Part 2:

Baal HaSulam. Remembering

Reader: 

We are reading in the writings of Baal HaSulam, the article “Remembering” The study material is on Sviva Tova and the Arvut system.

You can send questions live through the sites. Anyone asking a question in the study hall should stand up, hold the microphone close to his mouth, and speak loudly and clearly. 

Reader: (00:27) Remembering 

Remembering and Forgetting, Keeping and Losing

During the exile, considered the female world, the work is in keeping. One who flaws one's work might lose what he is given, and Devekut, adhesion in this world, is by the force of keeping. And the adornment of the force of keeping is by elevation of the emotion, as well as the elevation of one's wholeness and the strength of his Devekut. However, in the future, there will be no fear of loss or theft, for death shall be swallowed up forever, and here the work is limited to remembering. Although, accordingly, one form should have sufficed, the nature of the body is to grow tired of the same form. Hence, forms must be dressed and undressed one at a time. So the body will appear to have a different form each time to increase the desire. This is similar to blocking the horse's eyes while it is circling the grindstone, so as not to tire it. This is most profound and grave. Since it is simple, his will from the servant is the most praiseworthy. Also, it is known that the closer the work is to nature, the better it is. The rule is that if one of the two lovers' love increases to a complete and utter measure, meaning natural and complete, the whole force of love will quench in the other.

Although his reason will evidently show the lover's measure of love, his ability to love his friend, in return, will not grow at all. On the contrary, according to the sensation of the totality of the lover, the sense of love will gradually die out in him, for he will not fear him, as his love is absolute. For this reason, the measure of spirituality, the love in the nature of the love subject will be annulled and corrupted.

M. Laitman: Clear? What are you doing with your hand? Because we are made of the will to receive, which is concerned, according to its nature, only concerned of itself, that's why in order to correct that will to receive, we need to build an entire system that will raise the will to receive above itself. That it can somehow become independent and feel who's bestowing upon it, how it's bestowing upon it, in a way that is independent on its own nature. Otherwise, he'll do actions of his own, and that's it. That's why we need here, to relate to the will to receive that to begin with, it is not worthy at all of attaining the quality of bestowal, to feel the giver, because the feeling of the giver means to feel what's outside of him, and what's outside of him, meaning in qualities that are opposite of what he has, and that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (05:29) Rav, it says that the closer the work is to nature, the better it is. What does that mean?

M. Laitman: Closer to nature, so it's better. Because he works according to his nature and what nature obligates him, that's why he doesn't have something he's inventing for himself. To clothe on some kind of other things that'll maybe bring him confidence, or some symbols or he just works just like he is himself.

Student: So, work being close to nature does that mean nature of reception or nature of bestowal?

M. Laitman: Reception.

Student: So, if it's closer to reception, it's more natural, but why is it better? It's more spoiled, no?

M. Laitman: No, I guess here he means that man feels his nature and I don't know, receives his nature the way it is. We'll see onward a bit.

Student: May I ask another question? He says, we have to renew the forms of the desire, otherwise it grows tired, and you have to give it new forms. That's what he writes. When he gives the example of the horse, whose eyes are covered, it sounds opposite. If you cover the horse's eyes, it doesn't see new forms, it sees the same thing all the time? 

M. Laitman: Let's see. You don't understand that from here, we don't have anything to learn yet.

Reader: (07:38)

Indeed, his will is to proclaim his love yet allow room for expanding the boundaries of love. These are two opposites, but when his love becomes known, it acquires a mandatory form, like perfect and natural love. Hence, there is zero room for work to expand the love, since the complete and loyal lover is dissatisfied with the reward of the loved one in return for his love. As it is written, if you are righteous, what will you give him? On the contrary, when the loved one feels that his lover has a desire to love him in return for some reward, that place becomes deficient. When there is a desire for reward, his love changes when the reward is absent, thus, the love is not absolute. For this reason it is not complete and natural but conditional. When the condition is canceled, the love is canceled, as in a vision of peace and there is no peace. This is evidently known that the curse does not adhere to the blessed. As it is written, will give wisdom to the wise and the servitude in adding and expanding the wholeness does not relate at all to one who is deficient, but to the truly complete worker. And to the complete worker, it seems that there has no room for work at all. 

This is the meaning of the remembering, such as when one tells the one he loves, there is a bag full of gems to show my love. In this way, the loved one strains to accurately count the sum of gems in order to reveal the love in his own heart too. In this way, the love itself does not change at all when his work is not counted since he already has them. However, in return, to return some reward to the one who loves him, he touches the gems extensively in order to be rewarded with always showing the great measure of the love. In this way, the feelings of love always reach from one to the other and multiply, while the essence is not changed. This is the meaning of adopting different combinations. Although, the essence is the same, not to lose or corrupt even a tiny spark of the potential disclosure of the hidden forces that always exist in the matter. It appears in new combinations, each time which the corporeal eye has never seen. But by this, the matter tastes a new flavor and harnesses itself to suffer and return always and forever. This is similar to many meals from which the matter is satisfied and wishes to duplicate that for many times or to couplings since new flavors are always available for it.

M. Laitman: (12:38) What to do? I don't know. What is he saying? If we repeat the same actions, there is no actual repetition because our desire is constantly new and as a result, we come to new discernments. There is always a new flavor. And by this you will understand.

Reader: (13:07)

Now you understand the association of matter and the body, and a soul, due to the matter that is rooted in forgetfulness, and even worse, by quenching any kind of absolute love, by this it gives the soul room for mandatory work, meaning to return in different combinations every time. Otherwise, the flaw will reach the soul as well, because of the mask in the roots of the above-mentioned matter. Even though the love itself is perfect and complete, it is seemingly covered due to the matter. By being compelled to return and repeat, the additions increase beyond the fund, and the boundaries of love wondrously expand. Now you can understand the meaning of the third generation may enter into the assembly of the Lord. In the first generation, there was the Klipah, the shell of the Egyptian, as though the place was too narrow.

This is because, although the lover and the loved one are in the desirable wholeness, they lack room in which to expand and multiply, because due to the suction of the matter, the soul must disclose the love in the matter too. There is no solution to it except to evidently show his love, with great work and great force, since the matter has no other language but emotions, hence, to the extent of his feeling of love, she finds herself compelled to return reward with sublime work and great force. Therefore, when the soul feels its complete and utter love, unconditioned by anything, the work of the matter falls entirely, for one does not give money for nothing.

This is a law in the corporeal nature for making room. Hence, at that time, the substance strains with its gratitude and subjugation according to its feelings, meaning, repeatedly praising and thanking, and according to the above mentioned, the matter grows weary of the first combination and the first flavor, which causes a diminution of sensation and hence diminution of gratitude until he stops even this tiny work. And since he remains without work and sees the absolute love, he places the Klipah, the shell of the Egyptian, the upper straight.

Subsequently, in the second generation, there was the exact same Klipah as the first generation, with the added Klipah of edomite, meaning not to return or repeat at all, as was the custom in the first generation, which nonetheless had a good reason to disclose the feeling from the gratitude. But the third generation that are born unto them may enter into the assembly of the Lord. For the third generation, that place is revealed, that is, in the holy Atik, the ark cover was regarded as the mercy seed, and the two were sensed together, this means that making a place for work promptly reveals a great measure of the light of love, that henceforth we'll know that prevention of returning a reward prevents the light of love. For this reason, he exerts until he finds the return of the reward, even when he is in a state of wholeness, for he must, against his will, resolve the riddle from the whole, and there is none who is whole, henceforth he is a tool ready for work. We could say that there is room for the complete worker to serve in other bodies, to complement them, for this is not completeness in nature, for nature mandates revealing, meaning the actual returning of the reward, so he will not be dependent on the view of others, lest he will not be found, but one who finds servitude in himself is always serving God, and never rests, and to that extent, the light of his love is never ending, ceaseless.

M. Laitman: I think that such texts from Baal HaSulam are rare, but you're not for reading, in gathering during a holiday or a large audience,

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (20:24) From what I understood, we need the shell, the Klipah of Egypt, and then there's other examples for Klipot, that while there is love, we'll be able to increase it upon it, so what is that work, why do we need the Klipah in order to increase the love?

M. Laitman: Because through the Klipah, through the shell, we can connect to love and through the love, we are drawn to reveal this whole structure both the shell and the holiness.

Student: Why if there's no shell to increase the love upon it, why is it not possible to increase love?

M. Laitman: Because the shell is what's missing for the depiction of the love in its entirety.

Student: Why? Why isn't it possible to just increase love with no limits?

M. Laitman: There's no such thing as without end, unboundedly, you need a shell in order to depict the shape of love in its complete form. 

Student: What's this phenomenon in nature that you can't define love if there's no Klipah against it?

M. Laitman: We see that in every form we reveal in nature, there are two things, two opposites and we can't speak of any one phenomenon if there is no opposite phenomenon contradicting it.

Student: How can we use this principle while we are gathering the deficiencies, only gathering the Klipot? In the future who knows what's even going to come?

M. Laitman: We cannot work with any discernment if we don't have something opposite from it.

Student: Here Baal HaSulam describes here how we need all the previous discernments and it’s written in a lot of places that we gather all the vessels so afterwards We have what to stand with, with no flaws and so on. How can we even get any forces from this when today we do some kind of work that will serve us throughout the whole path until the degrees of love?

M. Laitman: We nevertheless work as Baal HaSulam directs us that we reveal everything from its opposite and not otherwise, or we would not feel it as the advantage of the light from within the darkness. We cannot feel the light too unless we reveal the darkness, and therefore this is how we reach the revelation of all of creation in its completeness. We cannot even imagine how much, if we weren't in opposite forms, we wouldn't reveal what is before us right now. So, the spiritual revelation, by spiritual revelation, he means that we will have a big addition in the corporeal revelation. You can't help it. We also see it a little bit with examples, several examples.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (25:15) He writes that there's a rule that if one of two lovers, his love will increase completely, he'll turn off all the love that comes from his friend. Why is it that the more love you show the other, so on the other hand the love is turned out on the other?

M. Laitman: He doesn't have a place to show his own love because everything is filled with wholeness from one side.

Student: So how do you make room for the other to show love?

M. Laitman: By the Creator being hidden. This is what he did.

Student:  Why doesn't it awaken us to increase love and give back? Why when one gives love it doesn't awaken another need to give love?

M. Laitman: For this, you first need to come to an understanding and a desire.

Student: Between friends, how are we supposed to work in a way that on one hand to give love, and I don't know, what's the right form of relationships according to that law? 

M. Laitman: Between friends, we need to show the love in every way, in every direction, and in every measure.

Student: If we work in a tendency for unconditional love between the friends, so what response should we even expect? That the love will increase or should it turn off or?

M. Laitman: I can't explain it perhaps, but if we are drawn to the complete connection between us, and each one can complete his relation to the friends, then we come to a state that all of us both make room for everyone and compliment everyone.

Student: What's a place for love? 

M. Laitman: In a deficiency.

Student: When a person gives love to his friend, so everyone has a place in a deficiency for love?

M. Laitman: Unless you try to work on it, to reveal it.

Student: I need to reveal in them a deficiency to love, to give them a place for love?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: How to give a friend a place for love?

M. Laitman: Show him you love him, and you too expect him to, you expect to feel his love as well.

Student: If I give them love, shouldn't his love turn off according to this law?

M. Laitman: No, no. On the contrary, if that's the case, then we come to a state where the love grows unboundedly and continually. We need to stir up these things, bring them up and see how they are truly unbounded, really.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (28:56) In Malchut of Ein Sof, we learn that the created being feels the Creator and he has shame from the attitude of love that he feels towards him?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So is it right to say that in the process of creation the Klipot were made so the created being can implement this love that comes back towards the Creator? 

M. Laitman: Yes, it's all for the purpose of the upper one.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (29:31) If there's no fear to lose love so a person disregards the giver of the love?

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: How do you give love to the friends constantly without losing his love or not disregarding on his behalf? 

M. Laitman: In this we need to organize among ourselves in the relationships, 

Student: We always have to give love to the friend without stopping. And he specifically feels on his behalf because he doesn't have fear to lose this love, so he doesn't pay attention and he disregards it?

M. Laitman: Continue, continue, continue. Even though the other one shows contempt and disrespect. There is a rule here. We just need to reach it and then you'll see it.

Student: What is the rule? 

M. Laitman: That in the end, you shift, you cross some boundary, and the friend begins to understand your love and respond to it. Yes. Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (31:17) In the article, there's nothing corporeal but only feelings. But along with this, the Kabbalists don't explain feelings, they don't describe them. We have simple words, annulment, love, and you can interpret it in many ways. So as if it's lacking, we're speaking about things that are on the surface, but things that are deeper. You're saying that each one needs to feel it, but why can't we describe this feeling? Not to pass it on, but at least to describe it. 

M. Laitman: I think that in order not to confuse people, and to confuse them, there's so much written about love that it would be redundant.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:28) He says here that remembering through the allegory that here is a stack full of gems to know my love, and in this way the love makes efforts to count all those good gems. What are those good gems on our behalf that we have to count and appreciate them? About the seeds of love, their essence, that we feel from the Friends or the Creator? 

M. Laitman: We feel it from the Friends, and then by connecting together, we also feel in this, the partnership with the Creator.

Student: So we have to learn to value it more and to go deeper in every seed of love we feel from the Friend? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Reader: (34:26) We will end with a song. 

Song