Audio Version Of The Blog – 12.21.14

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A Butterfly On Mt. Sinai

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The disintegration of society that we are now witnessing in Israel and all over the world reminds us of the birth of a butterfly. First there is the caterpillar, which lives for a while, eats plants, and is happy.

But at a certain point the caterpillar reaches the end and cannot fill itself anymore. Then it turns into a chrysalis and enters a state of darkness closing itself inside a cocoon where its body begins to disintegrate.

The caterpillar ceases to be what it was before. Scientists have discovered that the genes that will later turn it into a totally different creature are already in the caterpillar. After a period of chaos and disintegration, a beautiful butterfly suddenly emerges from the cocoon; a winged creature that is much more developed.

Could it be that we are in the period of the cocoon now and therefore see how everything around us is out of balance and falling apart?

Answer: It is indeed so, but in order to become a beautiful butterfly, we have to change. We can reach these changes either in a pleasant, easy, and short way by the connection between us, or by war and terrible problems that will force us to unite. This means that we can go through this process passively or actively.

Comment: So in the end we will connect with or without war.

Answer: Yes, but there is a huge difference. After all, it will not be just another war, but a nuclear war.

Question: And if we don’t connect?

Answer: It cannot be. It is already in our genes, just like the caterpillar is supposed to become a beautiful butterfly in the end. We also have the genes according to which we have to bring the whole world to correction and are already imprinted in the genes of human society, in our internal program. We only have to carry it out.

We have two options, which are good or bad. The bad option is through wars and sufferings and the good option is by reaching the fulfillment of the wisdom of Kabbalah by ourselves, attaining the force of connection by it to draw the force, the Light that Reforms unto ourselves. It says: “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice, since the Light in it reforms.”

Question: You speak about the Torah, so is it about religion?

Answer: No. The Torah is light, the force we discover inside the circle, which welds us together. The force that reforms is called the Torah. It is not a religious concept at all. It isn’t a book or a parchment that has words written on it, but an inner force.

The egoistic inclination doesn’t let us connect, while the Torah is the Upper Light, the means to correct the evil inclination, which is felt only by those who sense that they have to connect with others and cannot do so. It is as if our whole nation sat in one big circle of eight million people and everyone thought only about the fact that they cannot unite. It is a fact that if there is no external pressure, the society remains separated and detached.

Our mission is to move from state one to state two. State one is our current state of insecurity and of no future as a result of the lack of connections between us because of our egoistic nature.

There are two ways of achieving state two. The right way is the way that Kabbalists tell us about. They say that if we want to advance, we have to connect. If we sit in circles and begin to discuss the issue of how to be “as one man in one heart,” we will discover how much we are against this idea. This resistance we feel towards connection is called the evil inclination.

The evil inclination is not revealed to a person in his ordinary life, when he disrespects everyone, but only when he wishes to connect to others. Only then does he see that he doesn’t want this connection and is repelled by it, although he understands that he must reach unity despite his natural repulsion.

We felt it during the last military operation “Enduring Rock,” since we could unite only under external pressure. The moment the pressure was gone, we immediately returned to our initial state and began to quarrel and fight. So what can we do? After all we need to connect!

What is actually lacking at the moment is the recognition that we need connection. We need to widely publicize and explain that our good future depends on the unity of the nation and that otherwise we are facing disaster.

If we discover that we cannot unite, although we want to, we need the Torah as a means for attaining unity. This means that we are at the foot of Mt. Sinai which is a mountain of hatred. We want to reach unity, but we cannot do so since a high mountain of mutual hatred separates us.

Then we are worthy of the receiving of the Torah, which is the revelation of the force of connection that should come and connect us. This means that the light of the Torah reforms. It is a force of unity, a force of light and love. When it is revealed, we suddenly begin to feel closeness, dependence, and a mutual connection between us.

Question: Where can we find this force?

Answer: This force is hidden in nature. Now too, it is among us, but we discover it only to the extent that we yearn to connect. This is what the whole Torah is about. Thus every time Kabbalists connect into a group, they discovered the Creator, the upper force of connection.

Question: Is this circle also suitable for people who are not religious?

Answer: The circle is suitable for everyone, not only people who are not religious, but also for women and people from every nation. After all, the Israeli nation has to be a light unto the nations, teach everyone the wisdom of connection, and reveal to everyone that the Creator is the upper nature. During the last war, it was actually the women and the mothers who voiced the call for unity of the nation.
From the program “A New Life” 9/02/14

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Clearing The Congestion In The Way Of The Light

laitman_750_06Baal HaSulam,” “Only Goodness and Mercy”: Only goodness and mercy shall follow me all my life. We know that all the worlds are like onion peels one inside the other and this world is inside them like a point. It turns out that all the lines and pipes of abundance go through this point, like the round lines of the organs on top of the central point, from the beginning to the end, all meet at one point. This is the matter that Israel bring abundance to the worlds since the pipes and lines seemingly end and are clogged in their meeting point in this world, the world of shells, and therefore the abundance for the worlds that goes from the beginning to the end through this world is seemingly blocked.

This is the power of the righteous who designate matter and form, each on his own level, and thus correct the pipes and the lines that reach one another and convey the infinite abundance and the great brightness to all the worlds. This is the meaning of only goodness and mercy follow a person all his life, so that they should serve as a place for it to go through.

Israel is in the center of all the worlds and it turns off or on the pipe of abundance and its flow to all of humanity and all the worlds. If we don’t make enough efforts, the flow of Light is blocked and only a minimal spark is left which is necessary for the existence of the world, which means a small force that keeps the creation alive. Everything else can be attained only by our exertion.

All of humanity has to be corrected as it changes its nature from receiving to bestowal. In fact we change our intention from in order to receive to in order to bestow and thus acquire the attributes of the Creator who is all of reality. Baal HaSulam describes reality as a system in which there are pipes, circles, and straightness.

All of humanity has to change from egoism to bestowal because it is thanks to this that it acquires the Creator’s attribute, identifying and connecting with all of reality. There is a pioneer force in humanity called Israel according to its intention of Yashar El (straight to the Creator), which leads all the rest.

Abraham discovered all these elements back in ancient Babylon and told, explained, and taught all the Babylonians. Yet only a few of them responded to this invitation that humanity received from nature, from the Creator. That’s the way it should have been.

This small pioneering force has to carry out its mission with great responsibility. Israel has to be the pioneer of the correction and to pave the way for everyone else.
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/14

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The Criterion For Successful Dissemination

Laitman_524_01Question: Is there a universal criterion for the right result of our dissemination?

Answer: How can one determine the result of our dissemination and not be proven wrong? There is only one criterion: effective practical unity in which the Creator is revealed.

This is because the final goal of all that we do is the discovery of the Creator within us, that general natural force that connects us. Ultimately we begin to feel how this world actually disappears and we are left feeling only two forces: reception and bestowal, which cooperate between them, and we are found in full harmony with this system.

In creation there is nothing other than the Olam Ein Sof (the world of Infinity). All the rest is already an imaginary feeling that destroys us.

So we need to try with all our might to measure our unity: How high it is from our ego, how much it is not aimed towards receiving for oneself, how much it is found outside of each one of us, in the center between us, and can actually be similar to the Creator in its character.

And then this change will already have its net practical embodiment in physical data: “levels”, “Aviut” (the thickness of the desire), “screen”, “Ohr Hozer” (returning light). It will then be much simpler and easier for us.

I will be able to see according to our friends and according to myself in what manner we bestow, how it is necessary to draw this from one to another, how each one of us must act. That is how we can measure the willpower of one another.
From the Convention In Sochi “Day One” 7/13/14, Lesson 1

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The Receiver Of The Imperceptible Wave Range

laitman_934Question: Can the method of Kabbalah become public if the majority perceives the development of additional sense organs as mysticism?

Answer: People are accustomed to everything that is beyond this life being related to mysticism, unnatural forces. But in this case it is not so. The wisdom of Kabbalah is organized very simply, and this method originated from Abraham.

Students gather around the teacher, and he organizes them in a group. They begin to work in it as if in a laboratory, creating an environment in which it is possible to reveal the upper force. And when they reveal this upper force in connection with each other, they begin to study it, to develop due to it and develop it.

That is, they operate from two directions. They have the desire to receive, and they reveal the desire to bestow. Thus, they can influence this force of bestowal, draw it, grow it, and study how it affects them. They begin a mutual, practical work with the upper force, the Creator, as with any other force of nature that is revealed to us.

The only question is how to quickly build the laboratory in which we will reveal the upper force, will research, learn, and be able to perform mutual work with it, as partners. We will affect it, and it will affect us, that is, the whole group. After all, one person is not able to create the property of bestowal out of himself.

Only in mutual connection in the group, for example, between ten people, can we create the force of mutual bestowal, which will be similar to the hidden upper force. Then this upper force will be revealed to us according to the law of equivalence of form.

In this way we catch a wave in a radio set, tuning it internally, respectively to this wave. And then according to the law of equivalence of form, with the help of the internal wave, we catch the external wave. By the same principle, we reveal the upper force in the group, creating a small property of bestowal between ourselves to the extent of our abilities.

Suddenly, we seemingly catch the external radio wave in this property of bestowal created between us: we feel some conversation, external, higher impact. So, we have caught Him! In this way we grasp the Creator.

This is a very real feeling. If we arrange our group in this way, we will certainly reveal the Creator; there is no mystery. The same laws, as in physics, act here.

Rabash writes in his article “By Your Actions, We Know You” “The whole earth is full of the glory of the Creator, and there is no place free from Him.” The upper force fills all creation, the desire to enjoy created by this force, and manages it. “But we do not feel it only because we lack the necessary sense organs.”

“In this way, a receiver does not talk itself, but picks up voices that sound in the world. But before the receiver was invented, we did not hear these voices, although they already existed in reality.

“We can understand from this example that there is no place free from the Creator, and we need just a receiver. And the receiver that catches the upper force is based on adhesion to it in the equivalence of form, that is, on the desire to bestow.

“As soon as we have such a receiver, we will immediately feel that there is no such area, where the Creator is not present, and the whole earth is full of His glory.”

We are in the group like scientists in a laboratory, who only need to generate the force of mutual bestowal between themselves in order to be turned into a receiver. Then, inside the receiver, we will reveal the spiritual wave, the Creator.

It is revealed only in the connection between us. And all the preliminary preparation, our development through the still, vegetative, and animate nature up to the human was needed in order to form in us the desire to find this wave.

Therefore, we must look for how we can be connected according to the advice of Kabbalists. But all this is very far from mysticism. Only a completely ignorant person can relate Kabbalah with mysticism since according to the definition of Kabbalah, it is the revelation of the Creator by the created being in this world.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There Is A Continuation To Life!

Laitman_109Question: What must we correct in our reality?

Answer: The created being is a desire to receive that is external to the Creator, external to the desire to bestow. We are created intentionally so that we would be able to discover our deficient state, our dependence on the desire to bestow, its limitations, and that we cannot exist even for a moment without being adhered to the desire to bestow.

This limitation evokes in us a yearning to know and attain the desire to bestow, and to be like it. It is because we discover the imperfection of our state and our constant need for something, and that we are totally limited and dependent. As long as we receive the Light, we feel alive, but, the moment we don’t receive Light, we feel increasingly worse, until we feel death. If we cease to receive the force of bestowal on the animate level, our body dies. We simply are dependent totally on the force of bestowal. This stimulation brings us to demand revelation the upper force on the animate level and to find out on whom our animate body depends.

Thus, we discover that our corporeal body on the animate level depends on a higher level, and then we begin to look for this force of bestowal.

Throughout human history, we believe that our evolution is leading us to something good, to a better state. This isn’t true. Our evolution is intended to bring us to the conclusion that we are limited. The more we advance, the more we feel how limited, lowly, and defective we are in every aspect and in every sense. This makes us realize the need for the attainment of a state that is more sublime than ours, the next level above ours, the one on which I depend now.

Therefore, a person who reaches the wisdom of Kabbalah asks, “What is the point of my life?” This question pushes him forward and obliges him to clarify, “What am I living for? Why am I alive? What is the secret of life and the essence of life?” A person may have everything in his corporeal life, but if his life has no meaning, no point, he sees no reason to live.

Statistically, depression, drugs, and so on are more prevalent today, and it isn’t just about individuals, but multitudes who are asking the question about the meaning of life and cannot find an answer. This is also one of the signs that the wisdom of Kabbalah can be revealed.

It is because it impossible to get an answer to the question of what we are living for if we don’t discover that there is a continuation to life!

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When The Ego Begins To Soften

Laitman_633_4Question: Each of us lives his life with the typical hardships, successes, and disappointments. We would like to make our lives happier, but the question is how? Where do we get the feelings of warmth and security?

Answer: The answer is in our mother’s womb, then in her arms, and then in the warmth of our home and hearth. We gradually draw away from it, but our inclination to preserve these forms remains, although we want to be independent in our ego.

What is more, we see that our ego begins to soften with regard to the way it feels the community that we establish as we participate in the discussion circles. I look at what I can give up in the ego. I don’t really annul it, but it simply begins to help me incorporate more and more in the life of the community and to feel that I belong to a greater circle. Thus, our ego can function as “help against.”

When we developed only egoistically, we continually destroyed our community life. However, now, when we restore the community—at least in the form of a game—the ego that feels the pressure begins to help us. It isn’t annulled, but takes on a new form. This is called integral community education.

Let’s hope that we will be able to attain it. We thus balance the general global force of nature, and it connects humanity according to our inner inclination. When the two forces that influence us become harmoniously balanced, our life will become happy.
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/8/14

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The Force Of Good And The Force Of Evil, Part 2

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do I need this game between the force of good and the force of evil? Wouldn’t it be better if there were only one force of good?

Answer: By this egoism, our whole lives are spoiled because it wants only one thing—to feel good. It does not understand that the force of evil should be used in the same way as the force of good, bringing them both into balance. It is uncomfortable for egoism.

Question: What do you mean by the balance between the good and evil forces? I want to be in harmony with the good, but how can one be in harmony with the evil?

Answer: There can be no harmony with either the good or evil. Harmony exists only between the two of them, in their connection and in equilibrium. Therefore, our life has to consist of good and evil; otherwise there is no life.

Comment: But imagine how it wonderful it would be in the world if there were only one force of good!

Answer: We must stop calling one force evil and another good. Good and evil are relative concepts. You label them in one way and I label them in the opposite way.

There are two opposing forces given to us by nature. What occurs between these two forces is called life, existence. Rocks, plants, animals, and humans exist because they are created by a combination of these two forces that mutually balance each other. This is nature.

We exist in this world in the animal body and therefore must maintain this balance, which nature makes any animal obey. In addition to the animal level, which we receive due to our human minds and feelings, we also need to bring it into balance in order to use it not on the animate degree, but as human beings.

The human degree implies a completely different balance between good and evil. As a human being, I have to relate to good and evil objectively and recognize their right to exist, deciding what can be between them. Thus, I form my worldview, understanding that I have to use both forces in their interaction, in balance and in correct mutual connection.

For me, there are no good and evil. Both these forces, combining with each other, produce my good state, that is more advanced, higher. Harmony between these two forces is turned into good for me. It is not one or the other but the connection between them.

Question: This is good and evil in their absolute forms, relative to our development. But would I, an ordinary person, perceive this development as good or not?

Answer: It depends on a person, his preparation, education, and perception of the world. A baby, until he grows to a certain age, does not understand anything and follows his desire just like an animal. He naturally chooses what he likes and dislikes.

Thus we have to limit him because from birth he is not an animal, but a little human. An animal has an inner program that allows it to correctly use all of its strength.

The animal would not fall from a height, would not eat something harmful to itself, would not hurt itself. But a baby can hurt himself, and that is why he needs to be supervised. From the very day of his birth, we must begin to educate him.

An animal does not require training. If a young animal is abandoned in the woods but there is food next to it, it will be able to survive. It will know what is good to eat and what is not, what should be avoided, and so it will continue to live. But a baby will not survive alone. At all times, we have to teach him what is good for him and what is bad, and how he should use all the things in order to grow.

He should not grow only physically, although he should be given an understanding of this process. When he grows up a little and learns how to live in this world and take care of his body, then he needs to be taught mentally, internally, psychologically.

An understanding of good and evil means that the child is able to use these two forces that are around him, inside him, and in others, constantly keeping his balance with the environment. In fact, life is a balance within and around us. A little human should be taught how to achieve inner balance and balance with the environment on the animate level, where our body exists, and also on the human level of society, in connection with other people.
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/3/14

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 12.21.14

Preparation for the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” “Purpose of Society”  

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 30

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Item 86

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Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 77  

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”  

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