Laitman.com » Love

Sweet Is The Longing Of The Heart

bb_admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:05:55 +0000

Question: Is our suffering in this world not enough that we have to feel more pain striving for the Upper World? It looks like a person doubles his suffering when he embarks on a spiritual journey, doesn’t he?

Answer: That is correct. Your suffering becomes greater so that you cover this spiritual distance faster! What else could possibly give you a start? However, we do not receive suffering from Above, but are expected to find this lovesickness on our own. The Light that Reforms evokes our heartfelt longing for it, and we start moving ahead motivated by the latter. This is not the same as the suffering of this world, where we are like animals who are being beaten and don’t understand why, and simply keep running from the blows.

It is up to us to start acting. But we think, “Oh well, let’s wait until the help from Above arrives and takes care of everything.” What kind of help do you think is going to come? Only the suffering in this world will force us to advance!

Alternatively, if you connect to the group, you will receive spiritual suffering and will start advancing sooner. It will be a sensation of a spiritual void, the longing of the heart, lovesickness. Then you won’t need to be driven by the corporeal pain. If you make an effort to advance at the speed that is assigned to you, according to your original spiritual genes (Reshimot), it won’t be necessary to drive you “toward happiness with a rod.”

It is true that when you ascend so high that you can connect with all the other souls, you start feeling pain for them like a mother suffers when seeing the pain of her children. This is why we think that Kabbalists also suffer in this world.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

From Hate To Love In An Instant

bb_admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:24:51 +0000

Question: The Zohar causes so much darkness and evil to be revealed. How can a person ask for love while seeing all the evil? How can I ask for good in spite of the evil?

Answer: We think that there is a great distance between hate and love, but this is not the case. First of all, they are the same thing because everything occurs in the same desire. When you go from one to the other, you do not move through space. Rather, the Light performs a change inside you causing you to move from one extreme to the other in one instant

When you look at things without the Light, you do not see anything and all is presented to you as darkness, negative feelings, and hate. However, as soon as there is Light, you reveal goodness, love, and sweetness. There are no prolonged actions here. You “turn on” the Light, and it immediately changes everything. The whole picture of reality instantly changes.

Right now we are in darkness, and that is why we cannot believe that the Light can emerge in one instant. However, when it emerges, it always happens very suddenly, like during the exodus from Egypt.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/10, The Zohar

Ascending The Levels Of Love

bb_admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:26:31 +0000

Question: How does our desire to unite together more become expressed: in thought or in sensation?

Answer: The desire for greater unity is expressed by my desire to be in the common sensation where there is no distinction between “me” and “others,” and instead there is something that’s shared. However, I don’t know what it is. I don’t want to feel my “self”; I want to feel “us” where there is no division into “self” and “other.” This is a new reality that we produce.

On that higher level which we produce through our efforts, the desire is not divided (compared to our current level). It’s as if many drops of water come together into one great drop. Then there is no way to tell apart our previous state where each of us was separate.

It is impossible to express this accurately with our language, but it’s as if I lose myself. My “I” disappears. On the next level it turns into “we.” However, in relation to a higher level yet, our division gradually becomes revealed again.

After we attain the higher level where we merge together into one drop, new desires or new layers of egoism start being revealed in us. Where do they become revealed from? From the AHP of the Upper Level, which illuminates them. Then I begin to reveal that I am actually not connected with others, that I am alone and they are as well. This happens in our regular lives when you want to unite with someone with your entire heart and soul, but a moment later you already start to experience different calculations that divide you.

The same thing happens in spirituality, but there it happens because the Upper One starts to illuminate your flaws in this state. You thought that you had attained unity, but now you are being shown that it’s not true. You are once again divided from others by egoistic calculations and hatred, even though you thought that only love reigns among you.

The same thing happens in our world: We think that we always replace love with hatred and hatred with love, but that’s not true. The fact is that these are different levels. A greater ego is constantly revealed to us and therefore on every level evil always turns to good, and then good turns into evil, and that is how we advance.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/10, The Zohar

Kabbalah Moments: Preparation For The Congress

bb_editor — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:00:07 +0000

Kabbalists On The Essence Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 19

admin_bb — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:18:02 +0000

Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Philosophy loves to pride itself on understanding all the negatives [does not state who He is, but rather who is not Him] about His essence. However, the sages of Kabbalah put their hand to their mouth at this point [when the Creator Himself rather than His manifestation with relation to us is being discussed], and do not give Him even a simple name, for we do not define by name or word that which we do not attain. That is because a word designates some degree of attainment [based on the perception of the attained object in our senses].

However, Kabbalists do speak a great deal [to the extent of the researcher being similar to the properties of the Light] about His illumination [His manifestation with relation to us] in reality, meaning all those illuminations they [researchers themselves] have actually [practically, in sensations] attained [within themselves], as validly as [our] tangible [world, meaning the reality which we sense from the beginning through our inherent qualities] attainment [of objects and properties].
- Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

An Ugly Beauty

bb_admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:14:44 +0000

When we choose the quality of bestowal, "the ugly beauty" (as it appears to our egoism, a state called Tshuva Mi Iria), then after living with her for a while we start to experience the state of love (the 15^th of Av), reception for the sake of bestowal (Tshuva Mi Ahava). We have just completed the Mega Congress where by virtue of our efforts we revealed the "bride," who is beautiful for attaining the Creator yet ugly to our egoism.

However, just as it often happens in life, now that the “wedding” is over we are revealing problems since egoism is always growing and changing. It is becoming apparent that you married an ugly and quarrelsome woman who is not satisfied with anything you give her. However, in reality she is demanding bestowal; but since you are being influenced by egoism, you are losing inspiration and desire to fulfill your egoism.

You will have to work by "faith above reason" (in bestowal against egoism) in order to understand that in reality it is precisely the selfless desire to bestow that is beautiful, wealthy, and dignified. It possesses all the good qualities, only you don’t see that!

Let’s hope that we will go through this new phase of egoism’s growth and attain correction. Then, instead of seeing the "poor and ugly" Malchut, we will see all of her beauty, which will be revealed in the quality of bestowal. This state is called "the day of love" (the 15^th of Av).

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/10, "15^th of Av"

Boundless Love

admin_bb — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:01:55 +0000

A question I received: How can we maintain within ourselves the need to bestow?

My Answer: The need to bestow that stems from love never dies out. You’ll never be able to say “Enough!” On the contrary, the more you give, the greater your need to bestow will be. Otherwise it’s not love. If love is limited to a certain level beyond which you won’t go, if you feel that your love has boundaries, then it is not love.

Your wife can explain it very well to you. Women can feel these things naturally. A man tends to limit his love because his spiritual root is the force of the anti-egoistic screen that dictates to him: “Here is the limit and I am not ready to go any further.” In contrast, a woman who wants to experience a man’s love can’t understand how love can have boundaries. This is instilled in our nature.

Pleasure can never extinguish the desire to love; it only awakens an even bigger desire. When you give to your children, you don’t tell them: “Enough, I won’t give to you anymore.” Perhaps you can’t give more because of external circumstances, but you cannot voluntarily restrict giving to your own children.

Love revokes all boundaries. We don’t understand what true love is. We think that it is about filling up our own stomach, but love is fulfillment of somebody else’s desire. It’s an aspiration to satisfy another person. I sense that this is about another person (not me); I feel the distance between us. Yet, I want to fulfill this person.

We are talking here about a spiritual Kli and the science of Kabbalah rather than about hugs and kisses. All of nature acts in accordance with this principle of lack and its fulfillment; love rules over everything. Everything in nature unites, draws closer, or, on the contrary, moves further away from each other according to this principle. This single force acts in nature since the Creator is the power of love. That’s why there is nothing else besides love and hatred (that is, love with a negative sign.)

“Love your neighbor” is not just a beautiful slogan, but rather a law of nature. To fulfill another person’s desire means to sense ourselves beyond time, motion, or space, beyond all limitations of this world. It is to enter spirituality. By doing so, we attain eternal life. If not, we live like animals and are restricted by our material body in this world.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

True Or Egoistic Bestowal

admin_bb — Sun, 09 May 2010 06:46:18 +0000

A question I received: In this world, we receive egoistic pleasure from giving. What is the advantage of being in the Upper World if we receive pleasure from bestowal there as well?

My Answer: If we were allowed to enjoy bestowal in this world, then we would be giving all the time. The question is why do we give in this world? It is in order to receive pleasure. This is the difference between this material world and the spiritual world.

In this world people are willing to give up everything just for a moment of pleasure. Enjoyment is everything and the action itself does not matter to us. When we love somebody else, we are ready to give him or her everything including our life. This is because there is a mechanism inside of us that secretes a love and pleasure “drug” inside us. But if we don’t feel love, then we are not willing to give because we won’t feel any pleasure from it.

Now, here is the question: Do we need love to give or to feel enjoyment? This is the difference between the two worlds.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/10, Article “Matan Torah”

Like A Loving Mother Giving To Her Child

admin_bb — Fri, 07 May 2010 23:31:06 +0000

The Creator is a pure desire to bestow. He receives pleasure from bestowal. He creates the creature, the desire to receive, so as to bestow to it. Does the Creator feel pleasure from bestowal? He does! Does He bestow in order to feel pleasure? No! He receives pleasure from the very fact that He wants to bestow. We say that He suffers because of our reluctance to receive His pleasure, but it’s purely our limited perception whereby we perceive His “suffering” relative to ourselves.

We, on the other hand, are the desire to receive, and our joy lies solely in reception. This desire cannot be erased within us; it only needs to be corrected. The corrected desire will take pleasure in being fulfilled, but its fulfillment will come in fulfilling another.

How is it possible? Will I be fulfilling myself? Yes, but only on account of fulfilling somebody else, and in so doing I will feel as though I’m fulfilling myself. I’ll be like a mother that fulfills her child and takes pleasure in that very act. But a mother loves her child, and so it follows that I too need to acquire this love. If I manage to love the desire of another, then everything it receives will be my fulfillment as well. Love will unite our desire into one. Moreover, love will make the desire of another more important to me than my own, inherent desire.

Therefore, all that I need is the power of love. And this power can only be received from the Creator, for He is the one Who loves. Love is His inherent quality. Ask Him and He will share it with you. You will be able to love as well, as love will rise over all of your hatred.

Herein lies the giving of the Torah (Kabbalah): a power comes from Above, unites your desire with those of others, and you begin to love them like yourself. “Like yourself” means even more than yourself. Your love is so great that it obligates you to care for others before even caring for yourself. You become like a mother who’s prepared to give her child everything in the world.

On the animate level such behavior is compelled by nature (the Creator). But on the human level, we must reach this state on our own.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

Rising To Infinity Along The Steps Of Love

admin_bb — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:28:35 +0000

If we were to bestow to the Creator due to the desire that He had instilled in us, could there be love more superficial than that? Essentially, we would love Him because He made us love Him. Love is possible only if the desire originates in us.

That is why it wasn’t an option to create us with a ready desire to love Him, for that would have been disgusting. Love must be completely genuine in its root, it must blossom in an empty space, absolutely selflessly and independently of any received pleasures.

How can we attain such an absolute, pure, and eternal love, utterly selfless without demanding any reward? How can the creature attain the same attitude toward the Creator as He has for it? This desire, the need for bestowal, must be developed by us. Herein lies our entire development from this world and to the World of Infinity: to attain the need for love.

Because we develop it within ourselves, this need for love does not disappear. We hold on to this lack, thanks to which we can love and bestow. For this reason, the spiritual vessel can never be overfilled. It cannot be filled; we merely cover it from Above, as it is written: “Love will cover all sins.” The act of covering only increases the lack. We cover it, but it keeps growing, continuing to blaze brighter and brighter.

That is why the process we undergo cannot be any different, as it stems from the end goal. Indeed, if the Creator wishes to bring us to mutual love, the same love He has for us, then there is no other choice. The entire spiritual ladder has already stretched from the end point to us, to the beginning of the path, and we must continue our journey all the way to the end.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

The Law Of Upper Love

bb_admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:29:12 +0000

A question I received: I came to the science of Kabbalah, the science of reception, in order to receive. But suddenly I see that it teaches about how to increase one’s desire. Where is the reception here?

My Answer: This is reception. I receive a special force from the Creator called “love,” which is something completely unknown to us. With the help of this force I attach all the desires existing in reality to myself. They all become my desires and I receive them along with their fulfillment.

This is called the science of Kabbalah, which is about how to receive desires full of goodness. They are all yours. All you need is to feel love for them. Then you will discover that they are in the state of the End of Correction, and all of it is yours.

When you acquire the force of love, you start to feel the desires of your neighbor better than he does, and you then fulfill him according to your sensations. It’s like a mother feels what her child needs.

In spirituality the Upper One knows best what the lower one needs. The lower one simply screams, revealing his desire to you. But you know all the components of his desire, even though he does not. That’s because you are the upper one. If you are the one who bestows and you fulfill him, then you are the upper one in relation to him and you know more about him than he does.

This is the law of upper love, which does not have anything in common with the notions we attribute to the word “love” in our world.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, “Matan Torah”

The Animate World Versus The Human World

bb_admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:36:02 +0000

Rabbi Akiva said, “Love your neighbor as yourself; that is the great rule of the Torah!” Why is love for one’s neighbor a great rule, the foundation that categorically divides us into two halves: animate and human? If I love myself, then I am an animal, and if I love my neighbor, then I am human. As an animal, I only feel this material life, but when I begin to love others, I feel the Creator and the spiritual world.

Spirituality is felt inside the force of love that is called my spiritual vessel or Kli. Right now my vessel is egoistic love, the desire to love myself. The world I feel today is felt inside this desire. In this egoistic reality, I reveal only that which is good or bad for me.

I reveal the world and the entire diversity of its shades only in relation to myself. All of the colors and sounds in the world depend on what is useful to me and what is harmful. I am afraid of one thing and I desire something else. I repel one thing and attract something else. Every influence is revealed inside my senses, which operate in relation to my love for myself. Therefore, I don’t see anything that does not pertain to my self-love; I simply don’t perceive its existence.

The fact is that I am facing infinity, but I don’t feel it. In relation to me it seems not to exist at all because it does not make me feel good or bad. Egoistic love determines the volume of the universe that I feel. Thus, out of the entire World of Infinity, I feel just a tiny sphere, my world.

When I start to come out of myself, then in my previous desire I feel what is good for others. In other words, I start to love my neighbor. This is called the Upper, spiritual world. When I reveal it, I reveal an entirely different universe.

If I tune out of egoistic thoughts about myself, even in a purely material sense, and start to think about my friend, then I will feel a completely different world, with completely different problems and solutions. When I reveal what is good for someone else, then in relation to me it will be called the Upper, spiritual world. That person will see the same thing as his material, egoistic world, but when I desire to dress into his reality and reveal his world from within him, it will turn into my spiritual world.

This exercise enables me to come out of myself and feel the Creator. I will feel Him inside of you, as it is written, “The Creator dwells inside His nation.”

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/10, “Matan Torah”

Let The Light Unite Us

admin.bb — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:02:14 +0000

When we gather, instead of thinking that we want to unite with the others, we need to think about wanting the Upper Light to unite us. Without connection with the Upper Light, any other unification will prove to be false and will lead to even greater hatred. This must be made clear to the people around us. Otherwise, it may seem that we’re talking about love and friendship in just the same way as many other people and organizations do in the world.

We’re not talking about the same thing that is understood in our world as “love.” Love that we are talking about is the result of the action of the Upper Light. Love will be born as a result of this action. At present, we don’t really know what it is; we just use the same word for it. In reality, love is entirely different from what we imagine it to be right now.

To feel love, we want to feel that the Light is between us. It’s the force that connects us into one whole. “You and me” are only a means for this force to be revealed. What is the real reason for me to be by your side? I need you for the precise purpose of revealing the Creator. I use you for this and vice versa. Only when the Light comes and creates the connection between us will I feel what it means to love you and not before. If it seems to me that I love you before this happens, it’s just a delusion.

An Inner Act Of Kindness Is Good For You

bb_admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:15:54 +0000

In the News (from EurekAlert): “‘Life force’ linked to body’s ability to withstand stress” – Our ability to withstand stress-related, inflammatory diseases may be associated, not just with our race and sex, but with our personality as well, according to a study published in the July issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. An emerging area of medical science examines the mind-body connection, and how personality and stress contribute to disease in the aging body. Long-term exposure to hormones released by the brains of people under stress, for instance, takes a toll on organs. The current study found that extroverts, and in particular those high “dispositional activity” or engagement in life, have dramatically lower levels of the inflammatory chemical interleukin 6.

My Comment: An inner act of kindness “from self to others” allows the body to get rid of harmful (physical, nervous, emotional, spiritual) symptoms and let go of them. It is beneficial to give and love!

Let Us Open The Faucet Of Love For Each Other

bb_admin — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:27:58 +0000

A question I received: You say that if a person has a natural inclination to help the needy, this is not the same as loving others. Can you please explain what “loving others” means then?

My Answer: “Love of others” is a special quality that comes to a person during the correct study of Kabbalah. This quality enables a person to sense the interdependence between everyone and the need to fulfill others through himself. It is similar to a lover who wants to fill the object of his desire.

“Love of others” begins from its opposite – the revelation of hatred, rejection and separation from others. This is how one first feels when he reveals his complete dependence on others. It is as though the faucet that dispenses the air you breathe is under someone else’s control. One reveals that he is completely and utterly dependent on the whole world, and everyone is dependent on his kind behavior toward them. He reveals that he is the only one who determines his state by having good or bad relationships with the world.

Every day, this sensation of dependence grows and one becomes more reliant on others in order to receive basic necessities such as water, bread, work and security. This is how the global, integral system is revealed to us, and we start seeing the Butterfly Effect in action. At the same time, we also reveal our hatred toward each other and that our egoism produces this hatred in all people of this world!

The image of utter interdependence among all people that is being revealed to a person makes him desire to “open the faucet” for everyone. And this is what “love of others” is.

The Mathematics Of Love And Hate

bb_admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:04:57 +0000

Hate for the fellow man is not expressed as the sensation of hate, but as the desire to use him for your own good. This is the feeling we have until we turn it into love – the desire to fill the other instead of myself.

My teacher Rabash used to say: You can picture yourself as a zero and your friend as a one, or you can see yourself as one and him as a zero. This depends on your desire – whether you desire to use him for your benefit, or to use yourself to benefit him.

To the extent that you desire to fulfill the other, the Light of bestowal and love will fulfill you.

What Will A World Of Infinite Love Be Like?

bb_admin — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:03:24 +0000

A question I received: If people learn to live in our world according to the law, “love your neighbor as yourself” and will defeat their egoism, then what will our world look like? After all, corrected souls do not return to this world.

My Answer: The entire corrected humanity will rise as one whole to the state of the World of Infinity.

How To Ensure A Successful Relationship

bb_admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:20:58 +0000

Two questions I received on love and relationships:

Question (from a woman): Why is it that before we find our match, we have to go through so much pain and disappointment?

My Answer: It is because you use the wrong criteria to look for a partner. Your spouse should be someone you understand, someone similar to you, with a similar upbringing and childhood, and you should remind him of his mother. Everything else will fall into place throughout the process of living together. Mostly it will happen when you forgive one another and compromise with each other.

Question: There is a couple starting out their relationship. Both study Kabbalah. They now have the opportunity to create the right connection between them. How should this occur? How can they aim their relationship toward the goal?

My Answer: Tune into the studies together, discuss them, and read articles together. This is what Rabash advised for couples.

Unity – The Force Of Salvation

bb_admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:45:38 +0000

We have reached a state where it is essential for us to unite. However, we mustn’t unite in order for each one of us to feel better, but because by doing so, all of us together will feel better.

In the past, we were drawn to each other because of the benefits we received from collaboration. This is why we have developed a global connection among all the people in the world. We produce something in one part of the world, sell it in another part of the world, receive something else from a third part of the world, and all of this affects yet another part of the world. This is how people fulfill their egos, their individual desires to receive pleasure.

Now, however, it is time for us to switch from the egoistic connection between us to an altruistic one. We mustn’t do this in order to profit, but in order for everyone to benefit. We have to shift from a connection that’s “for the sake of receiving” to a connection “for the sake of giving.” We have to unite for the sake of the opportunity to bestow.

Of course, this sounds absolutely unrealistic, but Nature will oblige us to attain this kind of unification. Therefore, we will be better off if we take initiative and learn Nature’s law of universal bestowal and love. This law is a result of the fact that all of Nature is a single body. If we will, at the very least, begin to talk and think about this, then our thoughts will do all the work!

The science of Kabbalah explains that none of us has the power to attain spirituality on his own. Alone, we cannot attain and become filled with the quality of bestowal, and thereby acquire peace. Rather, we can only accomplish this by creating the proper connections between us. And to do this, we should understand that by reaching the correct kind of unification, each of us will receive all of the common force. And this is something that can only be accomplished through love.

We Are Always Subject To Nature’s Law Of Love

bb_admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:04:51 +0000

The more we repeat the phrase, “love your neighbor as yourself,” the less we understand it. It is written that this is the general rule, the law of all reality, and we must act according to it. And whoever thinks that individual parts of the universe do not observe it, is mistaken.

We observe this law because we have no other choice, since we live in one dimension, in one sphere. This law affects us, but we observe it unwillingly. The suffering we perceive is precisely this absence of desire to observe this law. This is how we feel the difference between the present state and the more advanced state.

If we pay attention to this, we will be able to discern the most important thing: that this law is mandatory for us. It affects us and we purposefully exist in a state that’s opposite to it, where we don’t want it. This is done in order for us to realize its importance, splendor and universality. We will then observe it willingly, with our free choice.

The fact is, we all serve the Creator (or Nature). However, some of us do it unwillingly, while others do it willingly and consciously.

True Love Is The Fulfillment Of Another’s Desire

bb_admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:10:28 +0000

A question I received: How can love between people be a law if love is about a person’s feelings?

My Answer: Desire is the material of creation. Desire is a force – a force of attraction and a force of repulsion. There are laws in the world that are obvious, and we obey them involuntary. Other laws are still concealed from us, and thus we do not obey them yet. But if they do become revealed, it is best for us to learn them quickly and start obeying them.

What is “love” in our world? It’s when something awakens a feeling in me that I might get pleasure from it. I then aspire to this thing, to this spark of light. I want to get closer to this light and connect to it, so it will fulfill me. The pleasure can come from food, sex, family, money, power, or knowledge. But what do I really connect to? I connect to the spark of pleasure that enters my desire for pleasure. This is what “love” in our world is.

In Kabbalah, “love for your neighbor” does not mean that you like someone’s face, personality, or status, although this is exactly how people interpret love for one’s neighbor in our world. The latter is not love for him, but just a feeling of attraction to something that fulfills you.

True love is when you fulfill the desires of another as if they are your own. This means that you love your neighbor rather than yourself. It is when you work with and fulfill his desire. This is love for one’s neighbor.

“Love Your Neighbor” Is the Condition Nature Has Set for Us

bb_admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:05:02 +0000

A question I received: There are people, groups, and organizations that see themselves as one whole and close to nature. They say they love each other, plants and animals. Is this “love your neighbor?”

My Answer: “Love your neighbor” is a law of Nature, a condition in the world around us. This condition is suddenly being revealed to us now because we have grown into it, similar to a child that grows up to be an adult and suddenly has to abide by the laws of the society.

Imagine that all the media channels suddenly announced that everyone has to follow the law of “love your neighbor” by the end of the year, and anyone that won’t be able to do this will be executed. This is not funny at all – this is the condition Nature has set for us. However, we are unable to see it.

So, what are we going to do? We have to learn how to attain “love for your neighbor.” We must find out what this law means, what Nature wants from us. We cannot avoid this law – we must learn it. But how?

Through studying. This is the only means that will enable people to understand that there is no place to run and the only solution is to be corrected by a special force of Nature. This special force influences a person who desires to be corrected, to attain the degree of “love your neighbor.”

It is like a wave or frequency among billions of frequencies, and you will perceive it only if you desire it. Nature requires you to tune in to the frequency where you will feel that the only thing you want is to love your neighbor! Then this force of Nature will come and correct you.

All other attempts will lead us to a crisis, in order for us to find this path to the goal. Other directions are gradually dwindling all around us. This is called the “Egyptian plagues,” and they will eventually make us see that there is no other choice. When we find ourselves in total darkness, we will be willing and eager to run away and attain just one thing – “love your neighbor.” Where did the people run to from Egypt? Only to love, as evidenced by the unity that later took place by Mount Sinai.

How Can You Love Others?

bb_admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:56:01 +0000

Questions I received about loving one’s neighbor:

Question: You say that it is possible to love others as you love yourself. I want this very much. Please tell me, is there someone who could pray for his friend with all his heart, so that the friend would love his friend as a mother loves her son?

My Answer: This has to be your own prayer, because your request – provided it is complete – will surely evoke the Upper Light, which will correct you and give you this quality.

Question: We know how to “love” for the purpose of receiving love in return. But what is it to “love your neighbor as yourself?” How is this love different from the egoistic “love?” We do not know this “Supreme Love.” How are we supposed to implement it in our daily life?

My Answer: The study of Kabbalah involves all the actions that attract the next, more advanced state (these actions include the studies, unification in the group, and dissemination). Otherwise we are pushed toward the same state by suffering. Our task is to aspire to this state before the suffering will push us from behind and make us aspire toward the next level just to avoid the suffering.

So, only the force that attracts us to the next state, called the Upper Light (Ohr Makif), is able to “explain” to us what is “genuine love” – love for someone other than yourself.

Question: What if my neighbor is not nice to me, and is mean? How do I rise above this and love my neighbor?

My Answer: You will do this for the sake of the Creator if He is more important to you than yourself. And this importance of the Creator has to come to you from your environment.

The Study of Kabbalah Makes It Possible to Love Everyone

bb_admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:02:32 +0000

A question I received: I accept the idea that giving to everyone is very good. But how can a person attain love for everyone in order to give them love? Is it enough to just pretend to love them? We play these games all the time. We always try to display ourselves in the best possible way. So what will have to change once everyone learns that our nature is global?

My Answer: We start with egoism, with making actions for our own sake, and then the study of Kabbalah corrects our intentions to bestowal and love. There is no other force of correction in our world!

Enjoy Your Love For Others

bb_admin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:52:17 +0000

Three questions I received on love for others:

Question: One sometimes feels a sensation of connectivity, unity, and pleasure during the lessons, as if one’s spiritual issues are actually the spiritual issues of others in the Kli and that it’s these collective deficiencies you address. Is it advisable to relish this sensation, or should we strive to restrict it lest it become egoistic pleasure?

My Answer: You should enjoy your love for others! People can only grow out of positive emotions; after all, the purpose of creation is to delight the creatures!

Question: Last night I got a strong desire to do good to everyone without getting anything in return, and I am enjoying it. And today I woke up feeling my usual egoistic, melancholic self. Tell me please, what was it that I was feeling? Was it a higher stage that opened itself to me for a minute?

My Answer: You are studying Kabbalah and the Light is influencing you. The Light gave you this inner sensation to give you an example of what you should aspire to (this is called “awakening from Above” – Itaruta de Leela). Now you should continue in the same direction as that sensation (“awakening from below” – Itaruta de Letata), until you acquire these new qualities and sensations forever!

Question: When a person realizes the evil within him and changes to be an altruist, how can he live and survive among others who are egoists?

My Answer: By loving them! It’s because he will be corrected and his attitude toward everyone else will be equal to the Creator’s attitude.