Laitman.com

Don’t Stop Asking!

admin.bb — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:12:26 +0000

Question: If I feel that my prayer is egoistical, then should I stop praying?

Answer: The worst thing that you can do is to stop asking. It means you are returning to the animate state since an animal does not and cannot pray. We are talking about a real prayer, your correction, not tears or words from a book.

A prayer is the request to attain pure selfless bestowal. But how can you ask for altruistic bestowal if it is even more egoistical? It turns out you can only pray if it is not for yourself. As soon as you start asking for yourself, it is no longer spiritual because you are asking the Creator to satisfy your egoism.

A prayer to the Creator is only about the force of bestowal. This is how the prayer starts. Later on, you must determine why you need it, and what you need it for. I have to find out whether I want to give in order to receive even more for my egoism.

The entire 125 degrees that a person ascends are discernments of levels of prayer. I receive the Light of AB-SAG, which I need in order to assess the details of my desire. In each spiritual state, at each new degree, I discern more. Thus, I begin to understand why everything is necessary: this world, friends and foes, fools and sages, slaves and heroes, and those who are driven by lust and power. I need to examine my relationship with all of them and aspire for the Creator.

How do I know whether or not my prayer is selfless and that it doesn’t contain any personal interest or benefit for myself? I know it only when I pray for others. This helps me to assess my prayer. As a result, I am able to comprehend why the Creator made me and the entire world the way we are. All of reality is created and arranged for one purpose: for us to learn to ask the Creator correctly and to receive what we ask for – the Creator’s nature, the true quality of bestowal to replace our egoism.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/10, Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam

Your Protection From Above

admin.bb — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:48:45 +0000

Nature is divided into several levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. Likewise, mankind consists of them as do each of us individually. These four levels represent the four stages of evolution of our will to receive for our own benefit.

We are led through these stages by envy, lust, and ambition: from desiring wealth to desiring power, and from desiring power to desiring knowledge. This is how we evolve from level to level. The greater a person’s ascent, the more opportunities nature provides for him to err and deviate from the truth. In fact, the more advanced a person is, the more diverse qualities he develops which makes him more vulnerable and open to various influences.

The poor are mostly pre-occupied with their welfare and the money of the wealthy. The “heroes” who strive for power are dependent on the opinions of others, while the “wise-men” who crave knowledge are filled with doubts and keep looking for something as they are never satisfied.

The more evolved a person is, the greater the chance that he faces the challenge of being pulled by some foreign idea and away from the straight, short route to the goal, which is adhesion with the Creator. In the “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Baal HaSulam writes that the wholesome desire of the advanced people breaks and they start chasing wealth, power, and fame, thereby forgetting that it is the end of the “person.” At this point, only luck and “protection from Above” can help.

We know that there were people who possessed a true (spiritual) desire, but even they eventually expired under the weight of earthly pursuits. Therefore, you must scrupulously examine your desire: Are you absolutely certain that the goal is important to you, so important that the rest of the world doesn’t exist?

The Creator assists the person on his path, but only if the person lives in constant awe and is afraid to deviate from the right track. This spiritual fear brings him assistance from Above. In this state, a person understands that his soul is in the hands of the Creator.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

Begin A Dialogue With The Creator

admin.bb — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:29:03 +0000

The main requirement for a person is the proper reaction when the Creator addresses him. The Creator is primary. The Creator always begins. A person is the consequence, the reaction to the Creator’s influence on the desire. I am a reaction of the desire to the Light’s influence on it. The Upper Light comes to us from above through the four stages 1-2-3-4, HaVaYaH (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey). The created being has no other connection to the Creator.

Therefore, we should try to react properly to the Creator’s appeal to us; that is, to our perception of ourselves and the world at every given moment. We should recognize a constant dialogue with the Creator in our existence. He created a connection between the initial point of addressing us, the tip of the letter “Yod” (Kutso Shel Yud) and the last letter of HaVaYaH – “Hey,” in which we and our world are situated.

The connection between the initial point of the letter “Yod” and the last “Hey” can include all five worlds, 125 degrees, and then we do not feel a connection with the Creator. The connection is revealed immediately as we ascend to the first degree, number 125, Malchut of the World of Assiya. And then follow the degrees 124, 123, and so on, until we ascend to the World of Infinity, the uppermost degree.

And all this is within HaVaYaH, between the beginning of the letter “Yod” and the last “Hey.” This HaVaYaH (my connection with the Creator) starts to become more and more clear to me, as though the fog (the concealment) clears.

I achieve revelation of the connection, by continuously directing myself to the Creator in response to His influences on me, trying to connect everything to Him, according to the principle “There is none else besides Him.” How can one react in the most proper and effective manner? The most effective reaction, directed precisely at the Creator in any circumstance, is to try to carry out a common action of “appealing to the Creator” together with the friends.

However, the appeal is only effective if it is directed back through the HaVaYaH. This is achieved by reading authentic Kabbalistic sources. When you read about what happens in the HaVaYaH, you direct Malchut to Keter; that is, you direct your unification to the source.

To the extent that we unite, we exist in Malchut. This is only if we come together. And as we read The Book of Zohar all together, we desire to launch the HaVaYaH back through the reflected Light to its beginning, the letter “Yod.” After all, Kabbalistic books only tell us about the connection between Keter, “Yod,” and Malchut, the lower letter “Hey.” Therefore, when we read without the revelation and understanding of the connections in the HaVaYaH, we rouse this connection onto ourselves and cause this system to be revealed.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/10, The Zohar

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 07.30.10

bb_editor — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Shamati #15 “What is Other Gods in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Lech-Lecha (Go Forth),” Item 237
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” Item 70
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Article “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Its Essence”
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The Work After The Congress

admin.bb — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:55:16 +0000

Question: If you were to choose from the three different times: the time leading up to a Congress, the time during it, or the time after the congress, which is the most effective time?

Answer: One period is impossible without the others! If I don’t receive great inspiration during a Congress, and if I don’t descend after it, then I will have nothing over which to ascend and no strength to ascend. I am talking about an ascent to the next degree.

Every ascent is based on 1.) receiving the strength from the environment, receiving the greatness of the goal and the Creator during a Congress, 2.) revealing new egoistic desires (descents) right after a Congress, and 3.) making the effort to rise above the desires and finding the strength that we receive, drawing closer together, getting involved in the routine of the work, and preparing for the next Congress as quickly and intensely as possible.

Before a Congress we are constantly preparing ourselves for the forthcoming meeting; we get ready to unite. We prepare to receive an impression from such a great number of people around us during the Congress so that they can influence each of us as much as possible, and so that everyone will be in awe from the impressions they receive. After all, the only freedom of will consists in absorbing the strength from the environment.

The influence of the environment is the only means for a spiritual ascent. The more inspiration I absorb from the others during a Congress, the greater the degree that I can then ascend to by realizing this inspiration. It should become my own, constant sensation of belonging to the common desire (Kli).

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

Kabbalah Moments: The Next Degree Is Infinity

bb_editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:00:37 +0000

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Tame The Roaring Flood

admin_bb — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:29:44 +0000

Question: Every time I try to focus on the lesson, I discover that I am distracted by countless irrelevant thoughts. What should I do?

Answer: Everything comes from the Creator and is called the “awakening from Above” (Itaruta de-Leila). If the Upper Force instills bad thoughts in you along with the good ones, it is similar to a flood that carries a lot of filth in it. When you attempt to filter the water, the debris rises to the surface. However, it is necessary for you to filter out the “filth” and realize what you are carrying. Therefore, drawing Light that Reforms brings out the sensation of “filth,” showing you how much you still need to correct.

A Kabbalah beginner does not understand the reason behind it all and gets confused; he yearns for the good but experiences terrible states. He does not yet have the inner power to conquer them, nor does he comprehend what is happening. Why then should he undergo such conditions? It is necessary because “no one is as wise as the experienced.” Through continuous study, a person will feel that all such states are necessary.

It can be the other way around, that a person does not experience “filth,” non-spiritual desires and thoughts. This is a sign of the inability to draw the Light that Reforms, which discerns the uncorrected desires that one needs to acknowledge as “bad” and in need of correction. One must ask for their correction, not their annihilation.

Hence, when we read Kabbalistic texts and feel bad, it is a sign that we are on the right track, and that the Torah serves us as the “potion of life” because it reveals our inner ailments that we need to correct. If, on the other hand, we felt good, confident, proud, and superior, it would be a sign that the Torah serves as the “potion of death,” allowing us to slumber in our egoism and feel more and more satisfied.

Thus, we should rejoice that during our studies, our inner “sinners” become disclosed. This means that the Torah is showing us and correcting our evil; indeed, as it is written: “I created the evil inclination and granted the Torah to correct it.” This is how a person can verify whether he is moving in the right direction toward awareness of his evil egoism within.

The longer we study, the more aware we become that evil resides within us, and our priority is to correct it. With regard to the rest of the world, we should pray for its awakening and basically justify it (“Ladun Kol Echad Le Kav Zhut”).

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/10, The Zohar

Kabbalah For Beginners “There’s None Else Besides Him” – 07.29.10

bb_editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:49 +0000

Kabbalah TV Channel 66’s Kabbalah for Beginners, “There’s None Else Besides Him”
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Everyone Can Do It

admin_bb — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:34:02 +0000

Question: When a person is surrounded by the big group where he is supported and cared for during his downfall, it is great. But what about the others, who are separated and live far away from the nearest Kabbalah group, in spiritually foreign surroundings such as in Europe for instance?

Answer: We think that physical proximity has a positive impact on spirituality, but it isn’t necessarily so. If a person exerts great effort in order to progress and achieve contact wherever he is, he always gains more than when he moves faster and closer to where the others are. It is always more useful to try to connect with the others from a distance for at least six months. We should not focus on the bodies that surround us, but should try to see the spiritual states through them.

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

Let’s Keep Ascending Higher

admin_bb — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:19:15 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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