Friends, I Need You

Choice is the most important thing in our life. We constantly choose, weigh, and compare one thing with another either consciously or subconsciously, changing our approach, our system of evaluation, views, and priorities. Our entire life is the choice of the best option according to some criteria determined by what is more important to us now. We are constantly checking what we have to lose as a result of our choice and how much we will gain because of it.

It is possible that the solution we chose is not very pleasant, but it is so important that we must go for it. All our life we work like the most complex computer that processes a lot of data in order to make the correct calculation. Of course, each of us would like to make the right choice that allows us to confidently determine the best situation that wins by all the indicators and avoid the worst situations without any shadow of a doubt, not choosing one at the expense of the other and regretting the missed opportunities.

Only faith allows making such a choice, the feeling of the force of bestowal and love, which is something beyond our will to receive. The problem, however, is that we do not feel this force of bestowal, so how can we acquire such faith called “the staff”? Even if we acquire it, at the next degree, the faith already crosses into the egoistic sphere and becomes “the serpent.”

I must overcome this growing egoism and then I will come to faith again, already at a new degree. Each time the force of holiness crosses over into the egoism and so I rise all the time as if walking on two legs, right and left. The left line grows only if I have raised the right one correctly.

We should always lean on the “staff” and not on the “serpent,” that is, on faith, on something that seems low and unimportant to our egoism, and lift it upward. This is the entire work of a person: the staff constantly falls and we must lift it. If this were not happening, we would not be able to advance and get closer to the Creator. Every time I lift the staff, the faith, I take another little step forward.

As soon as I leave this staff, it immediately falls and turns into a serpent. It is help from above that the staff falls; otherwise, I would not be able to advance. If I lean on my knowledge, that is, make an egoistic choice, then I do not have any difficulty.

The staff is what directs me to the Creator. If I hold it up, as the most important thing, then step by step I get closer to the quality of bestowal, degree by degree. The environment is the staff if it is more important to me than myself. Then through the environment, I rise toward the Creator. Therefore, this degree is called Moses because it pulls (Moshech) the people.¹

The light is only revealed if there is a barrier before it. It would seem that outer space should be the brightest because nothing obscures the light there. However, precisely because there is no barrier for the light, it cannot be seen. The cosmos is absolutely black. However, if we put a screen before the rays of the Sun, then you will see that there is light.

All we are missing is the screen! Light cannot shine if there are no barriers on its path. Therefore, if we want the light to be revealed in us, we should make a screen for it. One person cannot become a screen for the light. However, if we unite in the ten, above our egoism, despite the fact that each of us is full of pride and does not want connection with others, we raise the importance of connection and even higher than that, the importance of the Creator whom we want to reveal.

We want to feel the Creator inside of our internal unity as real as we feel each other now. Together, we make such a sandwich: our will to receive is at the bottom and unity, the screen, our readiness to connect despite our egoism, is on the top. Then the upper light is revealed on this screen and becomes visible to us.

One person cannot build such a screen out of his personal egoism; this is possible only by connecting with the friends.²

To help a friend means raising the importance of spirituality, the importance of connection, giving him the “staff.” Nobody can do it by himself. If one can do it by oneself, it is not real spiritual work but only preparation for it.

Every time this work becomes more and more difficult; after all, now I trip over the “staff” that I lifted the time before. The left line rises higher and higher at the expense of the right one, at the expense of my past successes. I must start everything anew as if in a new place, in a new country, in a new language, with a new understanding and new perception. This is a new degree! Every day a person is as if born again.

It is impossible to do this alone. It is a huge mistake to think that by shutting myself inside, in my personal inner work, it is possible to do deeper, more intimate clarifications. This is nonsense! It takes many years for a person to understand that in this way he is just spinning in the same place, like a puppy chasing his tail.

Only by incorporating each time in the group, even if it consists of beginners, we will be rising to increasingly elevated states. Even if the friends are below you, by incorporating in them, you ascend to the next degree. It is only possible to lift the “staff” with the help of friends, all together. Friends, I need you! Help me!³
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/19, Baal HaSulam, Shamati 59, “Concerning the Rod and the Serpent”

In The Cage Of Your Egoism

Question: A man, unlike an animal, can see some kind of pleasure in the future, calculate the steps and get to it, giving up on enjoyment at the intermediate stages.

Why, with such a huge intellect, can’t he rationally calculate the state of equilibrium with nature? Why do all his rational attempts to build a balanced society constantly fail?

Answer: Because he is inside his egoistic nature. He cannot calculate anything.

Comparing one egoism relative to another, in what he wins or loses more, he still finds himself inside his egoism. He is not free. He does not have the second degree of freedom. What he considers freedom is the illusion of staying under the influence of an external coercive force.

Question: Can’t he calculate: “If I use my egoism, I will feel bad?”

Answer: This is how we always try to get away from troubles. But this does not mean that we are free. I am constantly running away from egoistic blows: a stick from here, a stick from there, and this is how I tumble around from morning to evening.

Look what is happening on the streets, in buses, in the subway, in offices, everywhere. Look at all this human anthill! Where can we talk about freedom?

There is no freedom. It is possible to choose, at any given moment, at the most, as it seems to me, comfortable state of all possibilities. That is all.

I choose from what is given to me, but I am always limited. The Creator shines upon me through the corrected state, but I am not yet corrected. Naturally, I do not understand His influence on me at all. Where is he driving me? What does He want from me at every moment? If I do not know this, then what kind of freedom of will can there be?
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/12/19

New Life #1134 – Natural Anarchism

New Life #1134 – Natural Anarchism
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Every creature is an egoist by nature and does not want to be restricted. The desire to be the king of the world is only realizable if each person finds his unique place in the global system that benefits everyone. To be truly free, humankind must discover the network of natural forces and its ultimate laws. When everyone cares for the good of everyone, we will all feel like the king of the world and transcend all restrictions.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #1134 – Natural Anarchism”

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The Future Already Exists

Question: You say that the future depends on us, but our destiny is predetermined. How are we to understand that?

Answer: The fact of the matter is that we all must reach the state of the final correction. It is already predetermined. Moreover, we already exist in it.

Now we need to realize this future, bring ourselves closer to it. How we do it—the fast way or the slow, we strive forward by ourselves or urged by nature—depends on us. But the future already exists.

This is the state we were in before the breaking of the vessel of our soul and now we have to get back to it. We will not get away from it, we will be obliged to take each of our points, our cell, you, and I, and everyone else.

But the road by which we reach this predetermined future does not exist, it depends precisely on us. It depends on us how quickly we will be able to achieve this goal, how fast can we reach it, how comfortable our way will be.

We absolutely have to reach its predetermined end where all the parts of the soul will meld into one common system, into one whole, and the Creator will fill them infinitely with the upper light. We must get to this state.

Question: You frequently mention that there is spiritual information, Reshimo, in a person. Does it really exist in us?

Answer: There is a Reshimo in a person, a record of all states that this person needs to go through from the beginning till the end. But the person determines how he will go through them: fast or slow, comfortably or through blows.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 4/28/19

New Life #1133 – The Need To Be Loved
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

The need to be loved stems from the obligation to be on good terms with the factors that are important for my positive existence. Love means gathering everyone back into my heart, in spite of our differences. The purpose of life is love, and when a sense of lack is filled, it produces a sensation of the essence of life. All of our relations are built upon connection and separation or engagements and lapses. In the end, we must feel connected as we were originally, like one. Spiritual love occurs when we don’t demand anything back, to the point of total devotion, simply because it is important to love. In this way, we develop love for all of creation and even for the upper force that created us.
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From KabTVs “New Life #1133 – The Need To Be Loved,” 7/2/19

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A Jewish Antidote Against Global Crisis (Times Of Israel)

The Times of Israel published my new article “A Jewish Antidote Against Global Crisis”

Warning signs of a global recession are becoming more evident, warn economic analysts. Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe and one of the strongest in the world, is heading into recession, while China’s growth has slowed to its lowest point since 2002. Besides the economic problems, a Russian nuclear accident that caused a measurable increase in radiation levels, and prolonged massive protests in Hong Kong that have continued week after week, are additional troubling news headlines that have yet to jolt the general public. So why then should Jews be worried? The hard lessons of history have taught us that when things start to collapse in society, sooner rather than later, Jews will be blamed. However, before this happens, the Jews have the ability to apply a special preventive treatment: to rise above all differences and unite.

First of all, it is important to understand the invisible connection between Jews and the future of the world. Jews have always been a unique phenomenon on a global scale—a collection of people with exceptionally well-developed desires to enjoy, who strive to earn and maximize every opportunity in every field. The first time that Jews were able to transcend the deeply-ingrained, innate trait of individualistic success and unite into one nation was about 3,800 years ago in ancient Babylon as a tribal society made up of people from different backgrounds, cultures and languages (a society very similar to today’s humanity).

Abraham gathered likeminded followers around him and taught them the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of connecting and living under the premise of love of others. This group of Babylonians, who were initially estranged from one another, undertook Abraham’s guidance toward uniting and became known as the people of Israel. This group has also been referred to as “Jews,” from the Hebrew “yehudi,” meaning one who is in unison and harmony with nature. From the time Israel was founded, it had only one mission and purpose: to be a “light unto the nations” and to serve as an example of unity and love of others to the rest of humanity.

Later on, at Mount Sinai, the people of Israel received the Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah: a method of connection for all human beings so that they would be able to transcend the divisions and conflicts above the ego and live “as one man with one heart.” However, after the destruction of the Second Temple, once the brotherly love became lost and the value of exalted unity ceased to illuminate the spiritual vision of the people, they dispersed into 2,000 years of exile and wandering from one place to another.

The wisdom of Kabbalah, or “Reception” in English (from the Hebrew lekabel, “to receive” the upper light), was hidden. Yet the method endured intact and operational, so that when Jews endeavor to connect, the positive force of connection flows through them to the entire human network, balancing the negative force of egoistic self-interest—the source of all division—and elevating the world. This force erases fractures in human relations and restores relationships between countries and societies, including those at an international level.

Therefore, in light of the global turmoil we face today, Jews have an obligation to fulfill their spiritual role toward humanity. As Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, wrote, “Israel has the secret of unity in the world.” Otherwise, anti-Semitism will rain down upon us and the nations of the world will point an accusing finger at us, demanding our unity. As the prophet Isaiah said, “And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord” (Isaiah 14:12). However, no one promised that the road would be easy and pleasant. Indeed, it could well be difficult and painful. The choice of route depends entirely on us.

The first step toward realization of Isaiah’s prophecy is to spur the people of Israel in the construction of a new humanity, to raise awareness among Jews of their role in the world. With every anti-Semitic event that takes place, we must stop and consider why this is happening. With every explosion or horrific incident, we must rediscover our purpose as Jews in the world. We now have a great opportunity to open the gates to mutual acceptance and support for all with the use of the connection method we received from Abraham. In this way, we will be able to change the face of global society from one of hostility to one of unity.

Uniqueness Of The Creator, Part 7

The Method of Attainment, Undistorted by Egoism

Question: All theories of the management of nature are very diverse and are a combination of opposites. Is it in the combination of opposites, precisely between them, that the sensation of our world, or the Creator, is revealed?

Answer: No, I do not think so, because all these theories are egoistic. Man invented monotheism, polytheism, etc., based on his egoism without correcting it.

The only theory that has the right to exist is when a person exits himself, rising above himself, beginning to feel others instead of himself, feeling what happens inside the others, outside of himself. Then, one gets a truly objective impression of who one is, where one is, and what is around him. This “theory” is called “the method of Kabbalah,” which allows us to gain a correct impression of the universe, undistorted by our egoism.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah,” 12/10/18

The Soul Is The Knowledge Of The Upper World

The soul is the knowledge of the upper world; if the soul could grow without knowledge, it would bring harm to it. That is why the soul is given an opportunity to act only to the extent of the acquired knowledge.

In our world, I can press buttons on some device, use various engines, and at the same time, pose a threat to myself and other people, that is, pressing the activation button of an atomic bomb.

This is impossible in the spiritual world. There, I can press any “buttons” and launch the spiritual systems of interaction between people only to the extent that I understand what I am doing. I am totally connected to this action; I am in it and above it. Only to the extent that I comprehend all this, can I decide anything. But nothing else.

The spiritual world differs from our world in that in our world a person can perform ugly, unconscious actions, without understanding what he is doing. In practice, this is how we all act because the spiritual world is hidden and the consequences of what we do are hidden from us.

I do something and what comes out, comes out. Therefore, we are marking time and are very limited in our actions, which do not have any proper development because we do not see it, do not feel it.

But after crossing into the spiritual world, we feel completely different. We see the results of our actions, and if we fully agree with them, then we start implementing them.

A person starts to act according to the knowledge acquired and his soul grows. The soul is the knowledge of the upper world. Growing up, the soul gets the opportunity to act to the extent of the ever more acquired knowledge. The result is the development of the soul.

So the child’s strength increases gradually, according to the extent of the accumulated knowledge. After all, if he had received strength before knowledge, he would have harmed himself.

There is no such thing in the spiritual world. There, we get the opportunity to act only to the extent of the knowledge we acquire.

Therefore, today, no matter how hard we try, we will not get the opportunity to act in the spiritual world because we still do not have any knowledge about it. As soon as one receives some knowledge about the spiritual world, to the extent of this knowledge, he will be able to act. This knowledge will guarantee that we will not act badly.
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From the Kabbalah lesson in Russian 6/16/19