News Report (from The Epoch Times): Most people assume that our memories must exist somewhere inside our heads. But try as they might, medical investigators have been unable to determine which cerebral region actually stores what we remember. Could it be that our memories actually dwell in a space outside our physical structure?

According to biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, author of numerous scientific books and articles, memory does not reside in any geographic region of the cerebrum, but instead in a kind of field surrounding and permeating the brain. Meanwhile, the brain itself acts as a “decoder” for the flux of information produced by the interaction of each person with their environment.  Sheldrake likens the brain to a TV set—drawing an analogy to explain how the mind and brain interact.

…all organisms belong to their own brand of form-resonance—a field existing both within and around an organism, which gives it instruction and shape. …the morphogenetic approach sees organisms intimately connected to their corresponding fields, aligning themselves with the cumulative memory that the species as a whole has experienced in the past.

… “The key concept of morphic resonance is that similar things influence similar things across both space and time,” writes Sheldrake.

While the search for memory challenges traditional biological understanding, investigators like Sheldrake believe that the true residence of memory is to be found in a non-observable spatial dimension. … the brain does not act as a storage facility, or even the mind itself, but the physical nexus necessary to relate the individual with its morphic field.

My Comment: Kabbalah explains that we contain a chain of informational records (Reshimot). These records “come to life” one after another under the influence of the field surrounding us (Light), turning into the dynamic picture of the world that we perceive. This is similar to the way a computer plays a video recording that is evoked from its memory.

We cannot influence the chain of the recordings. However, we have the ability to learn the program that plays them and facilitate their successful realization through our efforts. In this case, we launch the program and attain its cause, flow, and purpose, thereby rising to the level of the Creator.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Reshimo Is One’s Complete Future State
Laitman.com Post: The Reshimot Surfacing Today Demand Spiritual Ascent of All Humanity
Interview with the Future – Part 6  “The Creation of the Reshimot”

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Ninth Commandment” (abridged)

233. The ninth Commandment (law of nature) is to show mercy to the poor (those who cannot correct themselves on their own) and supply them with food (the Light of correction and fulfillment), as it is written: “LET US MAKE (out of the desire to receive) MAN (ADAM from the word ADAME – similar to the Creator) IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS,” and this man will consist of two parts, male and female. IN OUR IMAGE refers to the rich (the Light of Hochma); AFTER OUR LIKENESS refers to the poor (the Light of Hassadim).

234. From the male side, they are rich, but from the female side, they are poor. And as they are united together, merciful to each other, and help each other, so below should the rich and the poor be united as one, and should share with each other, and show mercy to one another (so that the Light of Hochma could clothe the Light of Hassadim).

235. We see this in the book of King Shlomo (Solomon): he who shows mercy to the poor with all his heart, his image never differs from that of Adam, the first man. And since he was created in the image of Adam, he therefore governs all the creatures on earth by his image, as it is written: “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth,” all fear (desire to become like) that image, existing in him. For this Commandment, to show mercy to the poor, is the most important of all the Commandments for elevating man to the image of Adam.

236. How do we know this? From Nebuchadnezzar. Even though he dreamt a dream, as long as he had mercy upon the poor, that dream did not come true. However, as soon as he started looking badly upon the poor (as a result of egoism’s growth), his image changed at once (he lost the appearance of a human being), and he distanced from people. Hence, it is written, “LET US MAKE MAN.” It is said in the form as it was said of charity in another verse. Therefore, “MAKE” – is the same as charity.

Related Material:

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News Report (from PRNewswire): NEW YORK, Oct. 2 — In the wake of the collapse of major investment banks and the government’s proposed bailout of financial institutions, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy.

Hundreds of anti-Semitic posts regarding Lehman Brothers and other institutions affected by the sub prime mortgage crisis have been submitted to discussion boards dealing with finance, with many more arriving by the minute. The messages rail against Jews in general, with some charging that Jews control the government and finance as part of a “Jew world order” and therefore are to blame for the economic turmoil.

My Comment: “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” items 66-71, (summary):

When the people of Israel make efforts to elevate the soul, then the nations of the world recognize this and value them. But when the people of Israel lower the greatness of spirituality, they cause the nations of the world to prevail over them, to accuse and humiliate them.

Spirituality can only be elevated through the study of Kabbalah. Then the nations of the world acknowledge that Israel is special, because it has the method to correct the world. But when the people of Israel do not engage in elevating the goal of creation, then the nations of the world degrade them, considering them useless and harmful to the world.

Hence, Israel’s fate depends only on the study of Kabbalah, and its entire descent was caused by the neglect of Kabbalah. Woe to them who neglect Kabbalah – their actions cause hunger, poverty, war, violence, pillage, killings and destruction in the world.

The Talmud says, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.”

The Tikkuney Zohar says: “Woe to them who cause poverty and ruin and robbery and killings in the whole world.”

But if they will reveal the method of correction to themselves and the world, then all the nations of the world will recognize the importance of Israel and they shall carry out the words: “And the nations of the world shall take Israel, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall posses them in the land of the Lord” ((Isaiah 14:2). And the words of The Book of Zohar will come true: “That through this composition, which is The Book of Zohar, they will be freed from spiritual exile by the Creator’s mercy” (Nasah 124). Amen!

Additional Comment: However, it’s also possible for things to take a different turn. The “patriotic” forces of every country, combined with the middle class that has fallen into poverty, may create a situation similar to Germany in 1929, when people will start demanding a powerful centralized government and compensation for their degraded state. This is how Fascism and Nazism arise.

Baal HaSulam writes about this alternative to the path of Kabbalah in the book “The Future Generation.” Russia is perhaps closest to this than any other country.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: The Writings of the Last Generation
Laitman.com Post: Where Is the World Going – Nazism or Global Unity?
Kabbalah Today Article: Unraveling the Zohar – a Wakeup Call

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Three questions I received on ritual observance and Kabbalah:

Question: To my regret, I was raised in a family that observed the Jewish traditions, and I even studied in a Yeshiva. Now I am completely secular, do not observe the traditions, and feel perfectly satisfied with this. However, I feel pressure from my environment to observe the commandments at the corporeal level. Can you offer me some advice on how to deal with this and how to avoid fighting with my wife (I am married with four children)?

My Answer: If a person was raised with the traditions and believes in reward and punishment for them, then it is very difficult to quit observing the traditions. Your wife believes that by observing the earthy commandments you earn the world to come for her and her children, and that you will receive a reward and the Creator’s benevolence. This makes her feel like her life has meaning and gives her the energy to live. Don’t take this away from her! When in front of her, observe what she asks for.

Question: I have been born and raised as an Orthodox Jew. I want to study Kabbalah, but I don’t want to follow the 613 Mitzvot. It feels really burdensome having to follow so many Mitzvot. At the same time the idea of studying Kabbalah is wholly interesting to me as well as the various concepts that you espouse on your great blog. How should I think about this matter?

My Answer: Without changing anything about you or your lifestyle, study Kabbalah, alongside the rest of the earthly Torah. We do not accept Orthodox Jews or even Kipot Srugot (knitted yarmulkes) into our core group, but virtual study is your right.

Question: I came to orthodox religion and left it after I failed to find the Creator there and realized that it was the wrong path. My question is: are there such things as a supreme judge and judgment, and reward and punishment, the way the orthodox believe?

My Answer: What exists is:

1. The Creator, the Law of Nature;
2. The creature; and
3. The connection between them.

The goal of creation is to attain adhesion with the Creator. The means to attain it is by correcting the creature from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of Creator.” Then the Creator becomes revealed within the creature. This is what Kabbalah talks about, and this is what exists.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Creator Does Not Have Arms or Legs
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Kabbalah Today Article: A Mitzva
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
The Secret Meaning of the Bible

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Two questions I received on inner work:

Question: As parts of one soul, we all depend on each other whether we’re aware of it or not. But every person contains the whole world. What is the measure of the dependency between us? Should we increase it or should we see ourselves as individuals and only unite our points in the heart?

My Answer: We should only unite our points in the heart, because all our other desires are for corporeal things. By uniting our aspirations for spirituality, we create the vessel in which the Light, the Creator becomes revealed.

Question: How does the system of mutual guarantee of the World Kli become expressed in practice, at times when one is not involved in the group work (study, dissemination, congresses, and so on), but is occupied with the necessities (work, family, and so on)?

My Answer: If a person takes proper care of his spiritual advancement in his spare time, then he provides himself with support that will sustain him on the right track during the rest of the time as well. Our world formed as a result of the descent of the Upper Forces, and it completely corresponds to the thought of creation and its purpose, provided that we use it correctly. That is, if we connect the thought with the goal, or in other words, implement the goal, going from the thought to the goal.

We have been given all the conditions – the body and its short life, including all the conditions of existence such as family and the efforts we have to make to sustain the life of the body, as well as all the disturbances and developmental forces. All of this only seems corporeal to us, but in reality this is how spiritual forces present themselves to us at their minimal level. We only have to “blend” into this picture correctly and complete the “empty space” in it with our free actions. At the end of the day everything comes down to uniting our aspirations to the Creator – to bestowal or love for one’s neighbor. We try doing this and then see that we can’t. We then ask for help, and the Creator corrects us!

Related Material:
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Today is the anniversary of my Teacher’s passing (Yahrtzeit). Rabash was a great Kabbalist, the last in the lineage of the passage of the Knowledge of the Creator, from Adam until our times. This lineage ended with Rabash, Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (1906 – 1991).

We, “Bnei Baruch” (“The Sons of Baruch”), are named after him, and we reveal this knowledge (the method of the souls’ correction) to our generation, the first generation of correction. We are bringing this knowledge to the point of practical use: private and common correction, and are creating a structure for the Kabbalistic society of the future.

Here is a song called “Teacher,” composed by my student from Russia, Igor Irtishky, with lyrics by Dina Baiter.

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Two questions I received on why women don’t stay loyal to their partners:

Question: My girlfriends and I have been wondering why one man is never enough for a woman? Why is it that even if he studies Kabbalah, she loses interest in him after a while and starts looking for someone new? Isn’t monogamy natural for a woman? As a wife and a mother, isn’t she supposed to be faithful – a loyal companion for her man? So where does this desire come from to be with new men all the time? What should a woman do with this desire, and how can she change so as to be in harmony with nature?

My Answer: I think that you are disillusioned in your men. Apart from the minimal corporeal needs, fulfillment can only be spiritual. So find a man with whom you can study the book Shamati – and you will never leave him!

Question: Could you please comment on the following news report from Ethology.ru: The managers of the IllicitEncounters.com dating website made an interesting observation. In their opinion, the economic recession and men’s bankruptcy is causing more married women to register on their site in order to find extra-marital affairs. This phenomenon opens up a broad field for further research on how a woman instinctively behaves in the areas of family and intimate relations.

My Answer: The phenomenon is indeed instinctive, egoistic, animate, and natural. There is nothing strange about it. A female chooses a partner by his ability to provide for her and her offspring. In the animal kingdom, the female chooses the partner by his strength, rather than how handsome he is or because he has a “good heart” – the way people do in the movies.

Egoism is our only force. If you want something else instead, then ask the Creator to give you the opposite force – the force of bestowal. There are no other forces in nature!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Shamati – The Most Valuable Book In the World
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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Seventh Commandment” (abridged)

223. The Seventh Commandment is to perform circumcision (of desires that cannot be corrected) on the eighth day, and thus remove the impurity (of egoism) of the foreskin (Malchut), for Malchut (the desire that cannot be corrected within the 6000 years, in the process of correction) constitutes the eighth degree of all the degrees, beginning with Bina (Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut). And the soul that soars from her (that ascends from Malchut Ohr Hozer ) must appear before her on the eighth day; hence, she constitutes the eighth degree.

224. It then becomes clear that the type (level) of this soul is Haya. That is, belonging to that holy degree of Haya (Malchut), and not to any other degree. And this is implied by, LET THE WATERS SWARM, as is explained in the book of Hanoch, the waters of the holy seed merge in the properties of the soul of Haya. And it is the property of the letter Yod (the level of Haya), marked on the sacred flesh, more than any other mark that exists in the world. (The level of Haya is the animate level; hence it is written, “Let the waters swarm” – Bina will be filled with parts of Malchut, which will thereby correct themselves by ascending and connecting Malchut to Bina).

225. The verse, LET BIRDS SOAR OVER THE EARTH, refers to Eliyahu (the prophet), who flies across the whole world in four flights (Yod–Hey–Vav–Hey) in order to be present in the place where the Holy Covenant (union of Malchut and Bina) is made. And a chair (the place of union between Malchut and Bina) must be prepared for him, and it must be said out loud (this must be revealed by means of correction), THIS IS THE CHAIR OF ELIYAHU. For if this is not done, he will not appear in that place (for want of an opportunity to reveal himself).

226. And the Creator created great Leviathans (Malchut in its completely corrected state). They were two: (called) Orla and Preia, male (Masach and Ohr Hozer) and female (desire, Aviut) forces. And (He also created) all living creatures (of the level of Haya). This is the mark (revelation) of the Holy Covenant (between the Creator and Malchut), the soul of the holy Light of Haya (Ohr Hozer of the level of Haya), as it is written, “LET THE WATERS (of Bina, and Malchut that connected to her) SWARM,” i.e. the Supernal Waters (the forces of Bina) that descend to this Covenant (with Malchut).

227. The reason why Israel (the correcting part) below (in Malchut) is marked in the holy form (love and bestowal), similar to its form Above (in Bina), is to separate the pure part (Malchut that becomes corrected by uniting with Bina) from the impure (one that cannot be corrected until Gmar Tikkun), to distinguish between the holiness of Israel (that which can be corrected, what remains after circumcision) and the other nations (which cannot be corrected until the end of correction, which are cut off) that originate from the other (egoistic) side. And just as Israel (parts of Malchut that can be corrected) was marked, so were the animals and birds (levels of Malchut) to determine which of them belong to Israel (which need to be corrected), and which belong to the nations of the world (which are to be corrected later). (Israel = Isra–El = straight to the Creator – meaning the parts of Malchut that can be corrected. This bears no relation to nationality, but only to one’s desire, one’s point in the heart. This happened for the first time in Babylon, when a group of people with point in the heart – the desire for correction, separated from the rest of the Babylonians).

Related Material:
“Introduction to the Book of Zohar.” Items 13-18

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A question I received: Free will does not exist in this world, but only environmental pressures. The only free choice that exists is which group of people one wishes to associate with. One must recognize oneself as a wretched egoist – and not only as an egoist, but as the worst of the worst ilk that has ever walked this glorious planet. One cannot get to appreciate the extent of one’s abhorrent nature without the help of Ohr Makif (the Surrounding Light), which descends on us during the study of Kabbalah. When one perceives oneself as this grotesque creature, this results in prayer, and one is then granted by the mercy of the Creator freedom from one’s evil inclinations, and becomes one with the Creator.

Now for my question: Given the fact that free will does not exist, how can an individual rationally see oneself as the worst? Yes, one may come to recognize that one is at odds with the Creator, but how and why is it necessary to come to realize that one is the worst of the worst of the worst? Would it not suffice to just see oneself as an egoist, like the other egoists? Why the worst? And how can one believe that of oneself when one is aware that free will does not exist?

My Answer: Only a new, spiritual environment will give you the confidence and forces to demand the Light of Correction. Then, in this Light you will discover that you are the only evil egoist who is harming everyone. However, rather than making you depressed, this realization will give you a push to demand the Light of Correction from the Creator.

On the other hand, if the environment will not give you the force to do this and the importance of the goal, then upon discovering your egoistic qualities as evil, you will fall into depression and despair.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Is a True Prayer?
Laitman.com Post: The Only Books That Can Correct Egoism In Our Generation Are Baal HaSulam’s
Laitman.com Post: The Greatest Power Comes from Yielding to Others
Article – “The Freedom of Will”
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 21 – “Correcting Egoism”

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Questions I received on faith above reason, belief in oneself, and the purpose of suffering:

Question: Sometimes this world looks so wonderful, but in spite of it I try to hold on to the point in the heart. Is this the meaning of advancing with “faith above reason?”

My Answer: “Faith above reason” means “bestowal above reception.” It’s when you prefer to be inside the quality of bestowal in spite of the egoism that weighs you down, regardless of all its pleasures. Your entire reward lies only in remaining in this state, because it pleases the Creator, even though no one knows anything about what you are doing, and no one will find out.

Question: Why don’t I believe in myself? I am stuck in this.

My Answer: That’s good – rely on us!

Question: I don’t understand why the Creator is giving me so much suffering in the corporeal world. How can I unite with Him in this state?

My Answer: He wants you to come close to Him precisely from this state, and hence He gives you an aspiration toward Him. See the article “There Is None Else Besides Him.”

Question: How do we overcome despair, blows of fate, and hopelessness that haunt us on the path to the spiritual world?

My Answer: By receiving support from the group in study, dissemination, and revelation of the fact that the Creator is one – that “There is none else besides Him,” that He is Good and does only good.

Question: Two months ago I studied Kabbalah a lot, but now I am in a descent. Over the last month I started feeling a need for respect and honor. Before I do anything, I prepare ahead of time to acquire respect and honor. What should I do?

My Answer: You are advancing wonderfully: it’s taken you just two months to start seeing your true nature! Be grateful for the realization of evil and start trying to correct it. You will soon learn that this is impossible to do, and then you will ask the Creator to help you do this!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Faith Above Reason Is Bestowal Above Reception
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 1 – “Perceiving the Creator (Faith Above Reason)”
Laitman.com Post: Be Happy about the Descents!

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