Question: What does it mean to reveal The Zohar in our common sensation?

Answer: Nothing is revealed in an individual person, but only in his proper connection with the friends in the group. My first ten Sefirot, the first spiritual vessel (Kli), is my aspiration to come out from myself and unite with others (the group). My spiritual state is determined by how much I will try to create this unification.

There is you and I. Between us, there are five worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon. When I draw closer to you until the distance between us fades, my state is called the World of Infinity. But not yours. The World of Infinity is when you and I, on my side, become as one whole. Therefore, the extent that I am able to draw closer to you determines the spiritual degree that I am on since all 125 degrees are between us.

We can conquer the distance between us together. This is much more effective because what matters is the unification between us, rather than you or I. I don’t need to accept you, receive pleasure from you, or unite with you. We need to unite together. This unification is in fact the Creator, the third component, as it is written: “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.”

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, The Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: If foreign thoughts come to me while we read The Zohar, does this mean that I am drilling a hole in the boat?

Answer: These foreign thoughts are not yours but “come” to you from somewhere. They don’t depend on you; the Creator sends them. So, relax. You are not drilling a hole in the common boat just with the thoughts that arise in you.

It’s important, however, what you will do with these “foreign” thoughts, meaning, whether you will remain with them and continue to think about them. If so, you will really be making a hole in the boat. Or perhaps you will resist these thoughts and throw them away from you at every given moment while wishing to stay together with your friends who are using all their might to bring this boat to the goal? This depends precisely on you.

This is always the case in Kabbalah: We work on what the Creator sends us, above the circumstances (Reshimot) that emerge. We don’t choose them, and we are not judged according to them. Only our reaction to them depends on us, and we should be judged based on it.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

The Zohar, Chapter “Va Yechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 152: In the midst of all that, Rabbi Elazar saw that the angel of death departed and said, “No sentence holds where Rabbi Shimon is.” Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Elazar, “Come here and hold Rabbi Yitzhak, for I see that he is afraid.” Rabbi Elazar came in and held him, and Rabbi Shimon turned his face and engaged in Torah.

Question: Why does a soul fear to ascend to its next spiritual degree? If it already sees its corrected state, why does it dread leaving the current one?

Answer: I am not prepared for it, and therefore I fear. The wisdom of Kabbalah often speaks about the awe before the Creator. The state of awe is a spiritual vessel (Kli, desire). It is the same in our case. I am afraid that I am not ready to exist at the level of bestowal in my present state, which I share with the friends and the teacher Rabbi Shimon, who becomes revealed as a mentor and guide on our path.

Suppose a teacher one day tells me that I have to jump from a plane. But I am terrified for I don’t think I can do it. This is an earthly example of how I feel in egoistic properties.

In spirituality, however, we talk about the property of bestowal, where the fear is even greater. I discover that I am not in bestowal and have no strength of my own for it. I am unable to pull myself together (as I would in the material world) and take the next step. It isn’t the same in spirituality, and there is always a question: Will I receive the strength, or, rather, will I be able to ask for it? This fear, the awe, is a very problematic state.

Awe before the Creator is the first commandment. I use it as a foundation on which I build everything else. It’s because I depend on the Creator, the Upper Surrounding Light that I receive. My position at a certain spiritual degree depends on the amount of strength the Light provides for me. And if it doesn’t bring me this strength, I will have none.

How can I participate in this? How close am I able to come with the others? How great is my present capacity to do so? This “death” (for my egoism) must come to me step by step. It has to be accepted by me and turn into life within me, as it is written: “The angel of death becomes the angel of life.”

Spiritual acts (of bestowal) that a person is yet to commit seem an enormous stumbling block. When you think about fulfillment, it is desirable (in our egoism). But when you think about the corrected desire (Kli) where it is revealed, rejection and fear arise: Am I good for it?

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, The Zohar

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: The system of the spiritual stimulator works with people who can realize the principle of “faith above reason.” However, most of humanity cannot act according to this principle, and only very strong blows can force them to do this.

Answer: They still will start participating in it because there is no other choice. We need to somehow rise above ourselves, above our lives, fate, and the forces of nature that compel us to do something with ourselves. We need to act and search for some external, kind governing force which protects and cares about us.

I believe that people will quickly see that there is at least some refuge here. They will sense this with a “sixth sense.” It is written very clearly in Kabbalah that we have no other choice. Either we find a way to unite as one whole and to reach a state of being one society in complete interdependence, mutual help, and, consequently, even mutual love on our own and through the path of the Light, or we will be pushed to do this by the nature around and within us through the path of suffering.

Development of this system and the dissemination of it, its realization for educating children and solving social, family, and other kinds of problems will draw more and more people who now are distant from the goal of Kabbalah. However, both the system and Kabbalah will become meaningful and accepted in the society as a kind and common force for everyone.

It will be a parallel, alternative social system which will not contradict any existing social systems. However, to the extent that humanity begins to understand that this system can be the source of help, support, and a means for a more correct behavior, balance, safety, and so on, people will come here. Gradually, it will become more and more in demand and necessary for humanity.

Filed under: Crisis, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Who is to blame for my downfalls in the final analysis: me or the Creator? Are they a result of my effort or lack thereof?

Answer: It is said about the Creator, “I am the beginning and the end.” “I am the beginning” means that each initial state is not up to a person. Usually, it doesn’t have anything to do with whatever took place previously.

I am not talking about regular folks in whom the “genes” (Reshimot, orders from Above) unwind mechanically and sequentially, and the questions of the purpose of life and attaining free will don’t arise. Rather, I refer to a person who has already received the void to fill and senses it through the surfaced question of the purpose of life. Such a person can fulfill himself by entering the group (the collective system of souls) and analyzing his ascents and descents since this state initiates his spiritual journey.

Everything is evaluated in relation to freedom of choice, not to the state itself. My condition itself doesn’t matter; it can be good or bad. What matters is how I am employing it right now. In other words, only the “derivative” is evaluated.

I don’t change the world, nor do I correct it. I correct my participation in it.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Begin A Dialogue With The Creator
Laitman.com Post: Two Birds Heard The Herald
Laitman.com Post: This Is Work For The Human Being
Kabbalah Moments: To Learn The Descent From The Ascent

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Unity Day Around the World, “Freedom of Choice”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Unity Day Around the World, Questions and Answers
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Unity Day Around the World, Open Studio Live Celebration
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Lectures, Q&A, Unity, World - No Comments →

Question: Does every soul have the responsibility of becoming an active part of the collective system as do all Kabbalists?

Answer: Each soul must plug into work within this system since it is perfect. If perfection lacks even one part, it is not perfection any more; there is nothing! It’s as if one is drilling a hole in the boat and the boat sinks with everything and everyone on it. It doesn’t matter how big the boat was (it could have been massive), but it is a comprehensive structure where each part plays an essential role. Therefore, every person has equal value whether they are a sage or a simpleton. In the integral, closed system we are all equally important.

At the time of correction there are big and small souls within the process, and every person should be viewed according to his spiritual degree. The small ones should yield to the big ones and so on. However, at the end of the correction process, all souls are equal in perfection.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, "Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot"

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Revealing Eternal Life When Everyone Unites As Equals
Laitman.com Post: How To Achieve What Does Not Exist In Nature
Laitman.com Post: Everyone Can Ascend To The Highest Level
Kabbalah Moments: Drilling A Hole

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: How can all of us together pave the potholes on our spiritual path in order to make it smooth if we each undergo ups and downs at different times?

Answer: This is done on purpose, in order to synchronize our spiritual states and to help each other. But if after some big event (such as a congress) we all fall together, we need some external force that will assist us.

If we created a true society, we wouldn’t fall. We would support and compensate for one another just like the organs that sustain balance in a healthy body. However, at a higher degree we find ourselves lacking balance: This is the ego growing and leading us to imbalance. So, what can we do when this occurs?

In this case, we need some external system against which we can calibrate our balance, correct, and connect ourselves again. The cause of all problems is revealed to us as the lack of connection. And now we need an external factor that will help us connect at a new, spiritual degree, above all the revealed “sinners” in us.

For this, we require a “stimulator” which is the daily questionnaire in which everybody participates. It will help us build a system where everyone will be forced to express their attitude, and in return, the system will act on them.

Where will this system obtain the power to influence us? It will come from the fact that we ourselves have built it and exerted our own effort! It serves as a relief fund.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, "Concerning the Importance of Friends"

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Events Manifest In Our World
Laitman.com Post: If You Are Drowning Let The Group Save You
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Miss Your Chance

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: How do I tell the difference between imagined reality and true, spiritual reality?

Answer: There cannot be any imagined reality! We live in a solid, material world. There isn’t any spirituality here. Spirituality can only be revealed in selfless connection among us. If we elevate our unity from the still level of Nefesh to the level of Ruach, we will experience spirituality (Ruach means “spirit”).

Why do we call this degree spiritual? It’s called spiritual because it’s the first degree at which we breathe life into our connection, into our oneness. That’s when we can call it spiritual. At present, this state seems “dead” to us. I have to unite with someone? I don’t like this idea; it’s “dead” in my eyes. That’s why my present condition is called “still,” and I reside in it because I don’t have a choice and I don’t see the way out.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How To Unite All The Pyramids Into One
Laitman.com Post: Where Is The Entrance To The Spiritual World?
Laitman.com Post: The Easiest Path To Spirituality

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: What’s the middle line? Is it a screen?

Answer: The middle line is the correct combination of the receiving desires (Kelim) and the forces of bestowal. I first prepare these desires and only then request from Above the power of the screen specifically for these desires. When I receive this force, I acquire a spiritual vessel (Kli) which is called the middle line where I’m able to perform the deed of bestowal.

Before the middle line emerges, I clarify what the left and the right lines are, what drawing the Light from Above downward means, and how I halt it completely through restriction. I have to discern what it means to push the Light away from below upward, and to what degree I can manifest my desire in order to create the Reflected Light that part of the Direct Light will clothe in, and not just simply push the incoming pleasure away as I did during restriction (Tzimtzum).

After all these clarifications are completed and I arrange myself to the best of my ability, I ask the force from Above to create an authentic desire, a spiritual vessel (Kli) from all that I have prepared. If I have prepared myself correctly, I receive the Upper force which does answer my request and unifies the desire to bestow and the desire to receive pleasure from both directions, left and right. It tests and sorts the Kli. I ask the Creator to participate in this for I don’t know how to work with it.

As soon as the Kli is ready, it gets “stamped” by the “seal” from Above which is a warranty that it won’t break once I begin using it. Further on, I continue to work in the middle line and receive in order to bestow, in faith above reason, while my forces of bestowal are working from below upward, and I’m certain that it will continue to be so.

To be in the middle line is a complete sequence of actions. There is a middle line in the states of Katnut (smallness), Ibur (conception), Yenika (nurturing), and Mochin (maturity). In each phase and without exception, in order to attain the middle line, I need assistance from Above in assessing, aligning, and merging with the Creator.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Unification Of Light And Desire
Laitman.com Post: The Golden Agreement
Laitman.com Post: A Person On The Path

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Q&A, Zohar - 1 Comment →