat; I want to rise above it, use the positive forces that raise us above the danger, and to annul it. They operate in such a way that all the threats to our security and the security of our society simply vanish.

It isn’t some kind of psychotherapy and sedative for the people. In this manner, our people will evoke a new force that is above our lives. This is the force of connection, which acts against the ego, against the ordinary human nature.

We can clarify and find this force that is born out of our unity and connection, and doesn’t just exist in nature. This is why there was a condition at the gathering before Mt. Sinai. As it is written, ” If you accept the law, good. If not, then it will be your burial place.”
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From a “Talk on New Life” 8/12/12

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A Workshop Is A Talk From Heart To Heart

Dr. Michael LaitmanA workshop is a special action. I would say sacred. We are going to clarify a question, namely to clarify, not to answer, so that it is clear to us. Then, I will talk about it to explain it in a few minutes. And then, sitting in a circle, we will discuss how to find a logical solution, the real solution to this question, but not what is described in our books. In no case we should rely on the wise sayings of Kabbalists, rather we communicate from our heart to keep connection with each other.

However, I must accept a friend as great, infallible. It does not matter what nonsense he says. It is my feeling that he is stupid; I feel that I see it because I am not sufficiently connected with him. If I loved him, I would have felt through him that the Creator speaks to me.

Thus, while sitting in a group of ten, we must understand clearly how to relate to each other. Representatives of the Creator are sitting in front of me, and they tell me the absolute truth. I have to suppress any criticism, any distrust, anything that might alienate me from them. They are, without realizing it, saying the things that I cannot agree with. I am against it; I don’t want to hear it; I see everything stupid as having long passed, standard, and identical. It all seems so to me so that I rise above myself.

So, here we face a huge internal work.
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From the Preliminary Lesson 8/16/12, Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 08.10.12

Preparation to the Lesson

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Shamati #16 What Is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord in the Work

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Workshop

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