Entries in the 'soul' Category

Absolute Justice In The Life Of A Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the time required for the attainment of the spiritual world is presently being hastened, then how is justice achieved if everybody is doing the same amount of work regarding his own soul?

Answer: This is precisely why everybody awakens to spirituality in their own time, not all at once. Each soul awakens when it is necessary for that particular soul since all of us have previously undergone transformations and have acquired the “past merits” described as “merit of the forefathers.”

The forefathers are our past incarnations that we have already completed and have given us an accumulation of “merits,” an inclination for spirituality that we are able to cultivate further. But it has no relationship to my grandfather leaving me his spiritual wealth. Inheritance can be passed on only in the corporeal world, but spiritual assets do not have a corporeal lineage. “The merit of the forefathers” are my own achievements that I made in the previous incarnations (Gilgulim), which I can now use to continue the evolution of my soul.

We are unable to make common conclusions about the spiritual process that is occurring right now because we do not view the incarnations of all the soul as one collective incarnation, but when it all becomes revealed to you, then you will see that everything is absolutely just. As for now, it is necessary to see the work and the spiritual goal that lie ahead of us with the desired intention in the correct place. Let’s not waste our breath on philosophy.
[22734]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/6/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Disassembling Teaches How To Re-Assemble

Dr. Michael LaitmanOn the spiritual path we have to exert efforts like a restless child who runs around like mad, causing havoc, breaking and smashing things. He’s lacking sense, but after dropping a glass a few times, he will discover its brittleness and learn how to hold it properly. Having disassembled something, he will learn how to put the parts back together.

In a similar fashion, we need to attain the breaking of the collective soul that happened before us, to discover the forces of the breakage. Otherwise, we will not know how to gather all the shattered souls into a single whole.
[22627]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends”

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The Development Of The Kabbalistic Group

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are common laws of development in nature: birth, maturation, maximum efficiency, and dying away. Does the group develop according to the same laws?

Answer: Undoubtedly, we go through these states in our personal and group development. But the group still develops in a little different manner. On one hand, it constantly expands, but on the other, it begins to unite with the Creator once it transitions into the spiritual phase. Once its corporeal part, the desires to receive, dies away, it enters the Creator with the intentions to bestow and exists infinitely there in its root.

Certainly, the notion of the “group” eventually disappears because it becomes replaced with the notion of “Adam,” a single soul. The group (Kvutza) is still something limited; it represents a union (Kibbutz), an alliance of souls united under pressure. Once it merges with the Creator, the souls begin to exist in one another without dying away, the unity between them does not disappear, and at the same time everything becomes one whole.
[22190]
From the Talk On Unity in the Group 9/24/10

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The Sum Of All Feelings

Dr. Michael LaitmanI think I feel something, but in reality I don’t have any individual feelings. Each feeling is a sum of the feelings of all souls, all of Infinity. This is called the spiritual vessel.

The spiritual vessel does not belong to me personally; it is what we reveal between us. As to what I discover within myself, it is regarded as the animate degree, and Kabbalah doesn’t talk about it. Each of us is an animal. But the way we connect with each other is exactly what is called spiritual connection. In spirituality, only the connection between us is what counts.

This connection is broken; nonetheless, it belongs in spirituality. This is why we are able to arrange a comfortable animate life for ourselves though it has nothing to do with spirituality. Spirituality starts with the discernment of our mutual connection.

It’s not just any connection, but the one that is aimed at the revelation of the Creator. I desire to know the Creator. Therefore, I discern that I need other people since from love of others we arrive at love of the Creator. This is the sole reason why the Creator broke our souls.
[21978]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “600,000 Souls”

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125 Steps From Me To The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In our world, people unite in order to succeed in some type of deal. How do we unite our souls?

Answer: In order to succeed in spirituality, I need to connect with the people who wish to achieve the same condition and goal. And together, we have to discern that without such a special connection between us, we won’t envision this goal. As a matter of fact, it will suddenly disappear from between us!

It isn’t somewhere “up there” as it has to be between us. Yet, due to the fact that we don’t cleave tightly together but rather walk away, this goal falls into an abyss that separates us. Indeed, the hate that divides us is infinite and unfathomable. It turns out that there are you and me, and we are separated by an abyss of infinite depth, at the bottom of which lies the spiritual goal, unification. And there is nothing we can do!

We wish to unite with you and cannot as we keep uncovering this gap, so we strive to build a bridge above it every time. Thus, we construct bridge after bridge until we cover the entire, bottomless depth. In this way we get 125 degrees of revelation of hate which is revealed because each time we uncover love over hate.

Hate is determined by the depth of both our desires, and above it, we connect by way of the screen, the Returning Light, while we are building the vessel (Kli) that belongs to us both now. The screen is the connection between us, and hate is its internal desire.

Hence, the greater the amount of Returning Light that ascends thanks to our connection, the more Upper Light we receive and experience pleasure. And by feeling this pleasure, we delight each other! Everyone is delighted by the fact that the other is feeling pleased. Otherwise, there is nothing else we can give for we bestow to each other our own individual pleasure.

As a matter of fact, all of us are created as receivers, so we can only receive. We can bestow solely in intention. And what else can I possibly give to someone other than my intention?
[21980]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “600,000 Souls”

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Spirituality Begins With The Breaking

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: A “blessing” is the force of Bina, which comes from Above and raises the souls. Does the notion of a "blessing" apply to the relationships between friends or souls?

Answer: No, there is only support between friends or souls because I cannot give another person the force of bestowal. I can only help another with my support so that he may acquire this force from Above, the only source of strength and correction.

However, without the help of my friend in creating a common desire (called "MAN") for mutual connection and for revealing the quality of bestowal (the Creator), I cannot appeal to the Creator concerning correction. I myself lack the desire to appeal to Him. This desire needs to come from revealing the lack of connection between my friend and me.

Therefore, we have no choice but to reveal the states between us and raise them toward correction. In order for this to happen, I need to reveal these states as evil, sense the vital need to see them as good, acquire the force of faith, and be confident that I undoubtedly can make an appeal, that I have to Whom to appeal to and the support of the group.

Yet, this is only the case if I appeal with the force received in the group rather than on my own. Only if the group supports me, and we reveal the lack of connection in it, the breaking between us, then I use both its support and its breaking. In other words, I take all of the support towards achieving correction along with everything negative and appeal to the Creator with it.

This means that each of us appeals personally, but each appeal is made with what one took from the revelation of the breaking and with mutual guarantee. And with these two forces, one raises an appeal to the Creator.

Then this appeal is called “MAN” (Mayin Nukvin, the waters of Nukva). It has the power of support and mutual help, which they wish to express to each other, and it has the power of their desire to correct the breaking, purposely prepared for them by the Creator. It turns out they are what connects to spirituality, to the Creator since their mutual support is already a connection to spirituality, and the lack of fulfillment that they reveal is a lack of connection, the breaking.

On one hand, their MAN has the force of mutual bestowal and support, which they are willing to express to each other. However, they are still the Nukva, which is the revelation of the mutual breaking where there is no real power of bestowal. Then this works since they have what is needed to appeal to the Creator.

Nothing material pertains to correction, spirituality, or the breaking. Initially we don’t have anything spiritual that needs to be corrected because without revealing our broken relationships, we have nothing to work with. Spirituality begins with disclosing the breaking.
[21974]
From the 2nd part of the DailyKabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, The Zohar

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Correct Yourself, Correct The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”: And when a single soul is purified from all its filth, it will draw onto itself the whole of the soul of Atzilut, and through it, all the souls of its generation will be completed. This is the meaning of one being dependent on the other.

This is the result of complete mutual connection of all souls. Hence, no soul can ascend without taking all souls along with it; its ascent depends on them. It is an integral system where all parts are mutually linked. By correcting itself, every soul corrects its connection with the other souls, thereby bringing them closer to correction as well.

To correct oneself amounts to mending one’s connection with the others. Their individual state remains unchanged; I am only preparing them for corrections that they will later undergo. In fact, I precede them as a previous generation. I establish a connection with them without their awareness or understanding of what I am doing.

I employ the entire system of souls so as to correct the connections within it to the best of my ability. However, the souls who are not yet ready for it cannot understand and feel my actions. They haven’t arrived at correction yet, but I use them in it, and that is called the preparation of sons by the fathers. It is similar to how in our world where we improve the world for the future generation, and our children who come after take advantage of everything that we have prepared for them.

We correct the connection between us, our “layer,” until the differences between the souls get erased, and from our side, the entire humanity is corrected. But they themselves don’t feel it. When their time of correction arrives, they will receive all the necessary tools for it.

Why are they entitled to this? I, too, received assistance from the previous generations, from the "older" souls, some time ago. Each new generation is born with even greater egoism, and without such preparation, they cannot accomplish the work. We are all doing relatively the same work: Those who must correct greater egoism receive greater assistance.
[21988]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Love And Hatred Of "600,000 Souls"

Dr. Michael Laitman600,000 souls are parts of a single soul created by the Creator. This single created being was divided into parts which we call "600,000" souls. However, this number does not indicate quantity, but rather the quality of the connection between them.

When the Creator gives rise to the desire to receive pleasure, everything is a single whole; the Creator, the vessel, and the Light are like one. But in this state, both the desire and the Light sense neither separation nor connection; they don’t feel whether the creature exists or not. There is a complete absence of any sensation because any sensation in the creature can be detected only through the opposition between the creature itself and what it feels.

For that, it is necessary to distinguish between the Light and the vessel and to feel their complete oppositeness and connection. However, when the vessel and Light connect, their difference doesn’t vanish since love emerges above hatred.

Both qualities have to emerge. The distance between hatred and love, darkness and light (hatred is revealed as darkness and love as light), gives the creature the sensation of its existence and understanding of where it exists and with whom it is connected. This is the reason why the World of Infinity is not enough to outline the creature and make it independent.

Only after the creature goes through the entire process of its development, meaning that it starts at the first stage, descends to the second, and then rises back to the third, does it begin to understand what the first state was about. The created being becomes independent and similar to the Creator. That’s why it is called Adam.

In the beginning (Stage 1), the creature was just a drop of semen. Then, it realizes that the breaking has occurred and corrects it. By doing so, the creature attains perfection. It is not considered a drop of semen any more, but rather, it has the power of 600,000 souls and represents one, big, autonomous soul.

“Six hundred thousand” stands for six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin multiplied by ten Sefirot in each of them and then by ten thousand, the power of the ascent of Zeir Anpin to Arich Anpin which governs all corrections. 60 x 10,000 = 600,000. Hence, the common soul (the general, final, corrected state) is called 600,000 souls.
[21991]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Where Is My Soul?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the material world, everyone has a body with its fulfillments. We are separated from each other by biological bodies, and psychologically, each of us perceives themselves as an individual personality.

In spirituality, everything is constantly changing by going from one state to another; the Light and the vessel are always different. We “clothe” in a certain state and name ourselves in accordance with it as actors who change costumes for new roles. It is as if we are in a science fiction movie where we play a variety of characters.

There is no such notion as a “private, permanent soul” that exists autonomously, climbs the ladder, and preserves its individuality. It’s hard for us to understand how our "self" disappears. For example, it is said in the article “600,000 Souls” that each person who corrects his soul will uncover Malchut to the world and will be named King David.
[21985]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, "600,000 Souls"

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Understanding The Boundaries Of Desires

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhy is it that after a soul (Nukva) completes a stage of its development, limitations still apply to it? The analysis of the desires (realization of evil) occurs on 100% of all the desires (Kelim), and the correction, meaning the implementation of the desires for the sake of bestowal, happens to the extent that it’s possible, that is, only on some of the desires. The Nukva restricts the other desires by limiting itself.

We know that some of the desires pertain to the “stony heart” (Lev HaEven), and they cannot be used to receive for the sake of bestowal until the very end of correction (Gmar Tikkun). However, why is it necessary to wait? Why can’t this “stony heart” be corrected right now, along with the other desires?

The fact that we constantly correct only a part of the desire (leaving the “stony heart”) pushes us to obtain an additional desire, and thus this limitation acts to our benefit. A person is forced to separate his desires, making a decision in regard to every desire and every detail. Where is the GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), where is the AHP, which desire is to receive in order to bestow, and which desire is to bestow in order to bestow?

One sees such differences in all the desires precisely due to the fact that the “stony heart” is partially present in them, and this helps a person determine the boundaries of the desire. Precisely at the border of clarifying our capabilities do we acquire the sensation, the contrast of qualities according to the law of “to prefer the Light out of darkness.”

These limitations, when we feel that we can proceed only to this boundary but cannot cross it, give us the ability to perceive different qualities and their combinations (inclusions). We reveal new qualities, the Creator above creation, at the border line between desires.
[21674]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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