https://kabbalahmedia.info/en/lessons/cu/K3dq53Y4

The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.

Daily Lesson (Afternoon) October 9, 2024

Part 1: Rabash. Record 219. Seek Peace and Pursue It

Hello,we are studying from the writings of Rabash, article 219, “Seek Peace and Pursuit”. The article can be found in Siva Tova and in the Arvut system. 

Seek Peace and Pursue It. 219

Reader: (00:31) In the verse, “Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34).

There are two forces in the world that give man the motivating force that will compel him to revoke his rest force. That is, the force of rest, which is in the qualities of the soul, yields to two other forces, meaning become revoked, and by this the soul takes upon itself the force of movement: 1) the rejecting force, 2) the attracting force.

The rejecting force is from something bad and loathsome that compels one to run away. The attracting force is good and nice things that one is compelled to chase. However, a single force, whether attracting or rejecting, is insufficient to revoke the force of rest.

“Turn away from evil” is called the “rejecting force,” if a person feels that it is bad. “Do good” is called the “attracting force” if a person feels that this is good and he must chase it and obtain it.

“Seek peace and pursue it.” The question is: What is the war that one must try to make peace, and even pursue it?

The war is the war of life, where each one is fighting with the other and by this acquires what he wants. For example, the merchant is fighting with the buyer and wants to defeat him in order to get what he wants, meaning money for no merchandise, or the worst possible merchandise. It is likewise to the contrary—the buyer with the seller—the least money for the best commodity.

The employee with the employer, the employer wants more output and more hours for a lower salary, and the employee is to the contrary, a higher salary and more rest. In other words, in the quantity of time and quality of output, we should understand who causes this whole war.

But first, we must understand what man is and how one is measured as great or small. It is said that a person has a big heart, is heavy-handed, and narrow-minded, meaning that it cannot be said that a person is the flesh and bones. Thus, what is man?

We should discern three qualities of desire: big, small, and nothing-to-it. The power of desire is measured by suffering. A big desire means that if one does not get what he wants he will suffer terribly. A small desire means that if one does not get what he wants he will suffer very little. A nothing-to-it desire means that if he does not get what he wants he will still not suffer.

From where does the will to receive stem? From the thought of creation to do good to His creations.

We believe that “The whole earth is full of His glory,” “For it is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life and the length of your days,” “For they are our lives and the length of our days.” Moses said all this, and the sages of Israel who established the prayers said this.

And what do we say and feel? We want to derive vitality and pleasure from other things, and the Torah takes away from us many pleasures that we could obtain if the Torah permitted us.

M. Laitman: Questions?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (07:03) He starts with seek peace and pursue it: “Turn away from evil and the good, seek peace and pursue it. There are two forces in the world that give man the motivating force that will compel him to revoke his resting force.” What is that resting force that has such strength and greatness? 

M. Laitman: Laziness. It's just laziness. If a person is not made to do anything, he can be lazy, not use the force that's pushing him towards something, not use the force that stops him in something. It's as if just go to sleep for the whole life. 

Student: Why is it so sweet? 

M. Laitman: Because it doesn't require any energy from us. We don't need to run to acquire sustenance in order to have something to spend it on. That's why we don't like to spend all these things that have to do with sustenance or rest. We protect it. We guard it. Look at animals even. They prefer to lie, to sit, and man also. 

Student: We also say their root is in complete rest. 

M. Laitman: It's zero, actually.

Student: So, the force of rest has a root? 

M. Laitman: A true heavy root. That's why it's hard to move even a millimeter, even by a little finger. We need to respond to our body, seriously answer what I want from this, what I want to attain. And then if this answer finds a reaction in the body, then I get energy as a result of this, to do something with it, to do something with myself, to achieve what's desired.

Student: Why were we given such a force? 

M. Laitman: If we do something we'll think about it twice, whether we should do something with it, because the reason that takes us out from rest has to be justified. 

Student: What is the purpose of this? Did the Creator want to make of us a still stone, that won't move? If He wants to make of us a person, why did He give us this force of rest? 

M. Laitman: This force of rest rules over us, and we get a lot of pleasure from being under its domain, but if we have a good reason to move from our place and to begin to do something, then we will do it. Then each moment of this action, that we do it, what for, and what we'll have from this.

Question (Women MAK): (12:50) What should we fight for every day, every minute, every moment? What is this spiritual war in which the Creator always needs to win? 

M. Laitman: We have to fight so that all our actions, not necessarily physical actions, can be in thought, in ourselves, so that they would be smart. They would envision a smart goal, otherwise we won't move from our place. This is what we need to achieve, so that all our actions would come out of a good inclination.

Question (Women MAK 53): (14:13) We feel evil, we push it away, we feel good, we aspire to it. How can we depend on these two feelings when we're not corrected? We need to somehow feel these things? 

M. Laitman: You have to experience them and inspect them, know where you are, leading them, what the Creator expects from you by giving you such desires. When you see this and know this, your desires will be very precise, and you will only move towards the right goal.

Question (Women Italy): (15:16) In the article it said that if one has a great desire, he also has a lot of strength. If he does not receive, from here comes the force of good that moves away from evil. I would like to understand better.

M. Laitman: We receive the force of distancing oneself from evil or getting closer to the good from uniting between us and the Creator, and then we can know precisely where the good direction is, where the bad direction is, and how to clothe these forces on ourselves. 

Student: It's good to have a great desire?

M. Laitman: A big desire is good. The question is can we, the forces accurately check in which direction we should move and which of the forces affecting us we should choose, and then follow it.

Question (Kyiv): (17:34) It's written here that the war, if I understood it correctly from the article, is like a natural state and people are always aspiring to defeat one another. It's also written here that one of these forces that turns away from you, to do evil or do good, that one or the other cannot bring a person to that state, to cancel the state of rest. How nonetheless, do we use these forces correctly? Are they attracting or are they rejecting forces? Maybe one more, one less? 

M. Laitman: What we can understand from what is said is that we need to constantly check ourselves against the force that's in us, in you. So, where the Creator is pulling you, where the body is pulling you, and from these two forces to choose who you are with.

Student: Where the body is pulling me is relatively clear, but how do I understand where the Creator is pulling me? 

M. Laitman: The quality of bestowal. 

Student: To choose correctly, I need to do so towards the Creator? That's the correct choice? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva 22): (19:36) We learned that a person is aspiring to resemble the upper light, which is in complete rest. So, then a person loves rest. But probably there is a certain difference in man's rest versus the upper light's rest, which is in endless movement, like we say. What is truly the difference between these two types of rest?

M. Laitman: In what kind of stillness can you be with the Creator? We need to choose. We don't have this whole thing of rest. I'll say peace. 

Question (Hebrew 2): (20:47) He writes here in the article that one force, pulling or rejecting, still doesn't have the strength to cancel the force of rest, and that's felt. When there is something that pulls or pushes, it's not enough to get over that rest. So, what does give us the strength to get over the rest? 

M. Laitman: The force that's connected with the Creator. A man has to prefer this force.

Student: From where does he get that strength, because sometimes we're aware of what we need to do. The mind understands what's needed, but the body is still pulling. So, where do we get the strength to overcome the body? 

M. Laitman: Prayer. 

Question (Women MAK 36): (22:02) You said that there's a reason that takes us out of rest, and I wanted to clarify. Is that the main one? Is it desire, whether it's there or not? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: There is this feeling that the intention is something that awakens a person.

M. Laitman: I don't know what you mean by natural or unnatural. 

Student: There's this feeling that this war that the article writes about is one relative to man's intention when he gets a natural desire, and then the choice of that intention, I feel it is unnatural, because the intention in me all the time is towards some sort of benefit, and to fight with it in the intention. 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: And it continues in the article that there's also this aspiration which rest evokes in terms of great benefit that's relative to our point in the heart of the soul. That was the impression I wanted to clarify, what we were discussing before the lesson with the friends. 

M. Laitman: Okay. Let's stay under this impression. 

Question (Moscow 6): (24:12) How do we always recognize that we are together with the Creator, or that we're now in a desire for our own sake? 

M. Laitman: This is what we're trying to do, where I want to define myself as with the Creator or with myself. 

Student: When we do something, we feel that it's for the sake of bestowal, are we correct? 

M. Laitman: How can you be sure? 

Student: That I want for everyone to have it good. 

M. Laitman: You want everyone to feel good? 

Student: Yes, for there to be a connection. Is this the correct intention? 

M. Laitman: Actually, it's not correct. At least half the people are thinking the opposite. 

Question (Women Moscow): (25:49) As if the force of rest is acting only on the force of bestowal. And before reception, a person is ready to run towards it all day long. There's a lot of energy there. So, for the act of the evil inclination, we need to ask over it the force of rest? Ask to calm down and not to chase all sorts of such things in which to receive pleasure?  

M. Laitman: No, I don't think it's a good result.

Student: How can we specifically calm down that force that forces us to run, not after bestowal, but after reception? 

M. Laitman: Make it so that it doesn't get in the way. Come out of its field of influence over you. 

Student: The question is that rest really acts as if it acts in the place where it's not necessary in order to reach bestowal and where it is necessary to act the opposite.

M. Laitman: This is correct. So, continue to fight with it. 

Question (Women MAK 25): (27:25) What helps us not to be confused between the traditional choice between pleasant and unpleasant versus what's written in the article of turn away from evil and do good?

M. Laitman: What helps is that we try to come out of this guidance of good and evil that we try to feel instead of good one, bad one. 

Student: This aspiration is what we need to realize in our connections to help each other? 

M. Laitman: Yes, in our connections. 

Question (KabU 14): (28:23) It seems that I have to go to war against the rest all the time, and to first reject all the receiving forces for myself, then be able to listen to the bestowal forces. So, it seems it's easy to confuse the rest with peace. So, I have to go to war first, then seek peace by rejecting all of the receiving force for myself and then seek the bestowal forces?

M. Laitman: This is a question for now. 

Question (MAK 39): (30:01) There's an opinion in Kabbalah that the spiritual path starts not from actions, but from thoughts, reflections, inner actions. What do we do with our intentions that define evil, and the good? 

M. Laitman: It all comes from deep inside of us, and we still don't feel it. So, we say it like it says in the article.

Question (Women Lithuania 5): (30:56) It's getting very intensive here, and to live or to die is the only question, and it's becoming very hard. Lots of unpleasant feelings open up, and a person feels like he has to run away and not to feel these bad feelings that open up. So, what do we do now? How to withstand it? 

M. Laitman: How do we cope with it? We're already learning this, that we need to see exactly where the right side is, where the left side is, and to go by the middle, one of the bestowal connections. Then we'll have the right result. 

Question (Women MAK 43): (32:22) When a person begins to lose the previous meaning, where everything is felt like good that comes from the Creator, and the evil is the process of revelation and concealment of the light, then the right movement comes, and there won't be a rest, because love is to be in the right action all the time.

M. Laitman: Basically, you are moving. You're advancing. 

Question (Hadera 1): (33:00) This mechanism stays the same mechanism. He always wants peace, and he attains peace by running away from evil and running towards good, and thanks to the right actions. According to whether he is sweet and bitter or truth and lies, is this the mechanism? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Women MAK): (33:47) So, we become like in between these two forces ,and in order to perform correction, we take some imperfections from the force of rejection and give it to the other force. We describe it to the Creator, and then in this partnership with the Creator, we acquire peace.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Women Turkiye 7): (34:56) I'd say there were all those opportunities the Creator sent, but we didn't use enough. 

M. Laitman: Don't worry, they will come if necessary. If you need to advance, you will receive all of those forms again. 

Question (MAK 17): (35:21) We understand that there are forces of attraction and rejection that the Creator uses to interact with us, and there's a force of rest that has a high spiritual root, and we have a force of choice. Is it correct to say that the force of rest depends on our choice? 

M. Laitman: Yes, it depends. 

Student: So can I determine my state by influencing this force of rest? 

M. Laitman: No, not yet. We need to come in and out of that state of rest a few times, and the opposite one, to try not just to reach a state of rest, but also one of practical actions, spiritual ones, and then you'll start to feel your place in general, in that system of forces. 

Student: Does this have to do with my personal, individual work, or can I apply this to the way the friends act, or try to determine? 

M. Laitman: Try it, and afterwards we'll speak. 

Question (Women Ukraine 2): (36:55) If a person feels suffering in his state, but he doesn't see a place he can go to get pleasure, what does he do, where does he go, and how does he avoid the evil to do good? 

M. Laitman: As much as he can to come closer to good, and to push away from the evil, and there he'll see where the Creator truly wants to bring him.

Student: I feel a need for good connection with people, and most of all, I feel that I just don't want this, I can't, and these are two polar opposites in me. There's an abyss here. I have to overcome it and come to one state where I want, and I can, and I need. Is this my work? 

M. Laitman: You'll see this gradually, you want to right away find the correct point, and to jump into it. This won't work; it's gradual. A few more lessons.

Student: What helps us to hold on to this amplitude of polar states? What helps us to hold on to this delta difference? 

M. Laitman: That you try to be in a state of inner balance. 

Student: The Ten helps, yes?

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Moscow 1): (39:36) You said once we have to, as if, take pictures of our states so that we stop identifying ourselves with them, what to do it for? 

M. Laitman: For different reasons, but we need to, as if to determine those states of ours that we will be in. 

Student: So, the reality that's presenting itself with us is cut into these frames, and we have to gather them, and then new parts of the world that are hidden. Is this the correction of states? 

M. Laitman: Yes, we'll try to renew our thoughts, decisions, actions, feelings. This way we'll move forward.

Question (Women Hebrew 2): (40:57) Where do we determine where is the right, where is bestowal, and where is reception, because the desire to receive always fools us. 

M. Laitman: We need to try to move forward with all of our means, and we'll see how all of this opens up in front of us. 

Question (Nikolaev-Sochi.): (42:11) We have the ability to come to the lesson when we have situations that are pushing us away, there's the force of rejection. There are states when we yearn towards this. There are states where we commit, and we feel uncomfortable not to come. What is the force? Maybe you are pulling us towards the lesson. Why are some friends in the lesson and some aren't? 

M. Laitman: I don't know. They simply need to accept this upon themselves like a law, that I don’t miss out on this afternoon lesson. And whatever I need to do, I'll do, just not to miss it. 

Student: If I may ask you, you made this decision not to skip lessons, not to miss lessons.

Was this some commitment before your teacher, before the Creator? What's holding you? 

M. Laitman: What held me is that I, together with Rabash and a few more of my friends, are like this male part in the morning lesson. That's it. I knew that this was necessary for me.

Question (Women MAK 113): (44:16) Today there is a very strong lesson. It turns out that being the Creator's partner is our constant work and the main kabbalistic work is to unite the whole world. 

M. Laitman: Yes. Thank you, Rab.

Question (Women French): (45:09) What is this state where he wants to do good more than receive for himself? 

M. Laitman: Peace is a state in which we can connect in it all of the discernments, the good ones, the bad ones, and they will all work towards the ascent of our state.

Student: When we ask for the world, for peace, what are we asking for? 

M. Laitman: Peace is wholeness, and we attain wholeness specifically when we're capable of connecting opposing things. And in this way, we try... 

Question (MAK 24): (47:03) When we're in the right line, in the left line, it's not that we are lazy and don't want to work. We don't do things we don't need, some extra things, actions, and in this way, the Creator gives us peace. Is this correct? 

M. Laitman: No. We'll understand what is rest and we'll see. 

Student: If I don't want to rest, if I like to walk and move, the Creator gives this peace and rest, but I don't want this rest. Is this normal or should I strive for this state? 

M. Laitman: No, no, you should aspire towards the truth. 

Question (MAK 24): (48:07) You responded to the friend that we should strive for rest. Is this correct? 

M. Laitman: Well, let's say so.

Student: So, what do we do with this knowledge that if not for me, then who? How do we act? How can we be in rest if the Creator expects action from you? 

M. Laitman: Together with that, we can be in rest because you consider such a state as the most stable and correct one. 

Student: Can I be in rest and in action at the same time? What the Creator expects from you, and annul yourself?

M. Laitman: We can, we can. 

Student: In what way, how do I do it? Annul myself or act? 

M. Laitman: I've already done this condition that we're talking about now, and throughout the week, let's say, try to find its realization in the articles.

Question (Women MAK 26): (49:44) I have the opposite question. If rest and inner balance are the main things and any step forward is scary, what do I do? 

M. Laitman: That's good. Rest. 

Question (Women Kavkaz 1): (50:16) Obstacles or, as it says here, these two forces help me to go right, and this war helps me perform corrections from every state. Is there any boundary where I can hold on to the intention of bestowal, and then, after that, I can't. So, if I win this war, I ask to cancel myself and give the Creator pleasure, or my decision, my utterance can take me out of this boundary?

M. Laitman: You need to still tolerate this a bit more, and to understand that there could be a correct state if your desires are not balanced.

Student: Can we say that rest are my feelings from this clash between the two forces? 

M. Laitman: No, this is still an escape, running away from it. Don't worry. It will work out for you soon. 

Question (Women Kyiv 7): (52:08) How do we work in a state of inner balance through the Ten? 

M. Laitman: Try for you to have this inner balance through the Ten. 

Student: Should we hold on to this state at all times? Is it desirable for it to be all the time? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Women Turkiye 10): (52:51) It seems that in the world, evil is increasing in humanity. How can we take responsibility for the balance of good and evil in the world? 

M. Laitman: Try between all of us for there to be a balance, a stable one, a correct one, forward towards the goal. Try for us, between us, to be always in a certain openness of the heart, and to want to balance everyone such that we would truly feel that we are in such a balanced platform, and this way to examine ourselves from week to week.

Question (Novosibirsk): (54:01) There is an impression from the previous states that there are specific lacks of the minimum required in the Ten, and now it feels like it's causing suffering, but there is a feeling that it will be revealed and the state will come. So, if in the mind there's this field of work, but you don't know where to begin, how do we walk according to the Creator's desire in these states. 

M. Laitman: I didn't understand what you were talking about. You said everything correctly, but I don't feel a question there. 

Student: So, there's a state where there's a feeling, that there's a lack in the corporeal, and there's lots to do in the Ten. There's a lack of time, and it's unclear what to hold on to.

And what does the Creator want? 

M. Laitman: The Creator wants, first of all, in the Ten, that we'll feel ourselves united between us, and for this unity to give us a certain foundation, a platform upon which we exist, and that this platform would not move away from our legs. For us, being on this platform, for us to hold on to each other, and everybody will fit on this platform, even hundreds of people. Then we'll try to fill ourselves up as much as possible with the Creator's light. When we attain such a state, we'll have a special feeling inside of us, that it's not important for us what will happen afterwards. The main thing is for us to hold on to each other, all together. That's it.

We'll try in this way to conclude our lesson today. Be well, and goodbye. 

Announcements: (57:17)

Song: (57:29)