Come Empty

Question: Can you advance in spirituality only by suffering?

Answer: No. Advance by goodness, it depends on you. Sufferings come from Above according to the plan, and you, on your part, can move forward with the help of the Light. Raise MAN (a request for correction), and then the Light will come and draw you forward in goodness. If you don’t ask for it, you will advance by suffering.

There is the force of evil and the force of goodness. The question is do I ask to receive the good force that will draw me forward more strongly than the evil force that will push me from behind? The negative force operates according to the plan (in its time), and the positive force acts according to the desires and the connections in mutual guarantee. My role is to do my best so that the evil force won’t reach me and to place the good ahead of the bad.

Question: How can we do that if we all suffer?

Answer: All the friends are happy every moment of their lives, except for you. We feel that we are inside the Creator who fills and envelops us. We feel eternity and perfection; we swim in the growing abundance. So join us and so that you will place the good ahead of the bad.

Question: How?

Answer: Do what we want.

Question: What do you want?

Answer: We want you to dive inside and detach yourself from your egoism. A “friend” is someone who forgets himself. Why should you worry about yourself if there, inside, you feel bad? Leave the desires and the thoughts that make you feel bad and come empty. Here, you will get new thoughts and desires from us. The choice is in your hands.
[61968]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/2011, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

From Quavering To Bestowal

Question: You say that it is necessary to be in constant worry and fear before the convention. How do we raise such a feeling inside the group?

Answer: In The Book of Zohar it is said that there are two degrees in reaching the goal of creation. The first degree is fear, but it’s not a physical, animalistic fear for oneself. It is a quavering, a worry, about whether I can reach the quality of bestowal. We have to have that specific kind of fear, to ask ourselves: “Am I ready for that? Am I capable of that? Will I be able to reach that?”

If such a fear exists in a person, he relates to the friends, the group and even perceives the world in a completely different way. He feels constant internal worry in the search for the quality of bestowal. He wants to know how to find it, how to determine it, and what it is exactly.

If he is in a constant search to find that quality of bestowal inside and outside of himself, to see its examples, he gradually reaches the quality of quavering that is required of him. Then, from the quality of quavering (his worrying about revealing bestowal to some extent, feeling it, and letting it fill him), he comes to the quality of bestowal.

Thus, a quiver is a vessel, a condition, a desire, that has to be inside of us in order for us to receive a fulfilment inside of it. But what kind of fulfilment do we get? We get the ability to give.

Nothing else is required because as soon as a true intention to bestow appears in me, the upper Light instantly becomes revealed to me, and the Creator gives me everything He has. If I want to and can bestow to Him, I begin receiving from Him to the extent of my desire, my intention to bestow. The contact between us happens in such a way that I rise above egoism, and I am working in the quality of bestowal.

The more I receive, the more I give to Him. I become filled, receiving pleasure from everything I get from the “Host.” At the same time, I feel the enormous pleasure that I invoke in Him, how He enjoys me. In this way, we please each other.

It is a wonderful state when people feel that their common actions are in pleasing one another. Such a relationship, when I do everything to please you and you do everything to please me, is called love. It doesn’t matter which one of us receives or gives physically, whose it is, and to whom it is attributed. The main thing is our intention to fill one another.

It doesn’t matter that initially, the Creator had the pleasure and I had just the desire. What counts is that we come to a state where we feel love by filling each other with pleasure. It cannot be unrequited. Love is a mutual fulfilment of one another.

We have to come to that state. Let’s try reaching it at our upcoming convention.
[61928]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/6/2011

Two Paths To Attaining The Level Of “Adam”

There are two paths for attaining the level of “Adam”: the path of suffering and the path of the Light. Being in our world in the lowest state, we suddenly revealed a push that led us to the group, to the general system of uncorrected separate souls.

However, we have all the means: the teacher, the books, and the instructions to begin our correction and become similar to the system of Adam that exists in the world of Atzilut. If we unite and wish to be like Adam in order to bestow to the Creator and thereby become similar to Him, then from this general system of Adam, during our studies we receive the influence of the Surrounding Light or Ohr Makif. It gradually corrects us and connects us into one whole.

It all depends on the extent to which we try to gather into a group, study together from the sources, and strive to attain the goal of creation. These are the means for attaining our higher state. Altogether we must come to the state of Adam.

There are two paths of advancement toward the goal: the path of the Light, when we attract the influence of the Light, and the path of suffering, when we are in the group, but don’t really wish to advance. This creates great problems for us because as years go by, we don’t know what to do with ourselves and why we are not getting anywhere. Due to the fact that we aren’t using the means that are given to us, our advancement becomes slow, difficult, and lengthy. In other words, we advance by the path of suffering.

If we could only rise above ourselves and with clenched teeth strive towards each other, to see that only in this connection between us will we find a happy, perfect future, then we would instantly reveal the Light of correction within us, the Surrounding Light that connects us. In this connection we would instantly sense the upper world.

We lack an attack directed at lowering oneself and elevating the quality of bestowal and love for each other above ourselves. I hope that we will be able to achieve this at our forthcoming convention. We have all the necessary conditions to make it happen.
[61931]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/6/2011

Breaking The Protective Wall Of Indifference

Our spiritual vessel lacks capacity because we are afraid of the two opposite states: hatred and love. We avoid hatred and don’t want to feel it. The defense mechanism of the body doesn’t even allow us to truly hate.

And in general, we are afraid of hatred. Indeed, it is written that we need to love the friends, and yet we suddenly discover that we hate them. We don’t even want to think about it! Therefore, we block these questions that arise within us.

And love, for what do we need it? I don’t feel the need to love them. I can get along without it. I don’t let myself reach these two extreme emotions. And it’s possible to reach them only after investing much effort.

If I don’t invest in a child, he is growing up by himself somewhere in the yard, and I think to myself: “Well, what will be will be.” And then afterwards, when they put him in jail, I mutter to myself: “Well, what can be done?”

But if I invest efforts with him, from day to day, placing demands in front of him and worrying from the bottom of my heart about everything that happens to him, then I am filled with both love and hate. They both create the capacity in me for great worries. Everything depends upon my investment.

So what should be done if we want to arrive at the approaching convention with a big and expanding vessel? We once went on an excursion to the mountains in the north of the country, and it was almost impossible to climb the mountain without each other’s help. This is a very good exercise. Even games like these that seem “childish” help us to feel the togetherness between us. But now, before the convention, each one must search for how to invest his strengths as much as possible in what the group is doing.
[61510]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/2011, TES

About the Value of Love for Friends

Our attitude to the neighbor, to the environment in the world where we were born, which we feel inside of our egoism, is called the preparation period. When we go from love for the environment or love for friends to love for the Creator, this is already the time of the real work, when we acquire the qualities of bestowal.

As a result of acquiring these altruistic qualities and going through the degree of bestowal for the sake of bestowal, we finally attain love. But since this path leads to the attainment of love for the Creator, that is how the entire path is called.

And even though today we are working in our realm, in our world, with egoistic qualities, this is still considered work on love for friends, for the neighbor, even though all of it is very far from real love.

Love for the Creator, love for the creatures, and love for friends are the same thing because it is directly opposite to love for oneself. That is why it requires so many qualitative changes inside of a person. But the value of love for friends is very high because it allows us to acquire additional desires and sensations, to reveal the true reality we are in, meaning the Creator.

To the extent that a person values the Creator and the final goal, that is how important he considers the means leading to it, such as the exercises in the group, with the friends, and the studies because without these means he could never attain the goal.

On one hand, this entire world is imaginary and there is no one around me: not the still or the vegetative levels, nor animals or people. All of these are my own desires, which divided into these parts and therefore present the Upper Light to me in this way.

This is also how I must treat the group – as if nothing exists besides me. And everyone I feel around me: the environment, the group, the teacher, and even the Creator, are inside of me, in my sensation. I received this illusion that everything is outside so I could learn what the sensation of the neighbor means: so I could feel him, have relationships with him, and attain bestowal and love.

If a person perceives all of reality this way, then he does not err. Clearly, he still has to discern new details all the time and supplement the common picture with them, but he is already on the right path.
[62050]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/11, Writings of Rabash

You Are Not Alone!

Question: How can I connect with the group when I watch the lessons alone?

Answer: We see a large number of people connecting to us on the screen from all over the world. We are all together in one group. Don’t you feel it? You have to rise above the distance that lies between us because in reality, it doesn’t exist. We exist in one single field.

Our physical bodies are here on earth: They sit, walk, run, and jump. In the spiritual world there are only desires, and therefore, everything depends upon our desire. The corporeal world is completely imaginary and non-existent. It exists only in our perception, until we enter the spiritual world.

We will pass this state and forget it because it doesn’t really exist. This state exists only in our perception of reality as the lowest of all states, from which we must ascend. This perception exists only in our egoistic desire, but in reality, egoism doesn’t exist.

We were given this uncorrected altruistic state, the only one that exists in the world, deliberately so that we use it as a basis for rising to our first spiritual level. This is why our world is called the imaginary world because it gradually disappears from our perception. This world is not the reality. In reality our world doesn’t exist.

Let’s imagine our true state where all of creation exists as one collective body, one general system. In order to sense this system, we must strive towards it. It is said: “If you wish to be happy, be so.” A child can only become what he aspires to be. Life constantly forces him to want to grow, to take examples from adults, and to imitate them.

We have to do the same and take our example from Kabbalists. We must follow their advice, imitate them, and be led by their instructions instead of by our little childish minds. We must act without looking back, like a child who takes examples from the adults. Then we can be absolutely sure that we will succeed.

We have to create an example of a single global community. It makes no difference if you live in Los Angeles, Mexico, or Siberia. It makes no difference if you are alone because you are actually not alone! You are together with everyone! Try to rise above the computer screen and see and sense us. This is possible!

Let’s try to play it, and then we’ll attract an intensive influence of the Surrounding Light, the Light from a higher level where we are all already connected.
[61843]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/6/2011

Setting An Example For The World

The world needs to unite and is looking for a way to do so. In the meantime, unity seems unfeasible to it.

We see that Europe cannot unite: Different conflicts and new cold wars are going on there, only to keep the people busy somehow, to distract them. Lots of various egoistic motives arise, and people need to overcome them, yet they don’t understand or feel that.

Undoubtedly, it is important to set some kind of an example for the world and to introduce the altruistic force into it.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, we exist in the one and only desire that was created. We are a certain part of that desire, and if we fill this part with the attribute of bestowal, it will begin to spread gradually to all other souls, people, societies, counties, and cultures.

We are all connected to one another, and what happens in one part in the world ”infects” its other parts virtually. Our unification includes a great number of students from all the continents, nations, races, religions, and different mentalities. Since we are a great mass of people who are aimed precisely at a certain goal, we certainly make up one big, strong whole.

When, for example, our friends in New York go out to the streets, we see that people meet them with interest and ask questions and that university professors bring their students to talk with them and to learn about what our friends offer. This means that we are a strong influential group that has its own goal, outlook, and idea based on serious scientific data and not on mysticism or different beliefs. This group actually penetrates the different levels of humanity and gradually shapes it according to its own form.

We should definitely reinforce our dissemination because the world is about to collapse. Undoubtedly, we will eventually reach a state when people will begin to listen to us. We can already see that.
[61706]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 11/20/2011

http://www.laitman.com/2011/11/the-most-needed-profession/

Over the course of its entire history, humanity has never paid attention to the development of the personality, but only talked about it. There was a lot of talk about education in the Soviet Union, but instead of educating, they suppressed personalities.

Today practically half of humanity needs to work on the development of the personality, on shaping a human being. Not only children need to be educated. Over the course of his life, a person needs to be surrounded by an environment that will shape him, support him, and constantly guide him forward. This requires a huge army of people who understand their purpose correctly.

Everyone needs to learn about connections that benefit society and about complete mutual unity. People need to know how to create such a spirit in society, when you feel like you and others are absolutely one whole, when you dissolve in the society, stop perceiving your “I,” and only feel that there are “we.” This is highest human psychology.

According to the latest statistics, 10% of the world’s working age population are able to provide all the people in the world with everything they need. This includes construction, communication, food, delivery, distribution, clothing, services, and so on. So what will the other 90% do? 20-30% of them are children and elderly. But what about the remaining 60-70% of the population? They will all work in the area of upbringing and education, in other words, they will educate others and be educated by others.

An environment that takes care of a person’s inner spiritual development has to accompany him or her from the first till the last day of their life.
[61766]
From a TV Program “The Integral World” 10/30/2011

http://www.laitman.com/2011/11/baby-talk-from-the-higher-universe/

Question: If our entire purpose is to become like one, then why do we see the upper system separated into an infinite number of pieces?

Answer: Everything is done to bring us to be One. After all, this system originates in One and ends in One, but to cover this interval, it must go through us, work with us to give our desire to receive pleasure the form of bestowal.

This is why the upper system branches out and separates in time, movement, and space into a variety of combinations of states so as to perform this action in the end. This entire splitting and imperfection, and all the flaws that the system clothes in exist only in relation to us. Doesn’t a mother playing with her child appear silly and unreasonable if you don’t understand for whom she is acting this way? A grown woman suddenly starts talking like a baby, what is this really?

But we understand that she does it for the child. And naturally, this is a flaw in her because it is not suitable for her age and position.

The same can be said regarding the upper system: It doesn’t act for its own sake. The upper system is the world of Infinity. In general, there are no worlds without the creature. The moment the creature appears in the precise state when it awakens in the direction of the world of Infinity, that very moment the system of concealments, of weakened connections, which always follows the degrees of corruption, forms between the creature and Infinity.

The upper one is perfect, but it must lower itself to the level of the lower one so as to take care of it. But this is not like in our world when a mother takes care of her child. The upper system only begins to take care of us from our preliminary request.

Or it can awaken us secretly, as if acting from behind the scenes. But Kabbalah does not study processes that happen naturally, “in its own time (Beito),” since we will develop this way anyway. The only thing that interests us is “hastening time (Achishena).” This is why we study the system that we awaken ourselves.
[61530]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, TES