KETER: TIKKUN CHATZOT תקון חצות – LESSON WITH RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN
Baal HaSulam. The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose
Morning Lesson April 6, 2022, Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 2
Baal HaSulam. The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose
Reading (00:05) “Two Paths: A Path of Pain and a Path of Torah… “
1. S. (06:21) It turns out from this, that our goal is our readiness for adhesion with the Creator?
R. I didn’t understand, repeat please.
S. Meaning it is not the adhesion itself that is the goal but the willingness for it?
R. Of course because our adhesion in the Creator depends on as much as we get forces from Him, but as much forces as we get, is as much as we’re willing for it, meaning ask for it, ask for an adhesion. Therefore the forces for it are something we get from above, meaning except for the prayer we really have nothing to do, only the request. In this request we already have a great preparation that we have to go through in all kinds of states in order to know what to ask for, why to ask, for who to ask, for that already depends on our work. But after everything when we turn to Him and ask, that is it and the rest we get from above.
2. S. (07:38) I want to do a little scrutiny with you because His Providence is purposeful which will lead us eventually to the adhesion with Him, that’s clear, from to reside in us that is a high need. Meaning if we don’t come to this, we will, God forbid, find a problem with His guidance. We don’t have this adhesion for the time being, and not only that he writes that if we won’t adhere to Him we could God forbid, suffer all the time. What do you suggest? From your experience what did you do?
R. I recommend going as Baal HaSulam writes and also what Rabash scrutinizes, out of those two sources for us, are everything. Completely everything like our two eyes. Baal HaSulam says that in a very exalted manner and very determined, Rabash says it in a way that is closer to us. He explains it like an educator. But both of them, that is really where we have to put our heart in advance.
S. How can you rise above seemingly this hard labor, above the suffering you see what is going on in the world today?
R. That all depends as much as you give importance to the work of the Creator upon us.
S. Does it seem to you that we’re not getting answers?
R. According to the result obviously not.
S. What does it mean to give importance of the work of the Creator? For example: In the morning, how do you see the importance?
R. Importance means that I invest myself as much as I possibly can in studying and in organizing myself in connection with the friends to such an extent that it’s what I am constantly doing. Like this whole world with my family and everything I have to do outside of the group, for me it is a secondary thing. Not that I’m disregarding it, but I give it, I relate to it in a way like I have to breathe in order to live, so I also need that.
S. That is the whole point, how do I attain what you just said just now?
R. It all depends on importance as much as you awaken in the group. If we create such an environment called a group, this group will influence me to such an extent that I will not want anything except for our connection and revelation of the Creator in the connection between us. There is a point in each and every one that we need to awaken more.
S. How do we practically do this what you have just said?
R. Start evoking one another, start warming each other up and you will see that you can. The world will not get better, you want the world to push you ahead? so please. There will be blows including wars and more problems or you advance now on your own.
S. Meaning this should be led by prayer?
R. Only prayer, efforts, and prayer but efforts. If you don’t do anything and you don’t ask for anything, nothing will happen. If you did something and did not succeed then you can come to the Creator and cry, and He will help you. Just like a child that comes to his mother, that it doesn’t work for him, and he cries and then she helps him because there is something to help. If he did not do anything and he cries, what should he help with?
S. What is that effort that you are talking about all the time, what is this effort?
R. Efforts in connection between us to such an extent that from that effort we will get a plea to the Creator to such an extent that the Creator will start answering that plea of ours.
3. S. (12:31) This is a very exact question that the speaker was asking. It kind of brought me resemblance because we are read that all these words a hundred times, a thousand times, I hear the Rav telling me that may, and maybe all of a sudden I wake up and the next moment it’s gone, like it disappears, like wear, I put on a shirt so it feels good, yes, it’s working, everybody is looking and say yes, good, for you this is the shirt we want you to wear, and then all of a sudden I’m without a shirt again, like it comes off. How can I wear these words that Kabbalists are telling me, love your friend as yourself, you know do this? What am I doing wrong?
R. You cannot do it all the time and not even for one moment you can’t. But only if you try to do it and you’ll see as much as you can’t do it and along with that, with the friends, together you’ll discover that it’s essential, but I can’t, but you must, but I can’t, what should I do? So from this you reach a cry to the Creator that’s exactly that cry that the Sons of Israel cried, and it brought them to come out of Egypt, that’s it, only in that way.
4. S. (14:24) I was thinking while we were reading this that there’s almost a path between these paths where you feel the suffering even though you want to go on the path of Torah, but you still feel suffering. But in the end it says here that “His guidance comes simultaneously in both paths” is this kind of where this fits? To not be too confusing?
R. You’re still confused because you’re speaking about a state you haven’t got to yet. When you get there you’ll see how it’s clothed one in the other.
5. S. (15:23) The friends each have their own engagement, one, more in dissemination, one more in the group and each really invests a lot of efforts. What’s to do so that this effort will be one and concentrated?
R. We gradually discover it, and we can learn it theoretically, but from our life we reach an understanding that that’s what we need to do and not otherwise, and from that that’s it, there are no wise as the experienced, only from practical experience. That’s what we can do.
6. S. (16:20) It’s true that we need practical advice, but he says here that the path of Torah is in a short amount of time. What does it mean to rise on the path of Torah in the fastest and shortest way?
R. What we try to do, we speed up the time, we want to perform actions that will shorten the times and develop us very quickly. Look at the title to what we just read; the essence of religion is to develop in us a sense of recognition of evil. Now the question is should there be a greater evil or only a greater recognition of evil? He writes it has to develop the sense of recognition of evil, it doesn’t have to get worse, it just can be a little bit, “oh, ow, l got some kind of a sting,” and that’s enough, but it has to happen to recognize the evil in the smallest way. Then from that through the method we can understand what the method is and how to move away from it and how to rise above it. That’s what we want to acquire with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
7. S. (18:04) The two paths, the path of Torah and the path of the earth, are these extreme states or is there something in the middle between them?
R. There’s something in the middle but Kabbalists don’t define it. There’s a path of Torah and the path suffering and in the middle it’s things that we need to scrutinize. Usually it’s a problematic state but it’s hard to scrutinize in words, but we’ll talk about it, you’re right
Continues Reading: (19:00) “The essence of religion is to…”
8. S. (25:07) As much as a person is more developed, how much does that depend on his natural attributes or qualities?
R. Obviously it depends on as much, by the way he’s born, with what qualities, but more important is it depends on the root of his soul, to what part of Adam HaRishon he belongs to, his soul from that general soul called Adam HaRishon, then it depends as much as that part of his soul from the soul of Adam HaRishon as much as it developed, because that’s what we can see in this world, that there are people that more ancient or less ancient, that also influences it. It doesn’t belong so much to corrections, but that’s how it works.
9. S. (26:53) This expansion of the ability to love from the family to humanity, from the ten to humanity, how does that happen? I’m trying first to love my friend and then all the people.
R. That depends as much as they are developed, and the development takes place on two lines, pain and suffering or pleasures, and as much as he’s incorporated of this and that he can understand more the pleasure or pain that is in him and in others and the relations between them, and from this he learns and can understand the others and to incorporate in the others and that’s called that he’s developed. Meaning whoever got a lot of blows it turns out that he’s more developed than someone who got less. There is also obviously some influence from the root of his soul, but we are speaking not about the root, we can’t influence it, but the process that we are going through. The blows develop the world and man, as it is written that how does the salt soften the meat, so the blows soften the heart. Well this is all obviously not equal to everybody, but this is how it happens. There are a lot of things to this.
10. S. (28:57) Why in one chain does he connect and also family and relatives and also society and humanity, after all the family and the relatives is something that gives a lot of benefit to the ego but to humanity?
R. The ego that develops first of all pushes man to be close to relatives and we see how in history everything started from families and then these families grow and become more distant and even they become enemies to one another, that’s how it works, the ego develops in such a way. It’s the continuing of the shattering that happened in the spiritual world and continues to the ego in this world and also divides us more and more and more.
S. There’s a more general thing here. You said before the song that we can manage to understand what we need to do after you won’t be with us. Do we need to hurry up? Is it easier for us to enter this process while you’re with us?
R. As much as you can you have to speed up the times the quicker you can to connect because afterwards the state will be less worthy for attaining the goal, meaning you’ll keep going on the path, but the time will take longer.
11. S. (30:57) When a person sees the evil outside of him, and he suffers from that he can’t reject it because he doesn’t see it inside him so how to hasten this process?
R. By trying to see himself on the side, on the side. Those are the discernments we need to add to us and then according to that to try and correct ourselves. In other words to incorporate within the others as much as possible.
12. S. (31:45) Yesterday we were talking about private Providence. I just want to know does that mean “a Kabbalist is born a Kabbalist”?
R. No, nobody’s born a Kabbalist. Everybody is born like little animals and then they grow and then it depends on as much as a grown person invests more forces to grow more, it doesn’t matter how important or smart his parents are, they could be great Kabbalists, it still all depends on man himself.
13. S. (32:45) What helps to receive the sense of recognition of evil? What hastens the process that has to do with the recognition of evil?
R. The sense of the recognition of evil only depends on the extent of the connection of mine with the group. That only to the extent of the connection can I see my evil.
14. S. (33:18) Does the root of the soul have any practical relevance that we can work with actively or is it just a general explanation for more understanding?
R. Both. We will scrutinize these things; we won’t be able to understand them now.
15. S. (33:41) Is accepting the states that we go through what will cause us to eventually move us away from the path of suffering?
R. Obviously we’re going to move away from the suffering because we’re going to understand the root and we will justify it and that’s how we can advance.
16. S. (34:07) Can we demand the path of Torah from the Creator for every person on earth?
R. What do you mean to demand through?
S. Can we demand the path of Torah from the Creator for every person on earth?
R. Yes, in the end every person, obviously because we’re all one soul.
17. S. (34:42) This evening, like every evening, hundreds of women are gathering for the women’s common prayer, is this one action that we can do that will add to this action, what’s our next state as women?
R. Your next stage as women is to pray for the Creator for the success of the men. That you’ll all connect for the men to succeed, that for sure will help us all advance.
Reader Continues: (35:38) “Conscious development and unconscious development…”