Entries in the 'Unity' Category

Together Through Good Times And Bad

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should we do if the whole group is in a descent?

Answer: This is wonderful! We need to view it as an opportunity given to us from Above to be “as one man with one heart.” It means we are all together in one desire and one state. This is great because we have succeeded in uniting. Now we can use the force of this unification to change our state.

The Creator gave us the force of unity in the worst possible state where we are most distant from Him. However, His force, the force of unification, is present in this descent. Let us now begin to use this force in order to come out of the descent. We only need to do one thing: Rather than concentrate on the fact that we descended, we should focus on the fact that we are connected as one.

We need to shift our attention from one thing to another, from our temporary state to the system of connection, even if it is an egoistic one. Then we should begin to strengthen the force of unity, even for the sake of egoism. We shouldn’t pay attention to the fact that we are in a state of complete spiritual descent and disappointment. What does it matter that we descended? The most important thing is that we are together since the force of unity belongs to the Creator and comes to us from Above. Unity is His quality.

We have to intensify the inner pressure that unites the friends in the group in the worst possible state. We can be angry toward the state or complain to the Creator, or we can do it without paying attention to the descent at all. As we intensify this pressure more and more, we will suddenly see how the force of unity will begin to raise us up all together.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, “What is Day and Night in Work?”

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From A Virtual Reality To A Spiritual One

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat makes our spiritual stimulator so special is its ability to completely abstract a person from his body (egoism) and all aspects of the material world. The system takes charge of practically everything that in everyday communication acts as an obstruction and prevents us from getting close to others.

It represents some abstract essence, which is not present in any of us, yet at the same time we all try to have it come into existence outside of ourselves, as our common whole. And since this essence is very weak, it is impossible to feel it in ordinary life as we communicate with other people because it is overlapped by our animate egoism, which is much stronger.

However, if we take care of it like it’s a “Tamagotchi” (a virtual electronic pet), if we consider it our common “baby,” then it will grow. At first glance, it is a completely irrational action that contradicts all the logical notions of the person who enters this virtual reality. But as a consequence of our common actions, we, on one hand, create an abstract commonality, and on the other, it influences us intensely and very vividly.

In other words, the force that is behind all our efforts to unite gets accumulated. This force is impossible to recognize, but it will manifest as a reaction to all our efforts. A participant in mutual efforts will individually feel its revelation. An outsider will just shrug in confusion.

It is impossible to explain its revelation to a person logically. However, we can invite everyone to participate and feel it. This is in fact the beginning of the Creator’s revelation.

This is why from the beginning and to this very day, it is so difficult for me to convince people to enter the “stimulator” for the first time and begin to participate in this process. A student needs to go by “faith above reason” in this regard and begin to work regardless of his conviction, doubt, and natural sense of reason.

But even for someone who is not a beginner, obstacles will arise again and again, despite the initial rejection of one’s egoism when he works on unification.

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The Connection Between Group And Enterprise

Dr. Michael LaitmanEveryone thinks that the “enterprise” refers to the work we carry out during the day, whereas group work entails our mutual studying. However, this is incorrect. The “enterprise” is everything that pertains to releasing our materials, media, preparation for various events, and other physical and material work. If we are preparing food for the Saturday meal right now, this pertains to the enterprise. There is a head chef, the people responsible, and workers who execute everything, and it doesn’t matter whether they are volunteers or paid workers.

On the other hand, the group is a unification of ideas where each person annuls his egoism and is willing to unite with others in order to achieve a spiritual state. This is different from how we unite in order to publish a newspaper, a website, a TV program, and so on. All of these actions are group actions in character, but in order to produce a desired result everyone needs to be willing to unite in a pyramid where there is a boss and a subordinate, like in any enterprise. We have to do this in order to release a product.

It doesn’t matter whether people receive a salary or not, what hours they work, and whether they are preparing a meal at the center or shooting a TV program. Even though we initially made a voluntary decision to unite on equal grounds, nevertheless if you are a manager, you give me orders, and as a subordinate I am obliged to execute them.

In other words, as we approach any task, we make a voluntary commitment according to our abilities, and we also make a commitment to follow an order, to stay disciplined and abide by the hierarchy. Thus, on the inside we are all equal; we are a group in the form of a circle. But externally we have a relationship of manager and employee in the form of a pyramid. Nonetheless, everyone unites as one.

Unification at the enterprise is when we unite in order to realize the connection of friends in the framework of the enterprise. We maintain the hierarchy because we wish to maintain our unification. The desire to be in the group obliges me to follow the hierarchy and I bow my head and listen to the person who is appointed as my manager.

Let’s suppose that today I was sent to work in the kitchen and I carry out what I am ordered to do by the team leader. Although I may be smarter and more skilled, the friends decided that we would work according to a duty schedule. I come to my duty and there we are not friends. I need to inspire myself to work by receiving the fuel from the group, but I need to work in a way that is appropriate for an enterprise.

Even though a person might come to our center for just a few hours after his day job, for the duration of these few hours he becomes a worker for the enterprise the same as though he were getting paid for the work. That’s because he comes there in order to receive either spiritual or material advancement. He receives fulfillment and it doesn’t matter in what form! Yet, for some reason people separate one thing from the other and are surprised when someone demands something from them, People think, “Aren’t we friends in the group?” No! We are workers of the spiritual front! We are working for the Creator.

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Sailing On The Waves Of Congresses

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe need to prepare for the convention in November 2010 ahead of time. Both long-time and new students need to think about how to use the strength that we will receive from the preparation for the convention and the convention itself. After all, the real work begins particularly after such meetings when, in response to the force that we receive, we uncover new empty spaces for work.

They are like waves. The preparation for the meeting proceeds on an ascent, and the convention itself is a steep flight upward. However, after the convention we begin to descend. We then need to come out of it into a new and more meaningful ascent than the one we experienced previously. That is, our task is to turn the descent into an ascent.

Therefore, we should start to think about the preparation for the convention, the convention itself, the descent after it, and how we will properly use that descent to begin the preparation for the next meeting. In this manner, this process will continue like breathing in our body: expansion and then compression, expansion and compression, and so on. It is exactly the way all our organs, such as the lungs, the heart, the kidneys, and so on, work. After all, every living organism lives by absorbing and excreting (see Baal HaSulam’s “Contraction and Expansion” [Hitkabtsut ve Hitrachvut]).

Thus, we need to prepare ourselves right now for the few days of the Congress, taking into account this whole process and looking at it as continuous waves, one after another, that are becoming bigger and bigger. This will continue until they sweep over the whole world, and the world will come together to a great meeting: unification.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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The Fast Road To The Spiritual World

Dr. Michael LaitmanLight comes to us from Above and awakens specific parts of the common soul in order to advance them according to its program. This program is very complex and assumes that the souls will awaken in a specific order and combination among them like parts of one body. This is invisible to the eye, but according to the inner structure of the soul they are all connected with each other. The Light connects them together so they will perform the mutual work of searching for the quality of bestowal.

These are people who are complete strangers, very different from one another, and have completely contrasting material qualities. Yet, we have to believe that this is all arranged from Above. We have to leave behind everything that prevents us from uniting and search for a means that can help us accomplish this. The search will enable us to understand that the only basis for unification is bestowal, which is above reception. Nothing but this can unite people.

This path is very inconsistent, as if we are traveling across a very uneven road and our car is constantly thrown up and down by all the potholes and bumps. Yet, despite everything it has to keep going and advancing forward. The more we advance, the greater is the frequency of bumps and the more sensitive we are to them. In other words, the changes taking place in us are more drastic and significant. The truth is that they were the same before, but we did not notice or feel them very much.

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It is impossible to advance down this road unless you even it out. Then our car will roll along quickly and easily! The only way we can smooth out every pit and bump on this path is to have a common opinion in the group and unity among us. This is the only thing that will fill in all the pits and unite us together, making our path smooth and even.

There is no possibility to advance spirituality without evening out the road. The disturbances and problems that arise before a person who desires to advance individually, or worse yet, a group of individualists, are so great that it is impossible to overcome them. The car will inevitably get stuck and it will be impossible to get it out. A person will remain in the same place; his life will be over, and he still won’t complete the path or attain the goal.

Therefore, our work must be aimed at unity. Then we will reveal that we can attain all the results precisely through unity! Our spiritual advancement on this path depends only on this. All the efforts and revelations happen only in one direction inside this connection that unites us all.

Everything depends on how much a person values the connection among the friends above all the problems that become revealed, and he understands just one thing: “There is none else besides Him.” All the disturbances come from the Creator. He gives rise to these inner pits and bumps inside us, confusing us in a thousand different ways. We have to imagine that all the problems come from Him and their only purpose is for us to unite.

Therein lies the secret to success! This is the basis upon which everything begins and all the rest is built.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, “Concerning the Importance of Friends”

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Dance Is The Most Serious Inner Work

Dr. Michael LaitmanThere are actions during our meetings when we have to give up all our criticism and simply merge with everyone. How can I do that? I can do it precisely by jumping and singing together with everyone like a child, nullifying myself.

This attitude connects me to the general state, giving me the ability to come out of my limitations and feel a spiritual "wind"! It might seem as though this kind of behavior is reckless, but it only seems that way to us because we don’t recognize the spirituality in it, and that’s because it is the Light of Infinity! We are unable to discern anything in it with our instruments of perception. That’s why it seems to us that it is lifeless or still (Nefesh). However, whether or not we will be able to see the whole spiritual Light of NaRaNHY in it depends entirely on our Kli .

Everything that comes from unity, even the smallest kind, is perfection. Therefore, it is precisely in this manner, through mutual dance when you are jumping together with others, that we have the opportunity to perceive a spiritual sensation.

These dances came to us from the great Kabbalists, especially Baal Shem Tov. Rabash also made us, his students, dance this way. It’s not just recklessness; inside the dance there is serious thought and tremendous work. Suddenly you don’t want it and thoughts "for" and "against" alternate within you with great frequency, evoking horrible doubts. Meanwhile, you continue to jump….

It also isn’t meditation because you don’t disconnect from reality. You are always standing before the question: What am I doing and why? What does this give me, who is making me do this, and who am I jumping together with, what connects us? You go through the entire inner work from beginning to end while you are dancing.

The dance forces you to go through all the different thoughts that exist against it! They are against unity, which you don’t want. Your mind always rises up in battle against this and you are forced to make discernments.

That is why the dance turns into arduous inner work. You come out of it simply drained, devoid of energy. And it’s not because you jumped, but because you went through so many discernments inside. You are dancing inside yourself, in your inner ascents and descents. And the fact that you are externally jumping at the same time is only there in order to awaken these inner states in you.

You are jumping externally, rising and falling, while inside of you there is a profusion of other ascents and descents taking place simultaneously – and that’s the most important thing! Without the external actions you will not be able to make the inner ones. One won’t happen without the other. That’s why the dance turns into a unique means of working. This is why Baal Shem Tov and the first Hassidim, who were Kabbalists, taught these traditions.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/2010, A Lesson About the Role of the Nation

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We Hope To See All Of You In November!

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn November 2010 we will be holding an International Kabbalah Convention in Tel Aviv, Israel where all those studying Kabbalah with us in Israel and the whole world will come together. It will be three days of unity!

The main reason why we organize such conventions is that the Kabbalists instruct us to hold meetings and conventions in order to unite. Rabash and Baal HaSulam write about this, but it follows even from the compositions of the Ari and Ramchal, as well as the writings of Rabbi Shimon and Abraham.

Correction takes place only by virtue of a connection among the souls, and connection starts with communication. Yet, there is one idea present in the communication: to attain the kind of unity that is called “the Creator,” bestowal, or the spiritual world.

Within this kind of unity we reveal the worlds (Olamot). They go from being concealments (Alamot) to revelation and therefore the Creator becomes revealed more and more instead of hiding behind the worlds or concealments. In other words, in the connection between us we reveal bestowal and love more and more, and that is called the revelation of the Creator. When this quality becomes revealed between us, we begin to feel that we live and exist inside it, and thus we ascend above the sensation of this world.

The revelation of the Creator can be attained on the condition that we carry out actions within the framework of this world. We start here and then continue the actions in the spiritual realm which becomes revealed in the connection between us. That is why it is necessary for us to meet and unite in this way using all the opportunities that this world has for us, physical or virtual, in order to build closer connections.

We would like to announce this event to everyone and to connect as many people as possible to it without any limitations. Any person from any corner of the world can attend and participate if he feels attracted to this idea. The task of those studying with Bnei Baruch is to prepare this convention, but the convention itself is intended for anyone wishing to attend!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/10, A Lesson About the Role of the Nation

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A Sandstorm Of Our Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are you saying that the fact that I egoistically use my neighbor right now causes a sandstorm in India?

Answer: Yes! We need to understand that all problems occur due to a lack of connection among us. And this does not mean that by drawing away from you I immediately cause some hurricane that brings sand. However, by being in opposition to you, I bring disparity into the balance of forces in nature.

All the forces of nature exist in unity, interconnection, balance, and universal harmony. That is, except for the human being whose growing egoism and unwillingness to consider others turns us into an active negative element which disrupts the balance of all the forces (of still, vegetative, and animate nature). The solution to the problem is to become an integral part of nature, like all its other parts.

We reveal that the world is in unity and complete interconnection; it exists as a locked system where everyone is connected to each other. This means that we are obliged to unite as “one man with one heart.”

You could object to this and say that we are incapable of this. However, there is the science of Kabbalah and by utilizing it we rouse the force of unification. Humanity will inevitably reach this conclusion, and we are already close to it. If we have already entered this period, from now on everything will occur very quickly.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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Let’s Keep Ascending Higher

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: After experiencing such a great inspiration and unification during the recent Mega Congress, now some friends feel separation and indifference. How can we help them?

Answer: It is a good omen. If a person falls from a high mountain into a deep hole, it shows us that the Congress has come to an end, and we have entered a new state. We can help our friends in two ways: through inner and external care.

Within ourselves, we should continue feeling that we are one common Kli, a spiritual vessel, no matter what. Those who descend expose a new layer of egoistic desire in themselves, which is revealed now in our common world Kli. They are the carriers of this new desire (a greater thickness, Aviut).

On the other hand, those of us who do not feel this heaviness of the desire wish to ascend together with them even higher, in a single embrace. Then we all will win. We will bring the screen and the Reflected Light, and they will bring the intensity of the desire (Aviut), and together we will create a ready Kli, with which we will be able to ascend.

Therefore, particularly now, when the Congress has already ended, we can make a considerable step forward. The time of a common meeting simply tallies up our whole previous work, and now, after the Congress, the next stage in unification begins. In this stage each person should desire to raise everyone else.

This is what happens in the common spiritual vessel: One supplies the desire, another supplies the screen, and then they switch places. In this manner movement occurs. This is a very good and beneficial period, and under no circumstances should we view this time as dead and await the next Congress! On the contrary, all the work and advancement consists in this time as we rise above the interferences.

The Congress itself is unification, and no work is required there. A common inspiration of all the participants and annulment of each person before the others are in effect there. At Congresses we receive the strength precisely for the periods of ascent between congresses.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/10, “Introduction in the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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Seven Billion Worlds Of Infinity

Dr. Michael LaitmanAs a consequence of our spiritual work, we should reach a state in which 1) We all desire to reach the same goal and 2) We all are united. However, we unite not because this is our initial state that comes from Above, but because it is our common goal.

In a best case scenario, when we correct something in our world, we return the object to its former state. However, when we correct the broken connections with other souls, we acquire much more than we had prior to the breaking of the common soul. This is due to the fact that we reveal and endow independence to every part outside of ourselves.

Within my egoism, I relate to everyone as though they have no independence and they all should service me. As I begin to love them, I wish to relate to them like every one of them is great, independent, and special. This is also how we want to see our children. Then each of the friends that surrounds me suddenly becomes a possessor of freedom of choice; each of them takes his place and level. And then, when we unite and I adjoin all these friends to myself, it turns out that each of them has grown and become just as great as me.

As a result, I do not re-adjoin the same seven billion parts to myself; rather, seven billion worlds of infinity unite into one. This means that I increase the scope of my spiritual vessel (Kli) by 620 times. However, all this works only in relation to me. After all, everything exists within me and depends only on the extent to which I relate to my friends in the right manner every time. I do it only in order to increase my Kli, to make it worthy of the Creator’s revelation.

Therefore, I see them in a three-fold way:

1. As higher than me, so that they would be great in my eyes,
2. As lower than me, in order to bestow to them,
3. As equal to me, in order to unite with them.

Then I acquire a huge, powerful Kli called my true soul. It becomes several billion times bigger than it was prior to the correction. After all, before the correction, I was in the World of Infinity as one point. Now I return to it with a “620” (Tarach) times greater sensation of perfection and eternity. The difference between these two states is like the difference between a drop of semen and a grown-up person who attains everything.

From Mega Congress Lesson 5, 7/25/10

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