What Can You Bestow To People?

Question: Why is it necessary to connect with friends and it is not enough simply to be involved with dissemination to the public?

Answer: Our dissemination to the wider public is an action that comes from above to below. It is necessary to come to people and to guide them, to become their head. But in order to be their head I must be the bestower. How can I acquire the characteristic of bestowal if I am not connected with another ten, or a hundred, or a few thousand people like me, in conditions of absolute equality?

I need the group to acquire the characteristic of bestowal with which I will go out to the wider public. So together with the group, I need to be connected to the Light that Reforms. Alone, I am not able to be connected to the Light. The Light doesn’t bestow to each one separately, there must be ten people according to the spiritual structure of theKli. If there aren’t ten people, the Light will have nothing in which to be clothed, in which to be grasped; it will have nothing to fill. It is as if a Kli had only walls but not the tenthSefira, the Malchut, meaning there is no bottom of the Kli. So it is called a Tsinor (pipe).

Without the group it is impossible to attract the Light, the power that will correct you. What can you bring to the public if you are not connected to a Kli and the Light that fills it? How can you disseminate if you don’t have any connection with the origin of the power? You can just sell books or work on the Internet in dissemination of articles and there won’t be any problem in replacing you with some paid worker who just works for a salary. For if you don’t have Light, what can you bestow other than papers?
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/14

Regret That Draws The Light

Question: If everything is done by the Light, what exactly depends on a person in attaining the love of others?

Answer: A person has to try to perform certain actions. Not everything is determined by the Light, it also depends on the person. He tries, sees, and understands that he is incapable of performing them, and so he asks for help, cries out, and disagrees. This is where he participates in the process: in the work of the group on a person and in a person’s work on the group.

It is true that the Lights move the vessels, but the person and the group are combined and also the group with the teacher, and there is still the personal effort that a person makes in this combination.

If I begin to perform different actions in the group, for example, if I take kitchen duties although I don’t want to at all, but I do it because I am ashamed of others, because I want to be loved and respected, it means that my motives are egoistic.

Otherwise, I feel regret because I did it as a result of my ego and didn’t act by myself with the intention of love and bestowal. The feeling of regret comes later when I don’t work in the kitchen anymore, but during the study. These actions accumulate: my regret because I operated egoistically and also the actions themselves in which my ego helps me. This means that the evil inclination helps a person, “Pharaoh brings the children of Israel closer to our father in heaven.”

The fact that we see a great profit in spiritual actions and rush to perform them in expectation of a reward is actually thanks to the evil inclination. Without it we could not attain anything. But later I regret the fact that I did everything for my own sake and this sorrow draws the Light that Reforms. These two forces operate in us in complete harmony, as it says: “the Creator has created them one opposite the other.” And so we arrive from Lo Lishma, which means for my own sake, to Lishma, in order to bestow. The actions are the same actions and only the intention changes.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/14

A Contract With The Creator On His Terms

Question: Why does Baal HaSulam write in the article, ”Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” that in our generation we will no longer fear an indecent student, who will take the wisdom of the Kabbalah and sell the materials in the market to many people, but they won’t find buyers for this merchandise, as in their eyes, they have already had enough of it?

Answer: After all, you see how difficult it is to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah. Do people snatch up books of Kabbalah from our hands?  Even for free it is difficult to distribute them. If we were to distribute colorful pamphlets, they would willingly take them and would even pay for them. People are willing to travel distances in order to pray on the graves of the holy ones, but they aren’t able to invest a little time to study in order to understand the internality of what those holy ones wrote.

To sell the wisdom of Kabbalah in the market is called searching for ways to profit from what belongs to holiness. Selling blessings, red strings, etc., means behaving according to the desires of the market and not according to truth, for example, instead of giving morning lessons according to authentic texts, giving evening lectures for the public to talk about mysticism, about reincarnation, about the influence of the moon and magical powers of man.

Question: But we also disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah and make it compatible for the public?

Answer: When we go out to the public, we must adjust ourselves to their desires, otherwise there won’t be contact between us. But this is not to say that we cheat people and sell them lies. We are speaking here of lowering the level, like for a child. After all, you don’t lie to a child, you only want to teach him. Therefore you lower yourself and begin to teach him bit by bit. That is something else. It is called, “educating according to the way of the youth.”

By disseminating are we telling them something that is not true? It is true that we choose interesting things in order to attract people, but in our explanations, there is nothing that is not correct. We teach spiritual subjects that have no connection to corporeality. And if it isn’t connected to corporeal life, then no one is interested in it!

The material of creation is desire, and if a person has no need for spirituality, then it is impossible to interest him. He has no Kli (vessel, desire), thus there is no place for the revelation of the Creator. A place is a deficiency. One must clarify what a person’s real deficiency is, what his needs are, and with that reach out to him. People want money, security, and education. One must reach out to them according to these subjects.

It doesn’t matter in what way the Creator presents our problem. I must work according to the conditions that He gave me. For me, these are the best and most optimal conditions to attain the goal. That is the main point. I accept, as given, that the Creator created these conditions for me. If I begin to work in the factory, I don’t complain to the boss about why he didn’t set up work conditions for me according to the way I want them and why the factory wasn’t built on the beach. I come to work and accept all the conditions and agree to the salary.

Thus, it is not important if the dissemination progresses with more difficulty or ease. I only need to accept the field of work in a more correct manner. I need to clarify the deficiencies in a more correct manner, find a better system in order to turn to people, to correct, to adjust, and to change myself in order to approach this task in a better way. This is the only thing I need to worry about: to accept all the data and to adjust myself to them.

The moment I succeed in adjusting myself to people, a connection is immediately created between us, like between a plug and socket.  Suddenly I discover that I am exactly suitable for the task before me. The only problem is with me, in that I don’t adjust myself to the world, to the nation, or to the conditions. There are no stupid, hopeless students, but only teachers who are not trained enough.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Clarification Of The Letters Is Correction Of The Characteristics

Around us everything is determined. Only we are changing, and according to our inner changes, we feel as if the outside world, which is a projection of our sensations, has changed. Around me I see people, birds, animals, but all these images and actions are within me.

I feel the changes in me as an external reflection on the background of the white Light, that according to my internal characteristics portrays an external picture for me, a contrast of all the colors, all the forms, everything that we see: the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking nature and the connections between them. All of these are reflections of our inner characteristics on the background of the white Light.

The question arises, how can we see all of our internal egoistic characteristics that project a picture of an external world that is not that pleasant, but which the good higher management establishes outside of us? Which is to say, how do we see the attitude of the Creator, His Light, and not the black color on a background of the white Light?

For this, it is up to us to change our characteristics completely from negative to positive, from the characteristic of reception to the characteristic of bestowal. If we change ourselves, then we begin to read in the opposite way, we don’t pay attention to the blackletters but to the white Light, the white background between the letters. We see the forms of the Light that are created by the restrictions, which are called letters.

The letters are our Kelim (vessels), desires that have not yet been corrected. Gradually, as we correct ourselves, they are dissolved into the white Light.

The letters were created below the level of Bina. The lower part of Bina is the first nine letters. The following nine letters are Zeir Anpin. And the final four letters areMalchut. There are only twenty-two letters that symbolize the desires that Bina produces as the supreme desire (Gevurah Aylah) upper Gevurah, as the beginning, as the origin of the desires. Bina produces, Malchut and therefore the letters begin to be born from it.

The letters are reflected by the Upper Light that is found in Sefira Hochma on the background of Bina, which builds within itself the models of the letters and from there they descend into our world.

They have nothing in common with the letters in our world, because these are patterns of characteristics. Various combinations between the different characteristics produce words, and combinations of the words build sentences. These are not concepts and sentences in our world. Like a computer program, words, combinations of words, and sentences symbolize functions, characteristics, laws of how the mechanisms work; so even here, these are the laws of nature.

In this way we see the characteristics of the Light through the darkness. In the beginning we recognize the black letters, the outlines between the black letter and the bright background. And then, according to the correction of our characteristics, we can already move to learning not about the letters on the white background, but about the white background that is limited by the frameworks of the black letters.

This is a completely different science. It is possible to compare it to a computer program, where the negative becomes positive and vice versa, where the positive becomes negative within the program. If we do this within ourselves, then we understand that the letters are a desire for pleasure that prevents the extension of the Upper Light. And if we want to discover the characteristics of the Upper Light, to connect to it, we must rise above the letters to these characteristics.

We can ascend only if we transform the letters, the limitations, into white Light. But when this Light already drives from us, it is absolutely different from the Upper Light that filled all of reality before our particular participation in correction, because the background that supplies us with the white Light is a remnant, as the astrophysicists call it when they speak about a galaxy. In other words, this unique constant permanent radiation holds the entire universe itself.

The white background that fills the Malchut of Infinity is very weak. And we need to write our letters on it, gradually transforming all the desires into Light (ZAT de Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut). In other words, all the templates of the twenty-two letters are an expression of our characteristics. And so, from within the separate templates we begin to create infinite combinations of different characteristics. The recorded letters are like a computer program, they can express the characteristics of the world. Through this we install our program from the ground up.

They say that it is up to us to identify with the white Light; for the completion of our correction, the attainment of wholeness, is to be like the Light when there were no letters on it yet, meaning to be like the Light that exists on the level of GAR de Bina(Hochma, Keter), which is the GAR de Partzuf.

The letters are differentiated according to colors, sizes, and additional characteristics. So the Light in the world of Beria is red and in the world of Yetzira, green, and in the world ofAssiya, black.

To be like the white Light, to become equivalent to it according to its characteristics, it is up to us to transform all twenty-two letters with all the combinations possible between them into full equivalence with the Upper Light. And then all the black, green, red, and white letters are transformed into clarity, like the Light in the world of Infinity.[129657]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/14

The World Is A Harmonious Orchestra

We are all parts of one general whole and mutually complement one another as a result of the differences, contrasts, and oppositeness between us. This mutual complementing is obliged to emphasize and expose all the rejections we feel internally towards one another.

It is only by the right connection between us that we can find the ideal unity that will allow the revelation of all the differences and oppositeness between us, and on the other hand, the absolute whole, harmonious, and mutual cooperation between us. All the differences between us connect through our mutual love, mutual bestowal, and mutual agreement. When all the parts work together only for the sake of others, it makes their connection possible.

Question: How can we attain this realization?

Answer: It results from the great desire that each of us has to be filled with the Light. We have been looking for this filling, not only for many years, but also in our previous lives. Within a certain life, we stop and begin to dig more deeply into the question of how I can fulfill myself.

If we were all equal, we would be as one, but there cannot be much of the same thing. We can make many identical tables in our world, but there is no such thing in the spiritual world. There is no uniformity inside us, and we see it in people around us. It is thanks to our differences that such a global orchestra exists. In the meantime, it is not yet an orchestra, but a terrible cacophony (a combination of meaningless sounds). But if we bring them all together under the leadership of an experienced conductor, there will be a wonderful, coordinated, and harmonious orchestra.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

Breathing Life Into Empty Words

Question: Should we be afraid of demanding Light so we won’t use it for personal enjoyment and ask for darkness instead?

Answer: We are advancing towards a state where what now seems to us as darkness will become Light and we will want to adhere to this Light that we feel as darkness at the moment.

Comment: But this act is very difficult, exhausting, and leads to a feeling of powerlessness!

Answer: If you don’t nullify yourself, it really does seem like very difficult work.

Question: I am trying to nullify myself with all my might! What else must I do?

Answer: I can give you an example. Many years ago I was in a very severe accident. After it I suffered serious breathing difficulties due to the accumulation of blood in my lungs. I was not able to even take a few steps; I couldn’t get enough air and immediately began to breathe heavily. And when they finally told me that they were ready to operate on me, I ran into the operating room by myself without waiting for them to move me there and I lay down on the operating table, just so they would begin to operate on me as soon as possible.

Such a situation showed that I was ready to give myself over to the influence of the Upper Light. Understandably, this is an example of physical behavior for egoistic reasons, the desire to live and enjoy life. But we must nullify ourselves in regard to spiritual correction in the same way.

Question: It seems to me that the only place from which it is possible to get oxygen is the group. What can you do when you are separated from it and you lack air?

Answer: Oxygen is not just found in the group, rather, it is because of the presence of the Creator within it. It is necessary to grasp this very clearly; otherwise, we lose our direction.

In the meantime it is very difficult for us to hold onto the thought that our ultimate goal is to give contentment to the Creator. This is like a small child who is taught that it is necessary to obey his mother, to love her. And he obeys! He has no questions: Whether he loves his mother or not, he sticks to her naturally like every child does to his mother because of a simple egoistic animal instinct.

But when we grow up, we move away from our mother, and only after that, at a mature age we begin to understand and appreciate how much our parents did for us. We are ready to comprehend this. What this means is that a particular period of time must go by for a person to begin to get a taste for the words “giving contentment to the Creator.”

This period of development happens thanks to the Light, just as everything in our lives changes only due to the influence of the Light. It seems to us that years go by, we mature, and age does its work, but that is not so. We don’t understand that, in fact, there are no years at all, there is only the influence of the Light that causes us to feel the flow of time and change.

So now when we are talking about the necessity of being concerned about the Creator, it sounds to us like convincing a little child that he must love his mother. You simply have to make it possible for the Light to influence you more and more; try to increase its influence and raise your sensitivity to it through work in a group and dissemination.

And then you will see how a particular type of attitude will awaken in you towards words that were previously empty: “contentment to the Creator.” Who is this Creator? Where is He? And suddenly you begin to feel Him closer and closer to you. You don’t feel Him, but when they mention Him, particular feelings and a particular attitude are awakened in you. This sensation continues to expand; it touches your heart and moves you.

This sensation begins to grow: At one point, the mention of the Creator will evoke different sensations and emotions. This point expands, and within it appear different forms of relationships. That is how a new Kli, a new sense, is built in you.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/14

Unity Is The Purpose Of Evolution In Nature

If humanity does not accept the method of connection which the wisdom of Kabbalah is offering, then it will simply collapse. In the end, we will still realize the necessity for unity, but at the cost of horrible blows.

It is like children who do not want to listen to their parents who are urging them to be friendly with each other. After many quarrels and bruises, they will nevertheless gradually understand that it is impossible to play and develop alone and they will step onto the right path.

But such a path to connection is called the path of suffering. The wisdom of Kabbalahwarns us that this path encompasses nuclear world wars, enormous suffering, famine, and epidemics. The lack of our connection is evoking such changes in the climate of the planet that soon there will be another ice age. Kabbalists tell us that if humanity will not want to unite voluntarily, they will have to do it nevertheless, but only with a small handful of people who survive after all these terrible events, and they eventually come to unification.

The fact is that unity is a goal of the entire evolution of nature, not just people. All forms of nature need to connect together into one harmonious whole. In all parts of nature: in stones, plants, animals, and in people, harmony should prevail in such a way that all these levels complete and support one another. It is written in Prophets that at the end of correction of the world, a wolf will dwell peacefully with a lamb, and a small boy will lead them.

Having achieved such harmony, unity, connection, and balance, this world will transform from the multitude of different parts into one organism. And a body that senses itself as one whole begins to feel a higher level of its existence that is called the Creator, the upper force. The higher level of nature contains a program, as if it is a big computer, a brain that operates us and leads us to unity and connection, whether through a path of suffering, or due to us uniting of our own accord.

The first time that humanity began to feel the need for the method of unification was in ancient Babylon. Until then, unity was natural, since they lived as one nation sharing everything. Although there were many different communities, ethnic groups, and family clans in this ancient nation, they all lived in peace and harmony. Egoism was very small.

But then egoism suddenly grew suddenly, and at that time they began to feel how divided they were and how much they lacked unity. Thus they understood the need for a method of connection. All this happened about 3,500 years ago. Part of the Babylonians felt the need for this method, and since then the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how to do it, became revealed.
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From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

We Will Not Need Any More Drugs

Question: What will happen when we succeed in publicizing theIntegral Education method in the world? Will there be abundance in the world, will everyone have food, a comfortable life, and no need to work more than two hours per day?

Answer: We will get more than this: we will correct and refine ourselves in such a way that we won’t need to work at all. It’s not that machines will work for us, but in general, this physical world will evaporate, we will move on to a world of forces instead of a world of imaginary objects.

We will begin to use all of our knowledge, all of science and strength for the benefit of humanity, according to a mutual agreement that is accepted in society. A transition like this will happen gradually to the degree of the readiness of society.

Question: Which is to say, even the crisis in medicine and the incorrect usage of medicines will also be corrected and transformed into a good use?

Answer: There will be a good use of drugs, until their use disappears entirely. We won’t need the drugs themselves. But in the intermediate stages we certainly use only beneficial drugs. You will not be able to give harmful drugs and poison people whom you feel are like relatives.

Question: I don’t understand, how could the climate crisis disappear, the threatening and frightening phenomena that are liable to happen? Is nature also connected to our success in disseminating Integral Education?

Answer: If you establish balance on the “speaking” level, it will influence the level of forces on all levels under it. The whole problem is that we don’t feel these forces. If 150 years ago I had shown you an electric battery, you would not believe or understand that some kind of power can be found in it. In those times you would have understood the power of fire, a rod, dynamic energy, potential energy, but not electrical energy.

Today, you understand that electricity is powerful and you believe that a battery can operate a large machine. But if I had shown you a small box then and and told you that this is an atomic bomb that contains the power to incinerate all of Manhattan, you would not believe me. You would certainly laugh, because you know the size of Manhattan.

But today you already believe if some regular car arrives on Fifth Avenue containing a small box that explodes, all of Manhattan could turn back into a Native American village. A hundred years ago this would seem impossible, but today we have gotten smarter and a situation like this seems absolutely realistic.

Also, the same thing is relevant regarding more hidden forces; these are spiritual forces that also operate in the world. They are much more hidden and billions of times stronger than atomic energy. These forces don’t just “operate” on this world, they run it!

Question: Can they stop the glaciers from melting?

Answer: If we bring ourselves back into balance with nature, then all the levels found below us will also be in balance.

Question: And everyone will be able to see these forces?

Answer: Those who attain, those who are prepared for this internally, will see these forces. For this it is necessary to construct an internal device inside of you.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/9/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

The Sinking Of Science: The Past Pride Of Humanity

Question: Why doesn’t nature protect us from the abuse of external sciences the way the wisdom of Kabbalah is protected, so that it cannot be abused?

Answer: It is because the wisdom of Kabbalah is beyond theMachsom (Barrier), beyond the border to the spiritual world. If you transcend the Machsom, you can come near this wisdom and use it, but only to the extent that you acquire a Masach (Screen). But you don’t need a Masach in order to use all the external sciences. So why isn’t it forbidden to use all the external sciences the way it is forbidden to use the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Our sages restricted themselves and prohibited the dissemination of the wisdom among the people. Why wasn’t there such a natural restriction to begin with? Why can’t a person use the forces of nature according to his spiritual and mental development? If there were such a prohibition, we could never reach the recognition of evil, which is the purpose of the existence of our world. We have to allow the ego certain freedom so that people who are immersed in it will discover the evil in their existence and wish to ascend above it.

If the ego were limited, a person would have no choice and could not reach the recognition of evil. There would be nothing we could do in such a world. Imagine that we couldn’t do anything bad; in that case, it would be impossible to reach the recognition of evil. We would live like animals; like all the other levels of nature.

A person in our world is different from all the rest of nature because he uses his evil force in order to reach scientific achievements. The force of evil is in his heart, which means in his egoism, and by developing science he uses it for the sake of his ego because the desire to receive comes before the mind and controls the mind. This is the reason that if a person has an evil will; his mind becomes evil as well and he thinks about how he can use science for his own personal benefit, as if for his own sake, but in fact it is in order to harm others.

The purpose of the development of external sciences is to reach the recognition of evil. This is precisely what we exist for: in order to realize that we will never reach a good life through science or by excelling in anything. This is the meaning of the recognition of evil, when we discover that every phenomenon actually harms us because we use it egoistically and cannot do so any other way.

Science has always been the pride of mankind because we have developed it by ourselves and it is the fruit of our intelligence, of our internal development, both spiritual and mental. This distinguishes man from animals. But suddenly it turns out that science actually turns us into poor miserable creatures, below the animal level. This is called the recognition of evil, an outcome we cannot believe. After all the great efforts we have made for ages in the hope of being able to control ourselves and nature, we find ourselves humiliated by the evil in us.

I feel that a donkey sits on my neck and that I carry it on top of me. This is the reason that we don’t want to develop anymore and feel disappointed. We don’t regard scientists and philosophers with the same respect we had for them in the past. There is nothing sacred and no authorities for modern man any more, and we intentionally ignore anything that belongs to the human level, even if it is musicians and writers. We don’t care about anything because we are disappointed by everything and so we don’t expect anything of our development but harm.

This is the feeling that is now spreading in humanity. No one is impressed by different academic degrees such as doctorates in science, professors, or titles like president anymore. There is no respect for any position anymore and this is actually a good thing because it is a sign that we have finally reached the right discernment and have realized that we have used all the good tools at our disposal in order to bring ourselves to the lowest possible level.

Young people today don’t want to study, to work, or to take any responsibility. Ninety-nine percent of them prefer not to get up from the sofa as long as someone turns on the TV for them and feeds them. This is a good and natural thing because this is how we reach the recognition of evil.

There are two periods in the development of science: the first period in which our sages concealed the wisdom; a period which lasted until the 16-17^th centuries, until the era of enlightenment. Then the wisdom of Kabbalah came out of its hiding and after the Ari the whole world began to wake up. Time began to advance increasingly faster until we have reached the current crisis.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/09/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

A Pyramid Of Love

Question: What is the mechanism of making the switch from the love of friends to the love of the Creator?

Answer: You have to undergo a series of states in advancing along this path. The previous state doesn’t disappear in the transition from one state to another. Each time the new state is built on the basis of intensifying the previous state. This is how it is in spirituality; it is as if we build a pyramid: the higher we ascend, the more we have to enlarge its basis below.

If the pyramid is low, a narrow base is enough, but if we want to reach great heights, we have to build a very large base for the pyramid.

This is the reason that first we adhere to the Kabbalistic books and their authors, which is called being in adhesion with the study and the teacher. This gives a person the right direction.

Once there is a direction, its fulfillment begins: through the connection and adhesion with the teacher we reach a connection and adhesion with the friends and we build a society, an environment. When we fulfill the building of the society, we begin to discover the need for the Creator’s bestowal in this circle. All this is described in great detail in Rabash’s articles, but a person doesn’t always see that. A person can see what the books say only according to his need for it.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/10/14

Love Without Conditions

Real love has nothing to do with sex or gender, but in order to come to it, we need serious preparation.

After all, we need to learn to open our hearts, feel the heart of another person, and rise above our own interests in order to enter the desire of our friend, whatever that desire may be.

Here it does not matter who that other person is, whether a man or a woman. I need to rise above my egoism, which yearns to enjoy the entire world, and instead of this, I prefer to provide the entire world with enjoyment.

If this is what love is, then a question arises: Does love even exist at all in our world? It does not! Love exists only in the upper world, to which we ascend above our egoistic calculations and begin to fulfill another and enjoy each others’ joy.

Am I capable of enjoying the fact that I am fulfilling eight billion people? It is written, “love another as thyself.” That is, I need to love others more than myself, and in the same way that I currently love myself more than others. This is why we require a force that is higher than our nature that is capable of correcting our nature and can help us attain true love. 

Nature created me and instilled in me an egoistic desire to love myself. Now I am demanding my own correction from this nature, the Creator. I want to correct myself in such a way so as to love another without any personal interest, independently from whether I feel good or bad from it, and to be above it.

Since I am currently a complete egoist, I want others to treat me with this kind of love and to love me the way that I am, with all my flaws and egoism. Therefore, I should love others with such love without any conditions.

Reply: But I do not want to!

My Comment: This is why you need correction. You will discover in your friend the most unpleasant properties and actions with respect to you and your loved ones, and you will love him nevertheless. True love requires complete correction and covers all crimes.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/30/15

The Power Of The Cave Of Machpelah

Midrash Raba,”BeShalach“: The spies reached the region of Hebron where the cave of Machpelah is found, but they were afraid to go there and pray, since it was common knowledge that giants lived there. Only Caleb ignored the danger and decided to visit the holy place where our forefathers are buried because he thought to himself: How can I not be involved in conspiring with the spies? Moses’ prayers protect Joshua, while I need to ask the Creator for help. This is the reason that he went into the cave to pray. The Shechina also entered the cave with him in order to let the forefathers know that the time has come for their descendants to conquer the land. Caleb fell on the ground next to the graves of the forefathers and prayed for their mercy and for being saved from conspiring with the spies.

A person is always overcome by weakness and fear of the growing ego inside him, and so he asks for powers in order to resist it. Then the Pharaoh in him begins to awaken more strongly and therefore the spies are right when they are afraid and say that they don’t have to power to stand against it. Their only sin is that they don’t understand, don’t feel, don’t perceive, and don’t believe that they can gain power to overcome their internalinterruptions from above.

Question: What kind of power does the “cave of Machpelah” give Caleb who enters it?

Answer: The word “Machpelah” stems from the Hebrew word “Kaful” (double). There is a connection between Malchut and Bina in this cave. This is the reason that all our forefathers are buried there, since they have fully corrected their souls. They buried themselves egoistically by ascending to the altruistic level. A cave is a very special, closed place in the earth. The word “earth” in Hebrew (eretz) stems from the word “Ratzon” (desire), which means all of person’s desires are in a state where the attributes to receive and to bestow totally complement one another. Such souls reach the end of correction.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/8/15

The People Of Israel In The Land Of Israel

Baal HaSulam writes in the article, “Inheritance of the Land,” that we inherit the land of Israel when we are accommodated to it and become the people of Israel. This is not just coming to Israel, receiving citizenship, and that’s it, you are an inhabitant of Israel already. An inhabitant is  a person who has a place in this land.

“Eretz Yisrael” (the land of Israel – “Eretz,” from the word “Ratzon” – desire) is a desire to be together with everyone, because Israel is a gathering of people who are connected and united together, as it is written: “All Israel are friends,” otherwise, this is not called “Israel.” So we are found in exile, outside of the land of Israel, and we are not called the people of Israel. “The people of Israel in the land of Israel” is a concept of unity, union, and connection because only this makes it possible for us to be in a state called, “The people of Israel in the land of Israel.”

The question is: how can we attain a desire like this, transforming into becoming one whole? And how is it possible to have one desire? After all, each one of us is very different from the others. This is particularly prominent in Israel: there are so many perspectives, extreme points of view. It is like a pie divided into thousands and thousands of pieces. And what can be done with them?

Moreover, to the extent of our development, when we are passing through so many different states, especially in recent years, each one of us feels how much his ego has grown, how far he is from the others. Basically, instead of coming closer, we are moving further away from each other. So when and how can we transform to become, “like one person with one heart,” “all Israel are friends”?

We see that other peoples get along with each other, more or less. But arguments and problems appeared with us even at the moment that we gathered together in this land. And these problems didn’t disappear, on the contrary, they became increasingly bigger and bigger, and we don’t know what to do with them. So our problem is: how can we overcome our ego that bubbles and erupts in everyone? And we see how mutual hatred is out of control.

Here the wisdom of Kabbalah provides a solution. First of all, it explains why nature developed us in the direction of the growth of the evil inclination, the ego, the strengthening of outbursts of anger in every person in his attitude towards others who are not like him. From year to year, all of these revelations only increase.  There was a time when the relationships between the religious and the secular, the relationships between the secular themselves and the relationships among all the religious were more peaceful. Today the relationships are becoming worse and worse.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that this is a correction from nature. To advance a person forward in his evolution, nature develops the ego in a person, a desire for pleasure, aggression, as these tendencies are necessary for a person to grow, but only on condition that he knows how to use all the extreme things that are awakened in him. So the suffering that we feel when we cannot attain the desired is necessary. And if that is how it is, so how is it possible that each one, having a big ego, can ultimately put up with others and connect with them into a single whole?

After all, it is written that the people of Israel can achieve peace and be a strong people accepted by everyone, and the whole world will calm down in relation to us and will stop attacking, pressuring, and hating us, only on condition that we become like a single whole. So how can we transform to become a single whole, both internally and externally, if our ego is growing all the time? At first glance this seems contradictory.

Question: What does it mean that “the ego grew”?

Answer: From year to year I feel that I want more and more, that I am not prepared to accept others more gently, with understanding, with agreement. In every one of us the same perpetrator is concealed, but in some individuals these inclinations are found to a lesser extent and aren’t even felt; they think of themselves as good people; whereas in others they break out, demand action, and so they kill and burn houses. But in principle, this is everyone’s problem. There is no such thing where something happens to one person that is not found in others. All the tendencies, all the characteristics are found in everyone.

So here the question is: how can we ultimately reach correction? The correction is that we become so close to each other that everyone accepts the others, each one is included in the others, even more than today, to such a degree that I understand the sufferings of others, their nature, their necessary behavior, and I accept them as they are.

Question: But isn’t this contrary to our growing ego?

Answer: If we leave everything as it is now, then it will only be worse. There is something to think about here, and we see this from many studies by psychologists and sociologists. So as the wisdom of Kabbalah says, to reach mutual acceptance we need education, a comprehensive education for all of the people. Only with the help of consistent and constant education that encompasses all of the people, that puts all of the problems of the people and the nation at the top, we will discover and know not only how to complement each other, but also to become a single whole.

In this single whole are both the Left and the Right, there are secular and religious, there are gays and straights, there are all kinds of parties and factions; it doesn’t matter who or what. But specifically thanks to this unique and integral education that the wisdom of Kabbalah recommends, we learn not just to complement each other, to concede to each other; rather, we see that all of these differences must exist. For the ego that grew in each and every person became even more opposed to others and wouldn’t accept them to such a degree that each one is ready to kill the other due to unfounded hatred, as it was before in the time of the destruction of the Temple.

But with the help of education the wisdom of Kabbalah recommends to us as a correction, we see how important each one is, like ingredients in a salad.  Each one has his place, and specifically with the acceptance and not the correction of someone’s characteristics. Only education will help us; it knows how to connect us. And nobody needs to change; everyone needs to receive this education, so it is called integral. Then we will see how important each one is, and we will not think that if we were to correct someone things would be better for us, as sometimes happens in a family. Suddenly we would see that all of us are one family, everyone has his role and all complement each other. But education is what must give this to us.

Integral Education, which the wisdom of Kabbalah offers, can give us a vision like this, and then everyone gradually, with understanding, will begin to accept each other, will know why our ego grew so strong, for this is the higher program of nature that is realized in us in this form, and in any case, it obligates us to complement each other; otherwise, we will simply kill each other.

That is how we understand why our ego is growing all the time, so that our connection will be much more powerful, strong, conflicting, so that within this conflict we will create the united people of Israel, a single whole. Then we will feel that we exist as the people of Israel in the land of Israel, that we have truly returned to our land as one united people.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 8/2/15

From The Desert To The Land Of Israel

Midrash Raba, “BeShalach”: The spies went in the direction of Eshkol Stream, because the juice flowed like streams from the vine downwards in those areas. When they arrived there Caleb reminded them the instructions Moses gave them: to bring the juicy sweet fruits of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). The spies disregarded his words, because they didn’t wish to show how fruitful the land was. Then Caleb threatened them: if you don’t take the fruits I will pull out my sword and we will see who will remain alive! Knowing what a hero Caleb was and his great power, the spies obeyed him, but they chose fruits that were monstrous in size, in order to tell the people later that a land that bears such unusual fruits is suspicious and strange and ordinary people cannot survive in it.

The fruits that you receive when you begin to work with the ego with the intention of in order to bestow are the Light of Hochma. While the Light of Hassadim is Nefesh andRuach, here Neshama and Chaya and Yechida are also added. This means that these are great Lights in attaining all the elements of the creation, of the whole world, from the beginning to its end, attaining the Creator, and all His attributes as the upper force, adhesion with Him above the level of life and death, ascending to the level of the “head of the world of Atzilut.”

Not only is it impossible to resist the temptation of such pleasures, the generation of the desert, who lived on manna cannot understand what they need this for. If the Creator hadn’t instructed them to fulfill these actions, they would have remained in the desert because the attribute of Bina is so calming and feels like water because you don’t want anything else. You are happy with what you have. You only need manna in order to hold on and you don’t even need to take any special attributes or flavors from it. You are simply happy with little, not delving into anything, because you have a slight connection with the Creator, His slight illumination.

This state takes over and dominates you and doesn’t let go. It is very hard to overcome it and to begin to work with the ego again, with Pharaoh, with the problems, in order to transform them and thus attain the level of the land of Israel. It is terribly difficult!

This is the reason that the weekly section of the Torah about the spies is very dramatic. Imagine a man in his prime, who has a family, kids, and a normal life, when everything is fine and he is well off and happy with life and has no other needs and everything is simply wonderful. The need to leave the desert and go to the land of Israel is faith above reason that is in contrast to his state. The Light of Bina fills him to such an extent that it totally satisfies him and he doesn’t want anything else.

He must make extraordinary efforts and raise the importance of the Creator in his eyes as He instructs him to reawaken the ego inside him in order to rise above this level. What is more, He instructs him to do so despite his desire and his understanding, because it seems like a contradiction to the Creator.

A person finds himself in this unclear oppositeness, which he cannot stand. The only thing he can do is to advance with his eyes closed and this is what happened to the spies. They are in a state of Hafetz Hesed. They don’t want anything for themselves. Only Caleb constantly awakens them because he is more closely connected to the Creator and understands that this is the Creator’s mission, while their whole essence rebels against it.

You have to crush yourself internally in order to fulfill the Creator’s instructions.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/2/15

Hearing The Voice Of Nature

To hear the voice of nature, a person must come to our lessons.There is nothing to be done! The wisdom of Kabbalah has been waiting to be discovered for so many hundreds of years, precisely for this.

As of today, the wisdom of Kabbalah has been revealed in its practical and precise form, everyone can use it under the right guidance. Only its realization remains, which in itself is very simple. It is possible to describe it on one page: The discovery of the simple Upper Light that fills the simple egoism.

But to reach this simplicity, we must read, study, become confused and clarify this truth for many years. This is because simple things are the most complicated because our ego works against them. We must correct and mold the ego all the time so that it will be possible to see the truth through it. In the past this took years of difficult work, but in our time this has been simplified.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

Uniting Above All The Differences

Question: How can we unite above all our differences? After all, we are so different and it is hard for us to accept others the way they are.

Answer: It is hard for a person to accept others because he doesn’t have the general integral perspective. If he had it, he would see to what extent everyone complements each other and that everyone has his own special role: one is an engineer, another is a teacher, another a worker, and another a doctor, etc. And in addition, a person could see that the greater the difference between us, the stronger our special connection between us is, and that the wisdom of Kabbalah guides us to it.

When we are finally able to connect and unite, a special jigsaw puzzle will suddenly be created by our connection and it will begin to illuminate. This is what we call, to bring Light unto the nations of the world: When we show the world an example of unity. After all, the world is in a terrible low state!

Question: Based on what do we unite?

Answer: Based on what we see in our inner eye, how much everyone is needed in this puzzle that we have to put together correctly, as each one is an essential part in it and must be in his right place. What is more, we don’t correct anyone!

Baal HaSulam tells us in his article “The Arvut” that no one should be changed, it is necessary to find the right relationship with others. After all, the characteristics each has were developed by nature, and even under the influence of others, a corrupt environment, and will eventually develop according to the general upper leadership, and all these attributes are essential and vital.

When people connect, it is actually their different qualities that will create the general picture, one whole jigsaw puzzle, and by uniting correctly, they will be able to see what the nation of Israel is, how versatile it is to such an extent that all its members are opposite from another, but together they all make one whole, one united nation. That’s the way it actually is when they ascend and connect above all the differences.

Question: But what do all these different people have in common?

Answer:  The point is that together and only together they reach wholeness and a state in which they ascend above nature and feel that they are on the next level of human evolution. This is actually what humanity demands of the Israeli nation and it is the reason that they hate us, because they believe that we steal their good future from them. We have to attain this future and set an example for humanity, because the world doesn’t need anything but unity.

When we are not united, we even cause harm to nature and invoke natural disasters and afflictions, disturbing the balance on our planet. We are the ones who cause all that! It is because we are on a higher level of development than all the levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and human nature, and therefore affect the whole world and its ecology.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 8/2/15