Before the Revelation of the Spiritual Rungs

165Comment: Sometimes I feel hatred for the teacher and it is completely unexplainable.

My Response: Hatred for the teacher is an absolutely natural state and you do not have to conceal it. I will tell you why. Who is causing all the problems in your life?

Question: It used to come to the point that it seemed to me that it would be better if I leave completely, that I would feel good. It was this way. What should I do with this feeling? How can I not leave the group?

Answer: But you haven’t left.

Question: Yes, but this may happen again. I am afraid to leave.

Answer: This is the key that you will stay. You have to be afraid; otherwise, you will go down to the level of an animal.

You see where the world is heading to. What is the use of people living, no matter how good their lives are? At the same time, we have a clear path in front of us, and the first spiritual steps are beginning to unfold. I am happy that the sensations of the spiritual path, spiritual steps, and spiritual ascent are awakening in my students.

But the most important thing for us is to control the two forces, the positive and the negative, and advance forward on two legs. It means revealing the negative force and covering it with a positive one: left-right, left-right.

Why is the left first? It is because we are created in the desire to receive pleasure, in egoism. If it did not exist, we would not have any possibility or any necessity to connect with the Creator. Therefore, it always begins with the left: “And there was evening, and there was morning, one day.”
[337097]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/19, “Questions and Answers”

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Tune in to Joy

278.01The true joy in spiritual work is the reward of faith above reason.

Is there joy in faith above reason? Of course, there is. The greatest joy is there because in this state a person is fully included in the Creator.

We should feel that we are pleasing the Creator in the ten. This should be our demand.

Question: How important is acting out joy when you do not feel it?

Answer: You need to tune in to joy and bestowal, and you will see how quickly this will advance you.
[337366]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/20/24, Writings of Rabash “Serve the Creator with Joy”

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The Main Reason for Divorces

963.4Question: I read a story about a Korean woman who was flying from Seoul to California with her four-month-old baby. Before the flight, she handed out 200 small bags to all the passengers.

In the bags were earplugs, sweets, and a note: “Hello, I am Joon Woo, I am four months old, and I am flying to America with my mom and grandma. This is my first flight, and I might cry. My mom prepared candies and earplugs for you. Please use them if it gets too noisy because of me. Please do not be upset with me. Sorry, and thank you.”

As a result, this boy, Joon Woo, behaved wonderfully and slept for all 10 hours.

What do you think of the mother’s attitude, the Korean woman’s, toward others?

Answer: This is certainly commendable.

Question: Please tell me, what plays a bigger role here: a national trait or upbringing?

Answer: I think it is more of a national trait. I don’t know them well enough, but it seems to me that they have this characteristic—not to disturb others.

Question: Can this be nurtured in a person, and should it be?

Answer: It can be nurtured, and it should be. But who will take on this task?

Question: So, here you have this question here: “But who are the judges?” Meaning, “Who are the teachers?”

Answer: Yes.

Question: So the teachers must fully embody this quality in order to nurture it.

Why is it that some people are uncomfortable disturbing others while others say the opposite: “Why are you bothering me?” Why does this happen?

Answer: It depends on upbringing. It depends on how much each of us is willing to look at the world through different eyes.

Question: Through the eyes of not wanting to disturb others. Am I instead always looking through the eyes of being disturbed?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Is this how most of the world is? “I’m being disturbed.”

Answer: The natural world is the one that looks from its egoism.

Question: If we consider the cause of divorces using the example of this Korean woman, could we say that if we care about making others comfortable with us, there would be no divorce?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So what is the root cause of divorces?

Answer: Only that we do not understand each other.

Comment: That is, I feel uncomfortable with you, and I start to…

My Response: Yes. I cannot put myself in your shoes.

Question: If I may ask, what is the cause of wars, using the example of this Korean woman? If one country cares about making it comfortable for another country to live with it, there would be no wars. Such fantastic scenarios…

But in what case does a war occur?

Answer: When one side refuses to understand the other side.

Question: Will this ever end? Can we be educated like this Korean woman and gradually…

Answer: I hope so. But this requires very serious investments in people.

Question: In education? Do you mean purely financial or spiritual investments as well?

Answer: Serious investments of effort and money. Of everything possible.

Question: Will anyone ever decide to do this?

Answer: I think so, because eventually there will be no other choice. It seems to me that we are currently in a transitional state where this might happen. People need to be given such an education that they will feel the need to change themselves.

Question: Tell me, will this happen? You say that we might be approaching this. Will it happen because of pain, suffering, or through understanding, from some light ahead?

Answer: Through pain and suffering.

Comment: You still believe that…

My Response: I believe… I am a materialist.

Question: A materialist. So through blows, essentially?

Answer: Yes, only through blows!
[333900]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/15/24

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“Want to Be Happy, Be Happy!”

293.1Follow your path and do not look back at people’s pain. Only by walking your path can you help people surpass themselves. (Unknown)

My Response: Yes, in general, healing lies in a person overcoming himself, rising above himself. This is something you can help with but nothing else.

Comment: You walk and ignore people’s pain. The fact that you are following your path helps them. There are a lot of contradictions here!

My Response: This all needs to be analyzed; it is not simple. But overall, the attitude toward the world as a system that needs to come into balance, and that is what we need to learn.

Question: When we discuss the topic of overcoming suffering you seem to come alive. Why, can you tell us?

Answer: Because by addressing suffering much can be explained to people, and they are willing to listen. How else can it be done?

Question: What is the main explanation you would like to give regarding overcoming suffering?

Answer: It is according to Kozma Prutkov: “If you want to be happy, be so.”

Question: Be happy! And where is the suffering in this?

Answer: If a person is unhappy, they suffer.

Do you want to be happy?

Comment: Yes.

My Response: We will!

Question: Do you see even a deep philosophical aspect in this?

Answer: Yes, exactly when you want to be happy, you must overcome what prevents you from being happy, and you will be.

Question: Please tell us, what kind of happiness are you talking about now: “If you want to be happy, be so”?

Answer: It is the harmony of a person with nature, with higher forces, and generally with the whole world.

Question: Regardless of what happens around?

Answer: Regardless of what happens.

Question: Regardless of what turmoil is inside me?

Answer: It doesn’t matter.

Question: So I must come to this calmness?

Answer: Yes.
[330238]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/6/24

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 12/8/24

Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Selected Highlights

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Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/7/24

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 19


Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 19

What Is Correct to Seek: Recognition of Evil or the Feeling of the Creator’s Greatness?

The most correct course of action in order to progress is to attach, cling, and bond with the upper force, the Creator, as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in his article “There Is None Else Besides Him.” He also writes that half an hour each day should be spent in self-reflection, not looking up, but looking within. Also, even when looking within, we should check what we have sensed, examined, and seen in the Creator.

A routine inward focus on ourselves is called “a complete descent to the level of this world.” It brings about despair, not progress. We are where our thoughts are. Who are we? Our thoughts. If our thoughts are focused on materialism, we are in materialism. If we are focused on Godliness, we are in Godliness. That is what we call “ascents and descents.”

It is thus beneficial to be as attentive as possible to Godliness. As Kabbalist Baruch Shalom Ashlag (RABASH) writes, the group should work to elevate Godliness constantly and focus on how to raise the Creator’s greatness. We should not think about ourselves but about the greatness of the Creator. Why? It is because we become inspired by what we receive from above.

Certainly, we should not neglect the inner goal and the desire for self-recognition of evil, but we should not linger in the negative for too long as it causes despair, which is unhelpful. Only connection with the Creator is helpful. By continually punishing ourselves for being bad, we actually distance ourselves from correction by punishing the Creator. Thus, expressions of joy, awakening, and elevation of spirit are signs that we are moving in the correct direction. Conversely, sadness, weakness, self-punishment, and guilt are signs of stagnation, not progress.

This is the general approach to advancing in the direction of Godliness. If there is a healthy spirit of struggle and overcoming in the group, everyone will abandon their doubts with more ease and speed. Doubts arise constantly and must constantly be set aside. It might seem endless, but there is an end, which comes after several years of effort. The time required is shortening. In earlier times, it took twenty or thirty years to reach Godliness, but as time presses on, more developed souls enter the world and the pace of progress accelerates so that today it is possible to reach Godliness in just a few years.

From a Talk on the Article “What Is Preparation for the Reception of the Torah?” 5/16/2002

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Feel the Greatness of the Creator

938.05Question: How does the Creator open a person’s eyes and heart to His greatness?

Answer: The Creator does this with the help of light, and then a person receives the corresponding sensation.

To live in the ten in the greatness of the Creator means that each of the friends and all together they think only about how to reveal His greatness and move forward under the influence of this sensation.
[337363]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/20/24, Writings of Rabash “Serve the Creator with Joy”

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Don’t Run Away from Uncorrected Desires

236.01Question: How can we properly correct those uncorrected desires that may have been hanging between us like heavy weights for years?

Answer: The fact is that we approach increasingly heavier desires gradually. The Creator reveals to us precisely the level of desires that we are capable of correcting.

Therefore, we should not run away from them, but, on the contrary, we should constantly bring them before the Creator. And then we will feel what is wrong between us, between us and the Creator. This is our work.

When a person moves forward and wants to be in harmony with the Creator, then he sees which of his desires contradict correction and hinder him. At that point, he turns to the Creator and asks for His help.
[337327]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/17/24, Writings of Rabash “Abraham Arose”

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Why Are We Offended by Being Compared with Animals?

198If an animal were to kill intentionally, it would have been a human act (Stanislaw Jerzy Lec).

Question: Do we kill intentionally? We humiliate, we call everything we can murder. Why are we so offended when we are called animals?

Answer: A person must realize his place in nature and understand that he must consciously intend to grow up and fulfill his destiny.

Question: That is, become a human being?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is your understanding of becoming human?

Answer: To become a human being is to reveal the Creator and follow His laws.

Question: What are His laws?

Answer: Love your neighbor as yourself is the most general law of all nature. And then there are specific laws about how we should create a society, help each other, and so on.

Question: So in principle, it is the proper offense for a person when he is called an animal: “Are you an animal”?

Answer: Of course.

Comment: But we see that animals help each other.

My Response: Animals work on instinct. Therefore, if they want to help or do something to each other, then it is an instinct. This is not a problem of choice.

Question: So it is as if they cannot do it any other way?

Answer: No.

Question: Can a person do it differently?

Answer: Yes, a person has a choice, and therefore he has to want one thing and try to change himself and be different.

Comment: This possibility of choice is inherent in us, does it spoil everything? And all the time, for some reason we choose to belittle another, kill, or something similar, and free ourselves from everything.

My Response: It makes us feel better.

Question: In which case will we feel better if we raise another, start loving, and so on?

Answer: If we raise others, we will feel fulfillment, pleasure, peace, etc.

Question: That is, I do something good for someone else, and that makes me feel good. Is this a possible option?

Answer: It is possible, but then the question arises: am I doing it in order to feel like this or in order to be like the Creator?

Comment: That is, if I do it in order to feel good…

Answer: So, this is an egoistic phase.

Question: That is, this is one of the egoistic phases? And it turns out that I have not come out of anything?

Answer: No.

Comment: And if I do it to be like the Creator…

Answer: This is a completely different reason.

Question: Is it supposed to be, is this the reason?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What does it mean to be like the Creator?

Answer: The Creator is a property of bestowal and love. If we want to get closer to this property and treat all those around us or at least some part of them in this way, then in this way we become like the Creator, achieve common feelings with Him, and this is the goal of our development.
[333037]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/15/24

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