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Posted on November 10th, 2008
North America Kabbalah Retreat: St. Louis, November 14-16
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North America Kabbalah Retreat: St. Louis, November 14-16
The time is almost here, so don’t wait….
REGISTER NOW!
Information & Registration>>
A question I received: I converted to Judaism five years ago after a lifetime of study and searching. In these past few years I have been awed by the Torah and its Pardes. Now, due to your lectures, I have fallen into a dangerous question. When Boreh Olam (the Creator) says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” and the wise men say that the Torah is the wisdom of Boreh Olam, i.e., his thoughts, does this mean that for the past few thousand years, the practicing Jew has got it all wrong, and in fact my search has brought me to the wrong place?
My Answer: Man was created egoistic from the very beginning. His thoughts are opposite to the Creator’s thoughts. The Kabbalistic group (Abraham’s students) was called “the people of Israel” because of their aspiration: Isra-El – straight to (similarity with) the Creator. This is how they lived until they fell from the spiritual level of “Love your neighbor as yourself” into egoism. This is called the destruction of the Temple.
Since then, this group has existed in exile from the spiritual level, in egoism and “unfounded hatred for each other.” Instead of attaining the Creator, He is concealed to them. Instead of direct communication with Him, there is religion. Instead of mutual deeds with the Creator (correction and adhesion), they perform mechanical “commandments” based on egoism (Mitzvot Anashim Melumeda – mechanical actions that are taught from childhood and are performed automatically).
No one is to blame for this condition of the nation – the downfall had to happen. But today (for nearly 100 years already), we are obliged to begin correcting ourselves and to thereby come out of exile. Those who oppose this are opponents of the nation, the world, and the Creator.
Besides this, you should just study Kabbalah. It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to. Kabbalah is for everyone!
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Immerse Into the Waters of Bestowal, and You Will Become Pure
Kabbalah Today Article: Kabbalah Chronicles
Kabbalah Today Article: Inherit the Land
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Exile and Redemption”
The book Interview with the Future is based on Baal HaSulam’s original manuscripts in our archive that talk about our times and the generations of the future. Among these materials, Baal HaSulam’s newspaper “HaUma” (The Nation) was the first Kabbalistic newspaper in the world; he published it in 1940. (However, it was immediately shut down by the British authorities because of complaints from Kabbalah’s opponents.)
These materials are necessary for understanding the global crisis that’s taking place in the world today.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Will We Live In the Last Generation?
Laitman.com Post: What Would It Be Like To Live In a Perfect World?
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”
A question I received: Lately I feel that many of my actions are not performed by me. It is as though I observe my actions from outside. This realization – that certain actions are not done by me – makes me wish to obtain freedom of choice. But the only free choice I have before the Machsom is the choice of the correct environment. What are these states and how do I work with them?
My Answer: Everything you say is correct! Keep doing what you’re doing, and continue strengthening your connection with the common Kli.
The technique of the process is as follows:
1. By pressuring yourself, put yourself under the influence of the environment (see the article, “Freedom of Will”).
2. The environment will exert a direct influence on your “heart,” and you will begin feeling the importance of bestowal and connecting with others.
3. During the lesson, don’t forget what is important to you, and you will then attract the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) upon you.
4. Under the Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will be created within you.
If you constantly proceed along this chain, then after a period of time (3 – 5 years at most) you will cross the Machsom, entering the perception (attainment, revelation) of the Upper World.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Overcome Yourself by Raising the Importance of the Goal
Laitman.com Post: The Surrounding Light Influences Us Only When We Evoke It
Lecture at the Educational Center “Nekuda Shebalev“: Unconditional Love
Talk: Five Worlds – Five Levels of the Will to Receive
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
A question I received: You look serious and wise, but your ideas and proposals to humanity are utopian. Are you really sure they can be implemented, or that there is even a chance of implementing a spiritual revolution of all humanity?
My Answer: Because I understand human nature, I know that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are absolutely egoistic and cannot be any different. However, because I also understand the nature of the Upper World and the Light, I am absolutely sure – and know from personal experience – that the Light which created our egoism can change it to altruism in an instant. However, It will do so only if we desire it.
We can develop this desire only by recognizing that our egoism is evil for us, by seeing how much suffering it causes us. The question is: How much suffering will it take? We can do it by studying a small crisis – such as the present one – and recognizing that our attitudes to each other are opposite to the global “village” of humanity. We can recognize this so deeply that we will start advancing to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” to equivalence with Nature or the Creator.
For example, we can institute a global education system that will teach everyone about the fact that we live in a world where everyone is interdependent. In addition, this can be explained by all the mass media and the educational institutions worldwide, from kindergartens to universities. (For more on this, see my “Lecture in Arosa.”)
Any attempts we make to this end – even the smallest first attempts – will already reverse our opposition to Nature, because through these actions we will turn to face Nature (the Creator) and come closer to It. If our overall desires will be to change, then this will happen easily, because the Creator hears none other than the request of the society.
Nature will execute its plan one way or another, and this plan is already complete and existent in the spiritual world. Still, it would be best to avoid the catastrophes, whether social, ecological, military, biological or others, which will force us to detach from egoism. There is a pleasant path to Nature’s goal (see the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose“); this is why we were given the science of Kabbalah. At the very least, we have to do everything that’s up to us, but the spiritual revolution will happen in any case!
A Parable: A man walked along the seashore and saw a boy picking something up from the sand and throwing it into the sea. The man came closer and saw that the things the boy was picking up from the sand were starfish; he was completely surrounded by them. It seemed like there were millions of starfish on the sand; the shore was literally filled with them for many miles ahead.
“Why are you throwing these starfish in the water?” asked the man, as he approached the boy.
“If they stay on the shore until the morning tide, they will die,” answered the boy, without interrupting what he was doing.
“But this is stupid!” yelled the man, “Look around you! There are millions of starfish here, the shore is filled with them. Your efforts won’t make any difference!”
The boy picked up the next starfish, thought for a moment, then threw it into the sea and said, “No, my efforts will change a lot… for this starfish.”
Then the man also picked up a starfish and threw it into the sea. And then another one. By the time the night was over, there were many people on the shore, and each of them was picking up and throwing starfish into the sea. When the sun rose, the shore was empty – no soul was left unsaved.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Would It Be Like To Live in a Perfect World?
Laitman.com Post: Reflections on the Crisis
Laitman.com Post: The Need to Nurture the Proper Perception in Children
Two questions I received on spiritual partnerships:
Question: Why does a man who studies Kabbalah need a woman, and how can he “use” her the right way?
My Answer: Every person in our world has:
1) Bodily desires for food, family, and sex;
2) Social desires for wealth, power, fame, and knowledge.
The desires for family and sex are realized with a partner, either with the intention to receive pleasure egoistically, or with the intention to realize them as a commandment, or in other words, in order to attain the Creator.
The desire for spirituality is formed by the female and male parts of humanity as a whole. All men are like Adam and all women are like Eve. Therefore, one needs to see one’s partner in life as a partner on the spiritual path as well. It is possible – and good – if your partner cooperates with you in this regard.
Question: What are the best articles to read to your wife if she wants you to?
My Answer: The parts of Baal HaSulam’s and Rabash’s articles that are interesting to both of you.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Fulfillment Can Only Be Spiritual
Laitman.com Post: Man, Woman and Divinity Between Them
Laitman.com Post: Do You Have to Be Married to Study Kabbalah?
Article: “What Does the Story of Adam and Eve Mean in Our Times?”
Talk: Man and Woman
Articles by Baal HaSulam
Articles by Rabash
News Report (from The Independent): In an article called “Scientists prove it really is a thin line between love and hate,” Steve Connor, The Independent’s science editor, reports: “Scientists studying the physical nature of hate have found that some of the nervous circuits in the brain responsible for it are the same as those that are used during the feeling of romantic love – although love and hate appear to be polar opposites … the ‘hate circuit’ shares something in common with the love circuit.”
My Comment: According to Kabbalah, the difference between love and hate lies only in the aim of one’s intention: “toward oneself” or “away from oneself.” Furthermore, if we begin doing systematic work to acquire the feeling of love, then we will feel that we “come out of ourselves.” There – “outside of ourselves” – we will feel a completely different flow of time, space and perception, to the point that we will cease perceiving ourselves, and replace “self” with “others.” By transferring the center of perception from “inside of us” to “outside of us,” we will feel the Upper World, the Creator. We will feel this precisely in the desires of others!
Question: What is the spiritual root of unrequited love?
My Answer: There is no such thing as unrequited love in spirituality! It exists only in our world, when one’s egoism doesn’t feel that it could be fulfilled by one’s partner. It’s because our egos distance us from one another, and everything is built upon using one another.
However, when there is a spiritual connection, then everything is built upon bestowal and complementing one another. To the degree we are corrected, this definitely happens.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Love Is Providing Others With the Means to Fulfill Their Point in the Heart
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Deals Only With the Actual Attainment of the Creator
Kabbalah Today Article: Love, Deciphered
Lecture: Unconditional Love
Two questions I received on perception and dreams:
Question: We don’t perceive actual sounds because actual sounds are filtered by our ears and the brain receives only a part of the information – the part that the brain can perceive. Does the Creator’s Light enter the soul in the same way? In other words, is it the portion of the Light that our soul can receive without being harmed?
My Answer: Baal HaSulam explains in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar” that nothing enters our brain; everything is formed within it. It only seems to us that the things we perceive are outside of us. In reality, the only thing outside of us is the simple Light. All that we perceive is a picture that our brain depicts on the background of the white Light.
The brain depicts pictures out of Reshimo (informational data) that constantly surface, one after another, from the archive of our memory and enter our consciousness. Thus, our consciousness plays pictures and we perceive them as if they are happening outside of us.
Why does this matter? Because you can decide which movie will be played inside you! The science of Kabbalah allows a person to change the movies and even to be the director, and then the whole world will be your actors. For more on this, see the article “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”
Question: Where do dreams come from? How are they made inside people’s heads?
My Answer: When we are freed from the daytime experiences and the rigid boundaries of reality, when our mind is cleansed and prepares for new work, then the brain’s wandering currents create all sorts of strange and random pictures. This happens during the process of sorting and reloading the data inside the brain. It’s pure physiology!
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Our Imaginary Reality Is Created by Two Mechanisms
Laitman.com Post: A Reshimo Is One’s Complete Future State
Laitman.com Post: Where Do Thoughts, Ideas, and Dreams Come from?
Article: “The Structure of the Soul”
A question I received: Are you still collaborating with the scientists who were in the film, “Ups and Downs in San Francisco”? The film’s ending was very promising for future collaboration. I’ve also found another community of scientists on the Internet. Perhaps you’d be interested in working with them as well?
My Answer: Although scientists are revealing the crisis (and you don’t have to be a scientist to see it), mankind as a whole – scientists included – do not yet understand the nature of the crisis nor its consequences. They don’t understand that our global connection has made us completely different from what we were before. We are now a unified community. And Nature (or the Creator) regards us completely differently as well: today He demands that we be equivalent to Him; He demands unity!
Since people don’t realize this yet, conventional science continues to receive funding, which means that the old science continues. If something will happen to make people pause and reflect, then it’ll spell the end of the funding. This is why I continue to conduct TV interviews with scientists in my studio, but I no longer look for opportunities to give lectures in their midst.
I think that it’s time to make a new movie about the crisis and its solution, similar to “What the Bleep Do We Know!?” – but this time, about the global, human crisis of our civilization, which includes small crises such as the financial and social ones.
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Sciences Are Subordinate to the Wisdom of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: A Visit from the President of Haifa University
Laitman.com Post: Science Is Waking Up to Kabbalah’s Possibilities of Perception
Laitman.com Post: The Fate of Physics Hangs on the Large Hadron Collider
Chapter from the book Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life – “Kabbalah Meets Quantum Physics”
News report (translated from Utro.ru): V. Makarov, president of “Russoft,” announced that the Russian segment of the Internet must be protected from the rest of the World Wide Web with a special gateway filter. Similar gateways are already operating in China and Singapore. The gateway consists of hundreds of thousands of servers that receive information from international sites and then filter it. The project is estimated to cost 1 billion dollars.
My Comment: According to Kabbalah, everything that goes against drawing closer together, communication, integration, and globalization, also goes against Nature. Nature’s objective it is to develop man and society, to bring mankind to unity, reciprocal love and bestowal. Projects like this will bring the people who implement them nothing but crises and miseries!
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Russia May Lead the Way to Global Unity
Laitman.com Post: It’s Time to Implement Baal HaSulam’s Dream – In Virtual Space
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah’s Model of a New World
Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace In the World” – Selected Lessons – Talk 6
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