Searching for an External Force for Advancement
By JohnC | January 7, 2011
Through the Book of Zohar (Radiance), the Creator shows us all kinds of examples which inspire us. We do not understand them, yet we want to copy them, like a small child. If you do not want to or are unable to, you should turn to the group, or approach with a request for help from the books. You are obligated to search for something that will push you forward and help you bond with the situations and the actions that the Book of Zohar tells you, even though you understand nothing, and yet want to understand.
Upper states are being discussed, spiritual bestowal, and I want to feel them and to be in them! How can I do that? All these questions should constantly bother us. It doesn’t matter if I remember anything of what I read. But if I expected the text to influence me, if I wanted to enter that world, to feel that which The Zohar speaks of, then I will feel very intensely how reading it influences me, although I do not remember a single word.
My moods, my different qualities, my perspective of the world and myself, they will all change. I will begin to feel all kinds of changes daily, until one sunny day the leap will occur. All that will happen as a result of reading the Book of Zohar. I do not know of what I read, and what it is that it wants to tell me. I have no connection to it except for one thing, I want this book to be revealed to me.
That’s the way the Surrounding light operates, it’s a true miracle. After all, other than that miracle, there is no other influence upon us from the Upper World. This miracle operates upon us even though there is no connection between us. There is no connection between the will to receive and the will to bestow. Any connection is carried out by the Creator, who is the source of all. Hence, this concealed connection is called a ‘miracle’ or ‘remedy’.
Of course there are very strict rules operating here regarding the relationships between the Light and the desire, according to a precise formula of mutual actions between them, but that formula is concealed from me. Thus, for me, it’s a miracle. I press a button in one place, and in another place something jumps up, and I do not understand how that works. All that’s said is that I should read and will, and all the rest should will on its own.
Excerpt from the daily Kabbalah lesson, January 28th, 2010
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The Wisdom One Needs To Know
By JohnC | September 4, 2010
New Song of Songs
482 – 483
482: The wisdom that one should know: to know and to observe the secret of his Master, to know himself, to know who he is, how he was created, where he comes from and where he is going, how the body is corrected, and how he will be judged by the King of All.
483: To know and to observe the secret of the soul. What is the soul within him? Where does it come from, and why does it come into his body, that is a foul drop that is here today and in the grave tomorrow? To know the world one is in and for what the world will be corrected, to gaze upon the sublime secrets of the Upper World, and to know one’s Master. And one observes all that from within the secrets of the Torah.
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JLTV Authentic wisdom
By JohnC | August 23, 2010
Authentic Wisdom of Kabbalah contains programming about the natural meaning and purpose of life and how you can fulfill it.
The lessons, shows, clips and music on Authentic Wisdom of Kabbalah are based on authentic Kabbalah texts and present the wisdom in a modern,relevant and accessible way.
Authentic Wisdom of Kabbalah airs weekly on JLTV – Fridays, 8:00pm Eastern time (U.S.).
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The wisdom of Kabbalah
By JohnC | June 19, 2010
The wisdom of Kabbalah
is for anyone
who can no longer ignore the question
about the meaning of life.
The fundamental textbook with which we study the wisdom of Kabbalah is ‘The Study of the Ten Sefirot‘. In this book, Baal HaSulam* interprets the words of the ARI (Isaac Luria), which are vital for the development of the souls in our generation.
Baal HaSulam opens the preface of the book by introducing different doubts people have regarding the study of Kabbalah. He does not refer to these doubts directly, but rather turns elsewhere, to the question regarding the meaning of life.
“Indeed, if we set our hearts to answer but one very famous question, I am certain that all these questions and doubts will vanish from the horizon, and you will look unto their place and find them gone. This indignant question ia a question that the whole world asks, namely, “What is the meaning of my life?”
“In other words, these numbered years of our lives, which cost us so heavily, and the numerous pains and torments that we suffer for them to complete them to the fullest, who is it that enjoys them? Or even more precisely, whom do I delight?”
” It is indeed true that historians have grown weary contemplating it, and particularly in our generation. No one even wishes to consider it.”
“Yet the question stands as bitterly and as vehemently as ever. Sometimes it meets us uninvited, pecks at our minds and humiliates us to the ground before we find the famous ploy of flowing mindlessly in the currents of life as always.”
Baal HaSulam,
‘Introduction to the Study of The Ten Sefirot’ Item 2
*Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (1884-1954)
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Succeed Beyond Your dreams
By JohnC | June 7, 2010
Imagine for the moment that when you wake up in the morning, you suddenly know the most important law of reality – the law that defines everything.
You understand what you should or should not do to avoid all pain, unpleasantness, and suffering; everything is clear to you, and you awaken to life like a child – full of enthusiasm, and without fears and inhibitions. This is precisely how we should live.
And actually, why not! Why do we sometimes fail? Why do we bump into walls, suffer blows, and face problems? Why do we need to be in darkness?
If we discover this most important law, we will have no problems; We’ll know exactly how to conduct our lives and how to succeed beyond our wildest dreams!
Michael Laitman
The Point in the Heart
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Spiritual Waves
By JohnC | June 5, 2010
Our inner work
is to fine tune our hearts and senses
to perceive the spiritual world.
Laike a radio receiver
detecting air waves
as the buttons are gently turned.
Thus one tunes oneself
becoming more and more attuned
to the spiritual frequency
through actions called ‘intent’.
Until a new dimension suddenly opens
and the spiritual world appears.
Rav Michael Laitman
The Point in the Heart
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Endless Pleasure
By JohnC | May 31, 2010
The wisdom of Kabbalah deals with receiving all the abundance that is intended for us (in Hebrew, Kabbalah means ‘receiving’). It explains how to receive and transfer immense and eternal pleasure through ourselves.
Eternal – because when we transfer the fulfillment of all the souls through ourselves, we are not depleted. It is like a mother who loves all of her children and enjoys the gifts that she transfers to all of them.
Michael Laitman
The Point in the Heart
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Building a World
By JohnC | May 22, 2010
We let our children
play with Legos, assemble puzzles, and solve problems
in short, create.
This is how they learn.
The Creator created Creation as perfect.
However, to give us a chance to grow to His level,
He completely shredded it,
down to the state of our world,
so that we would recreate that perfect state.
Michael Laitman
The Point in the Heart
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Therefore Choose Life
By JohnC | May 22, 2010
[excerpt]
We are the only intelligent creatures in the world, and everything was created for us, as we are the only ones who can emerge into a higher dimension.
The task is serious, the goal is wonderful. The current state of humanity requires searching; hence, it is a good situation. For this reason, I do not relate to it with anxiety, but rather with much hope.
Michael Laitman
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The Power Of The Desire To Reach Adhesion With The Creator Is Called A Friend.
By JohnC | May 20, 2010
The adhesion with the friends means that you become inter-connected with all the desires that are directed towards adhesion with the Creator. “Friend” is not someone who simply sits next to me: brunet, or redhead, with one personality or another. A friend is the power that exists in the other, the yearning, the power of the desire to reach adhesion with the Creator. This is called a friend.
Who is the “I”? From all that exists inside of you, you uncover only one thing: your desire for the Creator. This is called the “I”- the point in the heart. If so, who is the friend? Your friend is his point in the heart. His desire for adhesion with the Creator through the group, and your desire for adhesion with the Creator through the group, – these are precisely the desires that need to be connected. If we join them together, this will be the Kli in which the light will be revealed. This is how each friend needs to be considered, and to these points we need to connect. If you look at their points, you don’t care how they look or about their personality. Rather, you see these things as helpful obstacles that you need to get through and penetrate in order to reach the point in the heart in him. The things that disgust you in another person are given so that you will clarify the purity of your desire to connect to him.
This is why each one needs to see the personality and the negative qualities of his friend as problems that exist in himself, problems that it is his duty to overcome in order to reach the point in the heart of the friend. This is how it appears to you, and who is he himself, you don’t know. This is how you see him.
Question: So how is it possible to overcome this, what needs to be done?
We can overcome this only through the realization of the importance of the goal and the Creator, Whom we cannot reach without connecting with a friend. Then the friend becomes important as a means, and later, I see that he is important as the goal as well.
Michael Laitman
(Daily Article, March 14, 2005)
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This Marathon Has Run Its Course
By JohnC | May 20, 2010
We may think we have everything, but everything no longer satisfies us.
We are still playing the game and chasing transient goals, which we envision as pleasures such as money, honors, and power. After all, what else is there to do in this life.
We look at each other and thoughtlessly follow the current trend. We say to ourselves, “If I behave like everyone else. I’ll feel good.” Then, we choose a certain vague, agreeable goal and chase it, hoping to escape the emptiness.
We must be constantly preoccupied or the eternal questions will haunt us: “What am I living for? What’s happening with my life?”
But sooner or later, the point in our hearts will awaken and we will not be able to focus on mundane issues.
Suddenly, we will understand that this chase was prearranged in order to distract our minds from what is most important.
As long as we closed our eyes to avoid truly seeing, we could run along with the crowd.
But we have exhausted our strength. While everyone else is still racing, we have dropped out. It is simply not appealing anymore; in fact, we find it pointless.
Our will has deepened so much, it no longer allows us to settle for mundane goals. This is when we begin the quest for a higher goal.
Michael Laitman
The Point in the Heart
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Quote of the Day
By JohnC | May 27, 2009
Even if we find people who are great in the Torah, in fear, and in wisdom, yet who are not interested in the secrets of the Torah because of the sublimity of their degree, because they have many possessions with which to occupy their spirit in the treasures of the revealed Torah and wisdom, let it not droop the heart of one who feels an inner sensation, a pressure of the soul’s craving for the way of secrets. For even if we decide that this yearning came to him due to his lack of skills in the revealed matters, so what? In the end, this is one’s share, and one should be happy with one’s lot, for the Lord is near to all them that call upon Him in honest truth.
–The Rav Raiah Kook,
Orot HaTorah (Lights of the Torah), Chapter 10, Item 4
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