Entries in the 'Suffering' Category

The Joy Of Resolving Doubts

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere is no greater joy than resolving doubts. Doubt arises from the difference between reception and bestowal, the Light and desire. If I eliminate this difference and bring them into unification or oneness, there is no greater pleasure than their adhesion. The two seemingly opposite things suddenly unite. They come to agreement and peace, and this leads to an explosion of joy. I am created in such a way that I feel pleasure from this.

Pleasure is a result of the revelation of the Light within the spiritual vessel or desire. The Light can be revealed only to the extent that the desire corresponds to it. So, what do I perceive? Is it my own desire? No, it isn’t. Or maybe it’s the Light? No, it’s not the Light either. I perceive the result of their interaction either as suffering or as pleasure.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/6/10, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Don’t Wait Till You Are Forced To Evolve

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf we fail to awaken the world to spiritual evolution, to the Light that shines ahead, it will be pushed from behind by suffering and thereby forced to advance. This path is very long, till torment forces man to contemplate why he suffers and what to do. Imagine how long it will take and how much pain it will bring!

However, if we somewhat assist mankind’s development by disseminating the science of Kabbalah, we quickly instill advancement and avoid all these blows. We know that everything that occurs at the inanimate (still) degree equates to a single act at the vegetative one. Everything that happens on the vegetative level is equal to a single act at the animate one. Just think about the difference between these states.

There have to be wars, torment, and horrific disasters in order to move us one step up, onto the higher degree. Instead, we can draw the Upper Light and avoid all these problems at the level of this world. We can replace a decade of suffering with our one minuscule individual effort toward spiritual advancement with the help of the Light.

This is how great the difference is between the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature. Hence, we must take serious responsibility for the opportunities handed down to us.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Signs Of Imminent Revelation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Suppose, I want to purchase a car. I will gather all the information about the model’s advantages and benefits, and I can easily understand all these facts. But if I want to reach bestowal in spirituality, it appears to be something fleeting and incomprehensible. Why is it so confusing and what should I do about this?

Answer: That is a fair complaint on the part of a beginner who has just embarked on the spiritual path: Why there is no simplicity or clarity in spirituality? Why don’t we see the future and its advantages?

In this world, at the time we apply to a university, it is normal to know when we will graduate, the kind of work we will find afterward, and how much we will earn. The examples of other people who have already completed the same path enable us to invest the effort required to achieve the same result. Why is it not the same in spirituality? Why is it so puzzling and never clear at the outset? Where are we going in the first place? If after a lesson someone on the street asks me “What did you get there?”, I will have nothing to say.

And yet, having no answers is a clear sign that we are close to revelation since this is the only way for us to uncover the concealed. We can only get it from the sensation of shortage and deficit. It comes to us out of absence of…I don’t even know what! The sensation of insufficiency is in and of itself preparation for revelation.

Therefore, this feeling of yours is very useful. It is not pleasant, but it is correct and happens right before revelation, which can only occur to us from the state when we ask: “Where is it? Why? What for?” That is, it occurs from emptiness. It will always be like that, at any level.

Don’t worry about the states we are going through. Most important is that they change quickly! We have to go through all of them anyway. That is why we don’t care much about our sensations at any given moment. The frequency of change we experience is what matters. Only that!

It does not matter if I feel good or bad, am confused, or understand more or less. What counts is moving forward. Those who scrutinize their inner conditions procrastinate; that is not good. Always strive ahead and don’t think too much. Rapid progress is what is important.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Don’t Squander The Treasure

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 19: Egoistic reception of pleasure carries a drop of lethal poison, and thus we increase our debt two-fold… As a result this takes the last remaining spark of life away from a person, as if he is met by “the angel of death, bearing a drop of poison on the edge of a sword, and the person obediently opens up his mouth, swallows the drop, and dies.”

We are creatures, and we have to turn the Creator’s pleasure into our pleasure for the sake of bestowal in order to enjoy twice as much: both from the pleasure and from adhesion with the Creator. It will be sweet and true simultaneously. However, in the meantime, we are acting in the completely opposite way and are receiving pleasure from double falsehood. We are “opening up our wound” and enjoying the fact that we are bringing ourselves closer to death!

This is directly counter to true life since our inner system must work opposite to the way it currently does. We must change to receiving, but for the sake of bestowal; yet, with us everything happens in the opposite way.

It turns out that a person manages to enjoy his suffering and even to be proud of it. The power of all the impure forces is built upon this. However, spirituality begins precisely above this.

Otherwise, the angel of death eventually comes and takes the last drop of life from a person. Why does a person die? It is because he severs the connection with the Light, with bestowal, which was given to him by nature, like a small fire that, according to the plan of creation, he must develop into greater bestowal, eternal life, a great fire, Light. However, we squander this spark on egoistic life and we die instead of developing it and acquiring true life.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Let’s Do It Willingly

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Zohar, Chapter “Lech Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 7: The two are crowned and illuminate, meaning they became three—HGT—through the middle line that decided between them. Hence, three enter into one because the middle line, Tifferet, receives and spreads into three other lines by itself—NHY. This is so because the lower one is rewarded with the full measure that it causes in the illumination of the upper one, since it is its cause.

If you cannot awaken the Upper One, to cause the Upper one to bestow upon you, it means that you yourself haven’t accumulated the necessary desire to receive spiritual fulfillment. To the extent that the lower one is able to awaken the Upper One, he is corrected, ready to receive from the Upper One, and therefore receives. In fact, there is no action on the part of the Upper One; it is the lower one who opens the door and receives.

Nonetheless, in the entire process of bringing all of creation to perfection, there is a program called “Beito” (in its time), and accordingly, we must reach the purpose of creation in a certain period of time by uniting in one desire filled with Light as it was in the World of Infinity before the Tzimtzum (restriction). Therefore, there is a sequence of actions we must perform, either willingly or unwillingly.

Moment by moment, there arise our uncorrected Reshimot (informational data) and the force that corrects them. This process of correction leads us from the beginning of creation to the final correction, meaning to total equivalence with the Creator’s properties. For that reason, everything starts when the creature and the Creator are detached and set apart as two opposing poles. The impact of the force on the uncorrected desire (Reshimo) causes them to draw closer through similar properties.

The lower one doesn’t wish for and is unaware of drawing closer to the Creator, and by moving toward something undesirable, the lower one senses it as suffering. Thus, our whole life feels like suffering. We are advancing closer to the Creator, yet we feel that we are approaching evil. In this way, the path Beito (in its time) is a process that leads all of creation to correction automatically, without asking what the lower one wants.

On the other hand, today by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, we learn the program of our automatic correction called Beito, plug into it, and then correct ourselves willingly. In this way we engage in a process called “Achishena” (hastening our correction time), first out of desperation and then willingly.

The law of equivalence of form between us and the Creator, which is the state of the World of Infinity that we must attain, affects us and draws us into this state with or without our participation. Therefore, it is desirable to learn how to carry out this law. Otherwise, all of the phases we are entering with the lack of our similarity with the Creator, will cause us great suffering.

Now you can understand how much suffering is caused in the world by those who oppose Kabbalah.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/10, The Zohar

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What Is A True Prayer Of The Society?

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: What can I ask for society?

My Answer: If the question is posed fundamentally, then it is incorrect to even think that there is a society and that I have to ask for something for its sake. The problem is not lack of food or health. The Creator has an abundance of all of these things and everything comes from Him. What we have to correct is the breaking. We have to attain equivalence of form with Him, and then we will have everything! But if we don’t ask for the most important thing, the reason we are here, then we also won’t have the means to sustain our existence.

The sensation of all suffering, from the most insignificant to the global, comes to us only in order to bring us to the right request. The reason for all ills is the breaking of the common soul into particular souls that hate each other, and therefore, the true prayer of society lies in desiring to unite with everyone. It is when everyone desires to become as one man with one heart once again in order for the law of mutual guarantee to influence us in complete equality and brotherhood.

This should not happen like the Communists did for the sake of a better life in this world, but for the sake of unity with the Creator above our world. Then the Creator, the Upper Light will correct our egoism and hatred by transforming it to bestowal and love. It will unite us all, the desires of the soul, into one aspiration to become equal to the Creator.

By making this correction we revoke the ego that separates us and become equal to Him and unified like Him. All of us together become a vessel that He fills, just as in the beginning of creation in Malchut of the World of Infinity.

That is the prayer of the society.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 7/13/10, “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many”

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A Means Of Last Resort

Dr. Michael LaitmanCorrection begins with the realization of evil, as it said: “I created the evil inclination and Torah as a means for its correction.” If the evil that the Creator purposefully created was not revealed, who would want to correct himself? The sensation of evil and suffering pushes us to change. At first, we want to change everything on the outside; we want to change the entire world. Later, we do agree that we need to change ourselves. Every person, nation, and society, and our entire civilization as a whole needs to go through this change.

Correction cannot begin without the need for it. In other words, I need to feel that I’m miserable without correction. This is why we must develop and cultivate our egoism, experience in it various blows and problems such as emptiness, loss of hope and fulfillment, and be completely unable to change it. We search for ways to change the world until we discover that the evil in us is to blame for everything. Then, seemingly by accident, we discover Kabbalah.

However, someone had to prepare it for us in the form of books and websites because our nature, confined in the desire to receive and fill itself, is incapable of contact with the Upper World and directly feeling the Creator. In order to do this, we first need external methods: a teacher and books.

Usually this knowledge is passed from one person to another through people who have already acquired the connection to the spiritual world. This connection with the spiritual world has to be already present in our world. Otherwise, we, being complete egoists, would never be able to even think of the spiritual world. We would search for a way to free ourselves from suffering only on the level of this world.

This is why it is necessary to circulate the wisdom of Kabbalah. The people who feel empty in this world will discover it as the method of absolute fulfillment. Then, the following two conditions of the beginning of correction will be carried out: 1) people feel bad, and 2) it is revealed to them that there is a method which will make things well. Gradually, people will begin to correct themselves and realize the purpose of their creation.

Our generation is still revealing the first condition. People are looking at different methods and techniques in order to fulfill themselves. Sometimes they even turn to drugs and alcohol, but gradually, this passes. Soon, even the desire for drugs, violence, and fanaticism will disappear. People will feel and understand that they are not able to fill their inner emptiness this way.

The desire for pleasure changes. It rises to the next level, and it is impossible to continue as before. People can no longer find comfort in drugs. They begin to search for a deeper solution. But we need to develop until we reach the state when people will be left with no other solution but the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We can shorten their search by spreading this method so everyone will understand more quickly that we have to reveal the Upper Force that governs us. Only this can help us.

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Answers To Your Questions, Part 1

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Creator is  Absolute Good
Questions about the post “Kabbalists On The Purpose of Creation, Part 1

Question: “…He is fundamentally devoid of a desire to harm anyone.” Then why do I see people suffering.

My Answer: To the extent that people are opposite to the Creator’s quality to bestow and love, they perceive all the goodness that comes from Him in the opposite form, as evil.

Question: Are all events prepared by the Creator and sorted in the set of acquired habits for the soul?

My Answer: All the events are deliberately determined by the initial and final states of every soul. However, they are perceived by the souls as states ranging from extreme suffering to immense pleasure, depending upon the similarity of the souls to the Creator.

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Opening The Way To The Light

Laitman_027A question I received: Under which condition does the Light that Reforms begin to influence a person?

My Answer: The Light acts upon a person only if he wants it. Everything depends on desire. The Light is in a state of complete rest; we only need to acquire the desire for the action that the Light has to perform on us.

There are a multitude of actions that follow one another at various levels and in various forms, such as actions of clarification, recognition of evil, correction, and fulfillment. We have to clarify which actions the Light has to perform on us and prepare ourselves for them. As soon as our desire becomes equal to that of the Light, it will come to fruition.

We, ourselves, open the way to the Light and let it act upon us. If we can’t achieve the required desire, then we don’t merit the action of the Light and nothing happens. However, then, the Light that needed to reveal itself affects us via its reverse side causing us to suffer. Ultimately, this suffering pushes us to create the desire, the vessel for the Light, so that we become worthy of correction. Therefore, we only need desire.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/9/10, The Zohar

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How To Understand The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: Why is the spiritual system so complicated:  The creature asks for one thing and receives something entirely different?

My Answer: First of all, this is incorrect. The Creator and the creature can understand each other, work together, and have no disagreement provided they become partners. Then the creature receives what it asks for: The Creator knows in advance what the creature will ask for, gives it all that it needs, and there are no problems.

A problem arises only when the creature is not asking according to the order of the degrees, meaning it is asking for the sake of self-gratification. Then the creature naturally receives a burdening of the heart and suffering, in order for it to see that its state is not good and the aim is incorrect.

Therefore, it is only by incorrect communication between the creature and the Creator that makes it seem to the creature that the Creator doesn’t understand it, doesn’t do for it what is needed. With the incorrect aim, the creature presents numerous claims to the Creator: “So where is everything that I’m entitled to, why are you not correcting me, why are you not filling me?” However, as soon as the creature acquires the connection with the Creator, it knows exactly what portion of Light it is receiving, why, where to work by means of faith above reason, where by means of personal strength, and so on.

The Creator is interested in our getting to know Him and walking along His side. But where are we in communication with the Creator? In faith above reason. The creature desires to be in communication with the Creator under the Machsom, within the desire to receive, but the Creator tells him: “No, rise up to Bina, attain the qualities of bestowal. There we will understand each other, there you will have no problems with me!”

It is written, “The Creator created man to be direct, but people invent numerous calculations.” Numerous calculations are within the desire to enjoy, because there are a huge amount of all kinds of desires. However, if we cover all these desires with only an intention to bestow, then there are no longer numerous calculations. There is only one calculation, one destination.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/10, The Zohar

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