Entries in the 'correction' Category

A Simple Scheme Of Creation

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn reality, all the worlds exist within one’s “neighbor.” The “neighbor” (or the group) is Malchut of Infinity. I exist outside of her.

At first, the earthly will to receive develops within me throughout multiple generations. Then, in our time (in the present reincarnation of the soul), a “point,” a spiritual desire, starts evolving within me. When I make attempts to become closer to the group, I begin to feel my nature as egoism and evil; that is, I become aware of my evil inclination.

When I study Kabbalah in the group, then to the extent that I realize my egoism as evil, I demand correction by the Light that Reforms that makes me similar to the Creator. All of this happens while I’m still not connected with the other (“neighbor”).

When I come to the decision that I am obliged to reach the connection with the other, it’s as if I come in contact with the group from the outside. Then I begin to connect with the group with the help of the Light that Reforms (Ohr Makif, the Surrounding Light), which shines upon me from inside, from the center of Malchut of Infinity.

All these stages of my connecting with the group and the measure of connection between us are the 125 spiritual degrees or the five worlds: Assiya (A), Yetzira (Y), Beria (B), Atzilut (A), and Adam Kadmon (AK). When my connection with the "other" is truly close and unbreakable by my being in the "center" of this "other" and completely merging with him, this state is called the “World of Infinity.”
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/10, The Zohar

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What Is The "Torah"?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the “Torah”?

Answer: The force that corrects and unites us descends upon us in its various manifestations. The force that can bring us awareness of evil and its correction, unity with the good, and the models of connection is called the Torah. In other words, the Torah is the entire system of our correction.

Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut is regarded as the “Torah” because it is an image or a system after which I aspire to model myself. I do so by collecting all souls in Malchut of the World of Atzilut so that the connection between them would be equivalent to Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut. In this case, all souls plugged into Malchut of the World of Atzilut unite and enter adhesion (Zivug) with Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, the Creator. In this way, we reveal the connection and adhesion between us.

All of this occurs, starts, and ends in ZON (Zeir Anpin and Nukva) of the World of Atzilut. Malchut of the World of Atzilut undergoes seven states until she reaches the level of Zeir Anpin, equivalence with Him, in her full capacity. At the End of Correction (Gmar Tikkun), they become as two great Lights. Hence, Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, which is regarded as the “Torah” or “the Creator,” serves us as a model with its structure, force, and influence.

As for us, before anything else, we must aspire to connect together in the dark and realize that we need His assistance. When, in our consistent effort to unite, we discover that we are unable to do so, then, like little children, we will start crying and demand correction and its example from Him. As a result, the Upper One will hand a model to us and the strength to unite.

However, our request and demand have to derive solely from our efforts to connect with each other. Otherwise, we won’t be rewarded with the Light since we do not exist in the adhesion of Malchut and Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, and we are not in Malchut.

Malchut senses only unity. Meanwhile, all of us are below in the worlds of BYA (Beria, Yetzira, Assiya). Only our desires to connect with each other ascend to Malchut in order to reveal the Creator and attain the property of bestowal.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, The Zohar

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The Day Of Atonement Is A Day Of Joy

Dr. Michael LaitmanYom Kippur, the Day Of Atonement, is a state when the Kli (desire) that we need to correct is revealed. Rabash writes in many articles that a person comes to the Day Of Atonement according to his inner state, which can be revealed without any connection to the onset of the holiday according to the calendar.

Each of us goes through these states in our development, including ascents called Rosh HaShana (the New Year), Yom Kippur (the Day Of Atonement) and others. Yom Kippur is a very elevated state. A great Light has to influence us in order to reveal this degree in us and a whole sequence of actions is required. A person must exert great effort within the group, in our unification, where the breaking once occurred. The place of the breaking is given to us so that we can correct it. Then we will understand what is called correction, what the structure of this place is, and how the Upper Force created and continues to support it. As a result, we discover the Creator.

In order to achieve this, we exert effort according to the main rule of the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” As Kabbalists advise us, we first actualize it in one or several small groups rather than in all of humanity, since that would be impossible. By trying to realize this rule in the unification between us according to the method of Kabbalists, we go from love for the created beings to love for the Creator and discover to what extent we are not in the quality of love and bestowal.

We are not talking about life in this world and how good or bad we feel. We do not check good and evil according to this, nor do we arrive at The Day Of Atonement in this manner. Only by being in a group, aspiring toward the connection between us, and awakening the Light that Reforms, do I come to see how consumed I am by hatred and rejection with regard to my friends, who are trying to unite in order to reveal the Creator within the group.

I reveal the force of the separation, the force of the breaking in me, and only in regard to this force can I say that I have revealed evil. Then, with this evil, I can come to the Creator and demand correction from Him. The Day Of Atonement then becomes a day of joy because I reveal the ailment of egoism, my own nature that needs to be corrected. I reveal the condition, “I created egoism,” and now I can ask the Creator for the Torah, which is the force to correct it. It is written, “I created egoism and I created the Torah for its correction because the Light in it returns one to the Source” (to the Creator).

First we have to work very hard on the unification between us, and then the Upper Light shines upon us from the level of ELUL (which stands for “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine”). Then we reach Rosh Hashanah, a state where we desire a new beginning, new changes on the path, unity between us, the birth of a new system or a new human being (Adam) in us. And only after going through all of this do we reach a state where we check all ten of our qualities. On the 10th day after the New Year, which marked the beginning of the new path, we come to the Day Of Atonement.

At that point, on one hand we are truly in a state of complete despair and lack of strength, and on the other hand we experience great joy because we can now finally cry out to the Creator asking Him to help us with the complete confidence that He will help us. We have this confidence because we have already checked ourselves and reached the realization that we all dwell only in evil, unable to do anything about it. But now, by virtue of the connection between us, we have the confidence that the Creator is helping us and is just waiting for this very moment.

Baal HaSulam writes that “There is no happier moment in a person’s life than when he discovers how absolutely powerless he is and loses faith in his own strength since he exerted all the possible efforts that he was able to, but reached nothing. This is because precisely at this moment, during this state, he is ready for a complete and clear prayer to the Creator!” This moment is called the Day Of Atonement. From this moment on, a person can be sure that he will receive the Light of Correction.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/2010, “Yom Kippur”

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Crime, Punishment, And The Light Of Correction

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If “there is none else beside Him” and everything is done only by Him, then why am I considered to be a sinner?

Answer: When the evil becomes revealed to me for the first time, this is not yet considered to be my sin. However, if after having discovered an evil desire within, I still plan on using it, now this goes on my account. When this happens for the second time, it is considered to be a sin. It is like repeatedly tasting the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. However, it is only when this happens for the third time that I am considered to be a real sinner. The second time is only the revelation that I exist in evil.

Let’s say, I committed a crime, but this was my very first time. Even courts take this into consideration as extenuating circumstances. I am given a light punishment as a warning to help me never do anything like this again. In other words, I am given the force of correction.

However, when, regardless of the correction that I am given in accordance with the transgression, I still repeat the crime because the criminal desire that awakens in me is even greater than the punishment or fear of a crime, this means that I have really sinned.

When I transgress for the first time, the magnitude of my evil is revealed to me. For now, this is not called a sin. The second time, I reveal how big of a crime against the Creator it is, and I am given a punishment for it that is slightly greater than the sin.

If I now reveal this kind of desire in me for the third time, and the desire is even bigger than before, then this difference is called "the evil inclination" because it is in it that I go against the Creator. This is the force of the Pharaoh within me. Now, this is a real sin. It is there where I need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Now I am undoubtedly a sinner.

The first time is merely the creation of a vessel (the desire). The second time is the evaluation of my sin. While the third time is the true crime, it is only as the result of this crime that the appeal for correction appears.

However, the most important part is that all of this is only possible through the Surrounding Light which comes in the form of a “group” or the connection within which the Creator exists. This means that “Israel (one who strives toward the Creator), Torah (the Light of correction), and the Creator are one."

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for the Reception of Torah”

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It’s The Same Ten Sefirot Everywhere

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are studying the book Talmud Eser Sefirot, which comprises six volumes and over 2000 pages, and all the time, we are studying only about the ten Sefirot. We’re doing this in order to read about them over and over, then forget all about them, then to read about them once again, and to forget them again. Every time we study, we study the same ten Sefirot, but in a new form because our qualities are constantly changing, while the ten Sefirot remain the same.

Therefore, every time we sit down to study, we do so incorrectly. And afterward we always have to forget what we studied.

The spiritual law of the soul’s correction states that Nukva returns to the state of “virginity” each time. Then Nukva grows, becomes small, and then becomes an adult and unites with Zeir Anpin. She then completes this state and returns to the state of “virginity” in order to start growing all over again to reach a new state of unity.

In this way, we go through every phase or every level, which includes the same ten Sefirot. Afterward, everything becomes erased and on the following level we once again study the same ten Sefirot, but with a deeper understanding and sensation and in greater connection.

That is how one level becomes replaced by the next. New relationships are added, but we’re always talking about the unity of Malchut with the first nine Sefirot.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The Day Of Atonement

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn a few days we will observe a special day called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). However, no one knows what inner state a Kabbalist will feel on that day and when the state called “Day of Atonement” will happen for him. One’s inner states do not occur according to the calendar.

The states that any person goes through can be personal or general. On the general level, people follow the common traditions of each holiday. When a group of Kabbalists reaches unity and through it achieves a certain internal state called a “holiday,” that state will not be related to the general holiday observed by all people. The inner holiday happens in accordance with one’s personal, internal state, whereas a general holiday takes place according to the calendar. Traditions and customs, as well as every single “specific” day, have a higher spiritual root. Therefore, a Kabbalist also wishes to follow the tradition together with others, as it is written: “The Creator stays with His people.” However, at the same time, a Kabbalist also remains in his own personal internal state.

Religious people follow customs and traditions, whereas Kabbalists perform inner actions in their souls by connecting to other souls into one common soul of Adam. By doing so, they please the Creator and correct themselves. Correction is possible only by way of uniting with others, as it is written: “Love thy neighbor as thyself, this is the great law of the Torah.”

People all over the world pray to the Creator (each of them addressing their Lord) and request “forgiveness.” But maybe it is worth explaining to them that repentance works only in respect to “love thy neighbor” and depends on whether you are “for it” or “against it.” We can figure out whether we sinned or not only by comparing ourselves to this rule. This is the only law we have to follow, as it is written: “Love thy neighbor as thyself is the main rule of the Torah.”

If the whole of humankind would virtually get together in order to clarify what is “love thy neighbor,” how powerfully the Creator demands it from us, and how far we still are from this state, that would be a real Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and it would lead us to Purim (in Hebrew “Kippur means “as Purim”), the complete correction.

When people pray for forgiveness, it is very important for them to know what to ask for. We weep and beg for so many years, but it doesn’t help. The Creator cannot hear our prayers in this form. That’s because this kind of appeal is opposite to the correct cry: We are not begging to feel love for our neighbors, and the Creator doesn’t listen to any other requests. Thus, we turn our back to the One who can redeem us and scream in the opposite direction. This is what most people’s Day of Atonement is like.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for Slichot

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What Lies Beyond The Horizon?

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt first Nukva does not have a desire to receive the Light because it is just a point in relation to Zeir Anpin (it is behind Zeir Anpin’s chest). But then Nukva starts to grow and to receive the Light in order to build its desires (vessels, Kli). The Light comes from Zeir Anpin to Nukva, and thus Nukva builds itself up by virtue of its connection with Zeir Anpin.

They connect “back to back,” at which time Nukva goes through its formation, the formation of its screen or the forms of bestowal that Zeir Anpin teaches it. By adopting these forms, Nukva acquires more desire and force and is then able to become befitting and similar to Zeir Anpin. Nukva becomes Zeir Anpin‘s “wife,” and they (creation and the Creator) unite “face to face” where she receives fulfillment from Him.

However, creation can never become the Creator. It has to become similar and equal to Him! One thing cannot become another; it can only become similar to it. This is sufficient, and we don’t have a need for anything more!

We don’t know what will happen afterward, after the final correction, Gmar Tikkun. Right now it’s impossible for anyone to imagine this. Possibly, when we get there we will reveal completely new possibilities, similar to how a person in our world is now suddenly beginning to reveal the spiritual world, making this entire world of ours seem like a tiny grain of sand compared to the spiritual universe that is opening up before him.

That is how enormous the spiritual world appears to a person in his impressions, sensations, fulfillments, and attainments. It’s as if a person is born anew and perceives everything that happened to him in the past as nothingness. It’s even smaller than a drop of semen compared to a grown-up person because that drop belongs to the same material world and it already contains all of the information about the future person; all it has to do is develop. In contrast, something completely new is born in the spiritual world. The spiritual world means a new perception of reality where instead of perceiving egoistically, inside oneself, a person comes out of himself and perceives on the outside.

Perhaps after the end of correction, we will break through to another dimension, which we cannot imagine right now in any way. We can’t even imagine the spiritual world even though we have all kinds of tools to perceive it, including the Torah, religion, and Kabbalistic texts. However, there is absolutely no evidence of what will happen after the end of correction. Kabbalists do not say even one word to give us a hint about this. They only tell us about the path of correction, but no one talks about what will happen after we become equal to the Creator.

The Zohar strictly confines our research to just the matter and the form clothed in matter. We cannot ask about the abstract form and the essence because we do not have the instruments with which to research them in order to receive the answer.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Connecting The Creator And The Created Being

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does a Kabbalist who has reached the final correction feel?

Answer: In the state of the final correction (Gmar Tikkun), enormous changes are constantly taking place. A soul exists in ascent and descent “simultaneously” since it feels these two opposite states as identical, as one. The two extremes are united in the soul as one whole because a person has corrected his perception of them and feels them as one occurrence.

However, as we ascend to the World of Infinity, “transitions” from emptiness to fulfillment do not cease to exist, but instead turn into a comparison of the Creator’s initial opposite acts: “existence from existence” and “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Yesh Ve Yesh Mi Ain). And I, a human being, unite them within myself, adding to the Creator’s act.

This is what dictates the necessity of creating man: He needs to unite these opposites in himself and discover “existence from existence” out of “existence from absence,” that is, reveal the Creator.

From the Talk on The Light that Reforms 9/8/10

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Infinite Rest With Infinite Speed

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do we strive to achieve balance and absolute rest ingrained in our root, the World of Infinity, if you say that there, too, we experience ascents and descents, emptiness and fulfillment?

Answer: In the World of Infinity ascents and descents happen with infinite speed and frequency. This is exactly why we call this state “absolute” rest. The creature is alive only under the condition that it senses itself and its surroundings, and the sensation is built out of the “contact” of two opposite forces. It is said: “The sensation of Light originates from the sensation of darkness.” We perceive the interchange of various phenomena that are in “touch” with each other through their opposite qualities, such as “shadow and light.”

The state of Infinity means that the creature senses everything within itself simultaneously, and this is why such a state is considered “absolute rest.” This means that the creature exists at an infinitely high frequency of comparisons, contrasts, and judgments, all of which represent sensations.

This continuous frequency in particular allows the creature to be in all places of infinite space simultaneously. The sensation consists of impressions of deficiency and fulfillment (descent and ascent). The more often they happen in the creature, the higher the creature is on the ladder leading to perfection. The ability to be everywhere at the same time (with infinite frequency) means that we fill up space and sense rest. This is the End of the Correction of the Soul (Gmar Tikkun).

Quantum physicists haven’t yet discovered the fact that it is impossible to stop the movement of simple particles because it causes matter to disappear as they cannot exist without movement. Even if they managed to stop the particles, they would vanish since matter only exists in constant motion between two states: “emptiness or fulfillment.” By the way, quantum physicists confirm that a quantum can be in two places (states) at the same time.

Rest is not the absence of movement, but rather a continuous movement, which allows us to be in all places at the same time. Infinite speed doesn’t mean that I transition from one point to another instantly, but that I am in both at the same time. This is real rest.

From the Talk on The Light that Reforms 9/8/10

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The System Of The Universe

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe “descended” from the World of Infinity to this world, from the property of bestowal to the property of reception. As we descend, the property of bestowal within us is decreasing, and, accordingly, the fulfillment (the Light, the sensation of the Creator) within us is diminishing as well. This continues until we reach the state of “our world,” where all traces of the Light and the spiritual vessel (the desire to bestow) disappear totally, and we find ourselves completely cut off from spirituality.

Above our world, in the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya, there exist the broken souls, that is, the souls that sense their egoism. We need to “enter” there from our world, meaning to reveal that our souls are broken and disconnected. Afterward, we have to pass the border that separates the Worlds of BYA from the World of Atzilut (Parsa), that is, to fulfill the requirement of joining the process of correction: to wish to attain love and complete unification.

By doing so we awaken our broken souls so that they include themselves into Malchut of the World of Atzilut which initially is merely a point that exists on Hazeh (chest) of Zeir Anpin. Above Zeir Anpin, there is GAR of the World of Azilut: Atik, Arich Anpin, Aba ve Ima, and Yeshsut. Above it, we find the next border: Tabur of Galgalta, the World of Adam Kadmon, and the World of Infinity.

In our world, our souls are points. This is how a person perceives his spiritual state called “this world.” Later, by attracting upon himself the Light that develops him, a person attains the sensation of himself in the worlds of BYA, that is, the sensation of the broken, egoistic desires (the states of the Egyptian exile).

From there, we need to ascend toward the Light, meaning above Parsa because it’s impossible to perform the correction in the worlds of BYA, where there is no Light of correction but rather, the Light that exposes the evil. The Worlds of BYA (a place, a state, a sensation) are intended for the realization of evil, of the broken souls, so that we reveal how bad we are and how strong the grip of the evil inclination is. Then, to the measure of this revelation, we will be able to ascend upward and connect to Malchut of the World of Atzilut.

The inclusion into Malchut of the World of Atzilut is called raising MAN, our prayer. Malchut of the World of Atzilut passes our prayer to Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, and, as a result, ZON raises the MAN to Bina of the World of Atzilut. Then the Light (the Reflected Light or the Light of AB-SAG) comes from Above, corrects the connection in ZON, and fills them (ZON).

That is, we only need to raise Malchut of the World of Atzilut, Shechina, that is now in exile. Everything that exists in the Worlds of BYA are parts of this Malchut, Shechina. We need to raise our desires there. Malchut of the World of Atzilut is the “Assembly of the souls of Israel” (Israel is those who aspire “straight to the Creator”), that is, the connection of the broken desires.

Inasmuch as we are able to connect, we include ourselves into Malchut of the World of Atzilut. Surely, we cannot accomplish it ourselves; we can only ask.

Malchut passes our request about uniting to Zeir Anpin, and to this very measure reveals that she wants to connect with Him. Meanwhile, ZA has to receive the desire to connect with Malchut from Bina. And then both, ZA and Malchut (ZON) rise, each with its own desire, to Ima (Bina), which unites them.

Afterward, ZA descends to its place, gives birth to Malchut, and connects her to itself. To the extent that ZON are connected, the souls that exist in them participate in this connection and get filled from it. That is because these souls comprise the body of Malchut.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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