The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 6, 2026
Part 1: Rabash. When Should One Use Pride in the Work? Article No. 6, 1990.
Original lesson date: 01/25/2002
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will learn from a recorded lesson from January 25, 2002, based on the article, "When Should One Use Pride in the Work?" We'll read the article together in the Ten. We have 32 minutes for that.
Reading: (00:38) When Should One Use Pride in the Work?
Article No. 6, 1990
It is written (2 Chronicles 17), “His heart was proud in the ways of the Lord.” And in the Mishnah, it was said (Avot, Chapter 4:4), “Be very, very humble.” Thus, this contradicts what is written, “His heart was proud.”
The Zohar (VaYera, Item 17) asks, “‘And the Lord appeared unto him by the Oaks of Mamre.’ Why in the Oaks of Mamre and not elsewhere? It is because Mamre gave him an advice about the circumcision. When the Creator told Abraham to circumcise himself, Abraham went to consult his friends. Aner told him, ‘You are over ninety years old; you will torment yourself.’ Marme told him, ‘Remember the day when the Chaldeans threw you in the furnace, and that famine that the world endured, and those kings whom your men chased and whom you struck. The Creator saved you from all of them. Rise up and do as your Master commands.’ The Creator said to Mamre: ‘You advised him in favor of the circumcision, thus, I will appear to him only in your abode.’”
This is difficult to understand. If the Creator commanded him to circumcise himself, he went to ask his friends if he should obey the Creator? What if Mamre had said otherwise? He would heed the advice of Mamre and not the word of the Creator. Can we say this?
It is also difficult to understand what Mamre told him, that he should obey the Creator, that He will save you for sure, just as He saved you from the furnace. This implies that the basis for why Mamre told him to obey the Creator is because He would save him, just as He saved him from the furnace. Otherwise, you should not obey.
We see the same thing where our sages said (RASHI brings the words of our sages, Genesis 11:28), “‘Terah died in the presence of his father,’ during his father’s life. Some say that because of him, his father died, when Terah complained to Nimrod about his son, Abram, about the breaking of his statues and throwing them into the furnace. Haran sat and said to himself, ‘If Abram wins, I am with him. If Nimrod wins, I am with him.’ When Abram was saved, they said to Haran, ‘Who are you with?’ Haran replied, ‘I am with Abram.’ They threw him in the furnace and he burned.”
We see about Haran that since he said that he was going to take upon himself devotion on condition that the Creator would save him, he was burned. Thus, why in Abram’s case, when Mamre told him, “You should obey the Creator,” since He saved Abram from the furnace, meaning yesterday’s Abram, for example, He would also save Abram today when he circumcises himself? This is just like Haran and Abram with the furnace. The only difference here is that they are the same thing but in the same body, meaning in two states of Abram.
In the literal, we see that with Haran and Abram and the furnace, there was the matter of gentiles, meaning that foreigners wanted both Abram and Haran not to obey the Creator. This is not so with the circumcision, which the Creator instructed him. That is, there is a difference between foreigners saying not to obey the Creator, or the Creator telling him to obey Him.
We should say that when foreigners want a person to idol-worship and detach himself from faith in the Creator, a person should give unconditional dedication. For this reason, when Haran said that he was ready to dedicate himself on condition that he survives, like Abraham, this is not regarded as dedication. This is why he was burned in the furnace.
This is not so here when the Creator told him to circumcise himself and he went to consult his friends. We should interpret this differently, that he thought that the Creator telling him to circumcise himself is a high degree and he was still unworthy of it, as he thought that if the Creator told him to circumcise himself and he was still unworthy of it, he might fall even from the state he was in at the time, since he knew that he was in lowliness, as it is written, “And I am dust and ashes.” Therefore, he went to ask whether he was permitted to walk into this high degree and circumcise himself, or should he wait until he is worthy of it.
This is why Aner told him, “You are over ninety years old; you will torment yourself” beginning to ascend high degrees now, and beginning to do more work in order to qualify yourself to be worthy of the Mitzva [commandment/good deed] of circumcision. “You are too old to start making great efforts now in order to be rewarded with higher degrees. This is suitable for a young man, who has a great future, not for you, who is already over ninety. Therefore, this is not for you.”
However, when he came to ask Mamre, Mamre replied to him, “You see that the Creator does not look at your lowliness; let Him say when you are worthy, and then He can help you, as our sages said, ‘He who comes to purify is aided.’ When you feel that you are dust and ashes, the Creator cannot help you, but you see that when you were thrown in the furnace, the Creator helped you nonetheless, since He is merciful and gracious.”
This is as our sages say about the verse, “‘And I will pardon whom I pardon,’ although he is unfit and unworthy of it.” Therefore, here, too, with the Mitzva of circumcision, the Creator wants you to enter a higher level although you are not worthy or fit. Hence, go and do your Master’s commandment and do not look at your own lowliness.
This is as Baal HaSulam said about what the Creator said, “Now I know that you are God fearing.” The question is, Does the Creator not know the future, that He said, “Now I know,” meaning that now He knows that “you are God fearing”? That is, this means that now Abraham knew that he was God fearing.
The question is, Why did Abram need to know this? We should say that now that he knows that he is God fearing, Abraham can go to a higher level and is not afraid that it might be too high for him. Rather, he can already ascend.
Likewise, we can interpret what Rabba said (Berachot 61), “One should know in one’s heart whether he is a complete righteous or not.” We should also understand there why he needs to know this. Indeed, by this he will try to walk in higher degrees and will not think that it is too high for him. This is why Mamre advised him not to look at his lowliness that he feels, that he is dust and ashes. Rather, the Creator wants you to ascend in degrees through the Mitzva of circumcision? Go and do it, and do not look at anything. This is the meaning of the verse, “The Lord is high and the low will see,” as it is written, “The Lord raises up the lowly.”
Now we can understand what we asked, Why did Abraham consult his friends whether to obey the Creator? The meaning is that if he should wait and qualify himself to enter the high degree with which he will be rewarded following the doing of the commandment of circumcision, or should he do it right away and ignore his lowliness, where he feels that he is dust and ashes. This is what he asked his friends about, and not whether to observe the commandment of the Creator.
By this we will also understand why when he was thrown into the furnace, he did not seek his friends’ advice, but agreed to be thrown into the furnace in order to sanctify the name of heaven. However, this is the quality of faith, where we must give unconditional devotion, meaning to say, “I am very low; this is why He does not want to give devotion.”
But in idol-worship, the rule is “Be killed but do not breach.” For this reason, when Haran wanted to sanctify the Creator with dedication only on condition that he stays alive like Abram, this is clearly not “Be killed but do not breach,” since his view was that he agreed to be thrown in the furnace provided he is not killed. It follows that he did not observe at all the Mitzva that there is in idol-worship, “Be killed but do not breech.” This is why Haran was burned in the furnace.
Conversely, Abram’s view was in the form of “Be killed but do not breach.” Therefore, thanks to the complete Mitzva, he was saved from the furnace. This is the meaning of the nations speaking to him there, demanding of him to idol-worship.
But with the commandment of the circumcision, where the Creator told him to circumcise himself, the Creator certainly demanded of Abram to ascend in degree. Once he sanctified the Creator with Nimrod, what did the Creator want from Abraham? Certainly, to ascend to a higher level. It was about this that he thought that perhaps he was still unworthy of ascending to such a high level, which is why he went to ask his friends what to do, since he felt that he was still not worthy of such Gadlut [greatness/adulthood], which he would be awarded by observing the Mitzva of circumcision. Therefore, it is a completely different matter here.
According to the above, we see that there are two states in the work: 1) faith, 2) Torah.
In the state of faith, it cannot be said that he is lowly, and therefore cannot observe the commandment of sanctifying the Creator, which is done by the general public in Israel, even among common people, that we hear that they died for the sanctification of the Creator.
Therefore, when a person begins the work of the Creator on the path of truth, he must take upon himself the burden of faith above reason even though all the nations of the world in his body laugh at him. He must sanctify the Creator before the gentiles in his body and say that he believes in the Creator and wants to serve Him with all his heart and soul. And even though they disagree with him, he can say that he takes upon himself to love the Creator. Even if he has no feeling when he utters it, a person should not be impressed with the organs disagreeing with his view. He does what he can do. That is, in speech and action he can do this by coercion. And although he feels nothing in it, he is still doing an awakening from below.
It was said about this, “And I will bless you in all that you will do.” That is, the Creator will later send him blessing on what he does. Although after the overcoming he does not see that he received any blessing, meaning he does not feel any nearing to the Creator more than he was prior to the overcoming, so the body asks the person, “You told me that if you overcome your mind and reason, the Creator would give you blessing, meaning that by this you will feel the importance of spirituality. But you see that you are in the same state as before the work, when you exerted to do things by coercion.”
To this comes the answer, “If I felt the blessing instantaneously, then I would have done it in order to receive reward.” This is similar to Haran who said, “If I see that Abraham was saved from the furnace, I am with him.” Here, too, when he says, “I am willing to bow myself and do good deeds against the body’s will, but on condition that afterwards I will get a good feeling, how worthwhile it is to serve the Creator in order to receive reward, meaning a good feeling.”
Hence, if a person wants to receive reward immediately after the work by coercion, it is as though he began with the coercion so that afterward he would not have to work by coercion. It follows that when accepting the faith, he sets conditions. But the faith of acceptance of the kingdom of heaven must be unconditional surrender. For this reason, where faith is concerned, it cannot be said that a person feels that he is too lowly, that it is not for him to assume the burden of the kingdom of heaven. Also, a person should not say, “Now I am not in the mood for this; I’ll wait for when I am in a better mood, and then I’ll try to take upon myself the burden of the kingdom of heaven.” Rather, this duty lies with every person to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, at any place and at any time.
Conversely, when speaking of the Torah, this is the time when one should feel one’s lowliness. Since our sages said, “It is forbidden to teach Torah to idol-worshippers,” but only to Israel, he should therefore first see if he is truly regarded as “Israel.” This means that he should see whether he is worthy of learning Torah. If he sees that he is still unworthy, he must try to be worthy, and then he will be able to learn Torah.
What is the way by which one should qualify himself to be worthy? The way is as our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” In other words, a person should learn Torah first, so the Torah will lead him into being regarded as “Israel.” When he has the quality of “Israel,” he will ascend in degree to learn Torah, which is then called “the Torah of the Creator, as in the names of the Creator.” Before he is rewarded with being “Israel,” he must try to engage in Torah and Mitzvot so it will make him become “Israel.” Then is the time to come to wholeness, called “the purpose of creation,” which is to do good to His creations.
However, when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot, since a person must walk on two lines—right and left—meaning a time of wholeness and a time of lack, on one hand we must thank the Creator, and one who feels he has received a lot of good from the Creator is more capable of giving more gratitude, so when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot, this is the time to be in wholeness, as though the Creator has brought him close, to be among the King’s servants. However, one must not lie to oneself and say that he feels that he is serving the King when he does not feel this way. Therefore, how can he be grateful to the Creator for drawing him near if he does not feel it?
Instead, at that time a person should say that although he is in utter lowliness, meaning he is still immersed in self-love, and still cannot do anything above reason, the Creator still gave him a thought and desire to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, and has also given him some strength to be able to overcome the spies who speak to him and poke his mind with their arguments. And still, he has some grip on spirituality.
At that time, a person should pay attention to this and believe that the Creator is tending to him and guides him on the track that leads to the King’s palace. It follows that he should be happy that the Creator is watching over him and gives him the descents, as well. That is, a person should believe, as much as he can understand, that the Creator is giving him the ascents, since certainly, a person cannot say that he himself receives the ascents, but that the Creator wants to bring him closer; this is why He gives him the ascents.
Also, a person should believe that the Creator gives him the descents, as well, because He wants to bring him closer. Therefore, every single thing that he can do, he must do as though he is in a state of ascent. Therefore, when he overcomes a little during the descent, it is called an “awakening from below.” Each act that he does, he believes that it is the Creator’s will, and by this itself he is rewarded with greater nearing, meaning that the person himself begins to feel that the Creator has brought him closer.
It is as Baal HaSulam said, that when a person is happy, when he feels that he is privileged that he has some grip on spirituality, that person is called “blessed,” and “The blessed clings to the Blessed.” That is, the person begins to feel that the Creator is blessing him now, and he feels no lack at all. However, this is so specifically when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot.
Yet, one must dedicate a little bit of his time to work on the left line, as this gives him room to pray for the lacks in him. It is needed that during the wholeness, when a person is grateful to the Creator for bringing him a little closer, this is the time to receive the filling for his lacks, which he felt while working in the manner of the “left.”
It follows that the answer to the prayer is not when he prays, since then he is in a state of “cursed,” meaning deficient, and the complete does not connect to the deficient. Rather, when a person feels whole not because he knows that he has wholeness but because he feels himself as lowly, and regards whatever grip he has on spirituality as a great fortune, from this he derives wholeness and says that he is not even worthy of this. This is the time when he can receive the filling for what he felt while he was working in the manner of the “left.”
Now we can understand what we asked, why on one hand they said, “Be very, very humble,” and on the other hand, it is written, “And his heart was proud in the ways of the Lord,” as they are two opposites on the same topic. The answer is that they are two opposites on the same topic, but in two times.
In other words, when he engages in the kingdom of heaven, to take upon himself faith above reason, when the body disagrees with it and gives him many excuses that now is not the time for this, and brings him evidence from other people, who do not pay attention to this work of faith in the Creator above reason, he should say about this, “And his heart was proud in the ways of the Lord.” He does not look at anyone, but is determined that this is the path of truth and he should not look at anyone or hear what the body makes him understand—“Go and look at reputable people, who understand what is the work of the Creator.” It is about this that they said, “And his heart was proud,” to be proud that he understands better than everyone.
But when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot and sees that he has no idea what he is learning or what he is praying, at that time he must not be proud and say that if he does not understand, why should he look at the books in vain, if he does not understand the matters of Torah and Mitzvot. At that time he should be in lowliness, as our sages said, “Be very, very humble.” In other words, a person should be in lowliness and say that he is happy with whatever grip he has, since he sees how many people do not have any grip on spirituality. Therefore, here he needs to feel that he is not worthy of anything, and be happy.
Reader: We'll move on to a lesson from January 25, 2002.
M. Laitman: (31:30) So we've read a part of the article from the “Rungs of the Ladder,” page 139, “When Should One Use Pride in the Work?” What he explains to us is how many, in our soul, how many desires, qualities, urges, laws we have, and how can we gain them, acquire them, place them under our own control. When a person starts controlling the soul, which is the vessel in which he feels the spiritual world, the Creator, so to control, to rule over all the forces of the soul, that is possible only in a state where the person himself gives exertion during the time of descent. When he exerts during the time of descent, this is called MAN, and then he's going to acquire something, he's going to govern something, meaning he's given descents deliberately, states where he feels distant from spirituality, from holiness, where it doesn't interest him. Suddenly he begins to see that he can settle for no spirituality, it's not so attractive, there's nothing special in it. And then, in those cases, in those states where he goes above his feeling, meaning despite him not feeling any interest, he understands that this feeling was given to him deliberately, and so despite not feeling any interest, he still goes for it, holds it by the teeth, as we say, acquiring spirituality. Then he advances, specifically from these states. And then during the time of descent, the extent to which he can advance in it, that's his advancement, because all other states that he's given come as an awakening from above, from the Creator. And therefore, in them, in those states, there's nothing that's regarded as on the person's account, right? It doesn't stay in him. Any questions, please?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (34:32) It says here that Abraham received this instruction from the Creator to make a commandment, and he wasn't certain, and so he went to ask others. And there's an explanation here, why he went to ask and so on. Because he felt lowly. But if the Creator actually gave this to him, then why ask? If he felt that it's the Creator who told him to go do this, then what, he doesn't trust the Creator, even if he feels it, if you have that feeling?
M. Laitman: We're talking about actually how a person scrutinizes his forces, his powers. When we're brought closer to spirituality, we live for thousands of years from incarnation to incarnation in a beastly way, like the rest of the world, right? We have lived through many incarnations, through many forms, in many different places, a beastly life. Throughout those incarnations, we have developed in our desires, our demands. And the whole of humanity is developing this way; we can see that development. The soul develops and requires more, and more, and more. Why the soul? Because the beastly part in us does not develop. Our body is the same body. If it weren't for the soul, the spiritual part of the person, the person would have been like a beast. Do beasts develop? Do they suddenly require television and create rockets and things like that? No, the beast remains as it is. It has this simple law as it was born, to just preserve itself. That's the only law, to keep itself alive. So what develops in us is the spiritual part. The spiritual part develops in two planes, let's say, two stages, not planes - two stages. The first stage is where we develop, this is called the corporeal stage, beastly, spiritually beastly, let's say. Meaning, we chase after sex, honor, money, knowledge. And so the soul develops, but still it's developing by chasing after pleasures which exist in this world. After it develops like that through several incarnations, it is brought - meaning a lack is revealed in it through its development - also for spiritual pleasures, spiritual pleasures. And then a person begins to feel what is called the point in the heart, and he wants something that is beyond this world. What does it mean “beyond?” Beyond the pleasures he can perceive in his senses, spiritual pleasure. He now feels that he's lacking something in his life, which is called “light,” and where he can absorb it and enjoy it, that place is called the “soul,” the spiritual vessel. When a person begins to develop that vessel, he's forced, that lack is inserted into him, it's revealed after all the previous developments, beastly developments, and then he begins to be like Abraham. This is what we're told, that he feels this impulse, this urge to reach spirituality, and then we say that it's the Creator telling him, so to speak, “Go, develop, come to a new state, an additional state, a better one, a special one.” And then the person begins to feel within himself various forces, thoughts, urges, which are for and against, for and against this state. This is what he explains to us. It's like in the theater. Each one of the actors plays some quality within the person. So Mamre is one quality inside the person, and you have others, Sarah, never mind, all of Abraham's household, right, with all his beasts, everything he has there, the field as well, like the Bedouins have. What did he have there, right? So they explain that these are the forces of his soul, which are for or against this development.
M. Laitman: (39:15) Now you ask, why do you need all that? The Creator says, “Listen, buddy, go, you have a clear paved road ahead of you, go.” So why do you need to project it, oppose it, doubt it? It is desired that you become Adam, human, develop into a human being, not a beast. Meaning, you can leave the person like a puppet, improve it and make of it what you want without him being aware of it or partaking in the process, but by this you will leave creation on the degree of beastliness. And benefiting His doing good to His created beings, that being the purpose of creation - the purpose of creation is that the created being will be on the degree of the Creator, because under the degree of the Creator that's not called doing good for the Creator, if there's something good, it can only be that one thing, the maximum, the top, and less than the very best, that cannot really be called to benefit, to do good - and so the Creator, the Upper Force, when He plans to bring creation to that good state, the intention is to bring all of creation to His level, the best level, the highest, to make of the creation, of the created being, the Creator. Now the difference between them is in the recognition of the state, and that is what's demanded of a person, that he by himself will begin to recognize the state he's in, from complete unconsciousness, the state we're in with respect to spirituality, where it's shut off from us, as we say. What does it mean, it's shut off? We think now that probably there is something spirituality, we just don't feel it. So we're just feeling that we are unconscious, but we don't actually feel unconscious yet, because we don't feel a lack. Being unconscious - I know what it means to be conscious - and now I feel what being unconscious is, right? But we still don't have it. But nonetheless, we are somehow beginning to feel that maybe there is something. But the person needs to himself discover this lack, what's missing between him and the Creator. And if he discovers it himself, then we say that he himself builds this vessel, and he understands what it means to be on the degree of the Creator, instead of being on this beastly level of ours, which in relation to spirituality, it's simply under existence. There's a Machsom, a barrier; under the barrier is called “none” - nothing, null, simply nothing. And so man was given all sorts of forces, for and against, so that through free choice, he can advance towards that direction only. Meaning, if you knew all the qualities of your soul, and all the laws of nature that are around you, meaning who you are exactly, and what the reality outside of you is, all these laws, all these systems, and it was absolutely clear to you, then you would have seen that you're completely, absolutely a robot. Meaning, you have no way to establish yourself, except for one thing - to advance, to be like the Creator. Other than that, everything is pre-planned. It's already sealed. There's no choice in that. There's no randomness. It's simply ticking like clockwork. But advancing towards the Creator, in this, there is a free choice, but only in this, meaning only for that. If it's a little bit in a different direction, or a different context, then no - it's only that.
M. Laitman: (43:51) And so it's very important for us to know all these qualities within us and the path that we need to walk, in order to use this only free choice that we have, in order to advance. Because if a person does not advance, he's not pushed forward, he's not advanced. Because you need to walk this path. You have a very, very narrow path, long, but very narrow, and you have to constantly… But this path is in a desert, let's say, where you don't see the path, you understand? It's as if walking, treading water, or you don't know exactly what the next step is, you don't see. But from all of your forces that you have, you need to choose north, as we say, to find north and to direct yourself towards the goal with every step, and then you make a proper step. If not, it may seem to you that you're taking steps, but these aren't steps, it only appears to you in your beastly eyes, and then you can just walk in place or run in circles for a thousand years. Meaning, the methods by which to reach the goal, to take every step towards the goal, to see if you're taking that step or not - in practice, if it seems to you that you're advancing, seems to you that you're running, but in actuality you're running in place - that method is the method of Kabbalah, the wisdom of Kabbalah. So for that, you need to see the path. And this is done in a simple manner: you need to open the person's eyes, so that he can see what's ahead of him, that it's truly a desert, and that in that desert there is no path, no road, except for this one special path, special for him. And each one has his own path, by the way, so he doesn't get lost, get confused. And to see the ultimate goal, to see himself, and to know how to take every step, to examine it, scrutinize it, and take it. You understand? And if he doesn't do it, then another incarnation, and another, and another. Time passes like that, because we are below the plane of spiritual life, and so we can reincarnate for a million years more, that's no problem, it doesn't bother anyone. It's a useless life, so there's no calculation regarding this life, and that's it. It's not taken into account. So what they tell us in all these stories, the Kabbalists in their articles? They tell us about the forces of our soul, and how through various contrasting qualities, different qualities within us, how we can use them to choose the right path, to realize our free choice.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:10) But how can I tell if I'm now here studying Kabbalah, all this? I don't see the path yet. How to tell if I'm taking the right step, I'm making a bad step, running around my own tail?
M. Laitman: How do you know if you're making the right steps now or not? Kabbalists explain to us that you begin to go into some place to study Kabbalah. At first, you don't know anything. You also don't know what place you're in. You could be in several other places, and not just here. There are some who are now, or at other times, doesn't matter, sitting in other places, and they're also trying to learn and find something for themselves. Everyone has a different thing. There's a difference of place, difference of method. Are they in the same method or not? There's no answer to that. You basically weren't given a choice now. You were let to do this based on what you feel. Meaning, if you feel that you have some doubt, go to another place and check. Check where you feel better, here or there. Perhaps, according to your development, you still need to be in some other place. Come to Bnei Baruch in some 30 years. There's a general law of reality, called the law of equivalence of form, that just like in a magnetic field, if you put a piece of metal in it, then you see it's drawn to the pole, right? Meaning, everything is gravitating towards its center of balance, including the souls. These urges that you feel, it's actually the soul being drawn to it's a place, where it can feel whole, where it can feel peacefulness. And so a person who looks - he finds. He just throws his hands and legs and comes somewhere. And ultimately, everyone reincarnates this way and comes to their place, that is right for their development. Some people are developed enough to just keep learning yoga or some other person arranges flowers, I don't know what. It's for each and every one, you can't know this intellectually. But knowing, the inner feeling - then the eyes open up and you see.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (50:19) I understand from what you say that even if the Creator talks to someone and tells him what to do, he still has free choice whether to do it or not.
M. Laitman: What does it mean that the Creator tells a person to do, and the person has free choice? Did anyone hear? There are some, you know, in Abarbanel, a house for the mentally ill. So they say they hear the Creator telling them something, right? So the Creator tells a person, means that a person feels within him some urges, right? If this urge is towards spirituality, we can see, but He pushes you to everything. He plans and pushes you to everything, good and bad. Now, if this collective or general force called the Creator pushes all of reality like this, without giving these pieces of reality free choice or to feel it, it means that their attitude to reality is like the still, vegetative and animate. The relation to the speaking, to the man, is such that a person feels what he wants like a beast, he can also criticize his desire and then also begin to change it. Now, to turn the created being into Adam - Adam comes from the word Edame Le'Elyon, to resemble the Upper One - so for that, a person has to go through all the opposite states of himself. And then a person would have to choose and basically choose to become like the Creator. And that's the whole free choice that a person has. So if a person would just fulfill all the actions from above, that means he's like a puppet. It's like a tree, it's like still, vegetative and animate, just following instructions of nature. There's no uniqueness there. So, still, vegetative and animate are not considered separate from the Creator. They are bonded with the Creator 100%. What nature determines, the Creator determines, right? They do it without any choice. And that's not a beastly level, it's just zero, when a person recognizes that he should do that. Meaning, he justifies the Creator, and specifically from all of the opposite qualities to the Creator, he chooses to be like Him. By that he builds a man out of himself. Meaning, our education, the Kabbalistic education is very opposite to our education on the street. Religion simply educates a person to be like a machine. Get up, and do - and do, and do this, and do that, and do that. Kabbalah is the opposite. It develops in a person senses to draw criticism. Criticism that a person begins to disagree with the Creator, to curse the Creator, he truly wants to rebel against Him. And then he begins to understand where these qualities come from. He begins to compare these opposite qualities of him and the Creator’s, and then this justifies the Creator, and then the status of the Creator, then wants to resemble Him, then practically turns himself from opposite states to become like the Creator. This is man's development, and therefore, the reason of the Torah is opposite to the reason of the landlords; and how the landlords are activated, and operated, and educated, that's totally opposite to his reason. The person who comes here begins to receive such education that he completely, totally becomes free of all the frameworks, of all the initial conditions - nothing. You have to inspect, you have to check over each and every state, whatever it is, don't be afraid, and based on that to choose truth. Otherwise, you'll remain a beast.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:58) What are the sources of these factors that resist advancement, the search after that point? This is such strong intuition, so why resist? Where does the resistance come from? This intuition, this inner sensation, the search for the point.
M. Laitman: You're asking basically like this: a person has intuition, how to put it in Hebrew…
Student: Intuitia in Hebrew.
M. Laitman: Yes, it's like some sort of a sense of, how to put it, like a sense of seeking.
Student: This inner guide, this inner feeling.
M. Laitman: I know, I know what it is. I don't think that this is a truly powerful thing that you can rely on. You see, even beyond intuition, with all our brains and all of our minds, look at what we're coming to. Global destruction, and just, you know … So, we can't follow our intuition, and also, we can't follow our science, because if we want to acquire the upper world, to reach spiritual development, what does it mean, spiritual development? To be in the sensation of eternity, wholeness, full of knowledge, power, abilities. To be like the Creator, means to be and live in eternity and wholeness. So, our intuition alone can't take us there, because our intuition is… it's, it's not even senses and conclusions that we can somehow criticize. It's all, kind of, what I feel. Everything is ultimately based on beastly experience, completely, and beastly urges, and mind that doesn't know more than what it sees in front of it - a few meters, and that's it. Accordingly, we cannot find the spiritual path, because spirituality is a completely different kind of sense, and different laws than what we know. So, the sixth sense, what we call a soul, and the laws in it that… the reality that appears in it, it's completely, totally unrelated to our intuition.
Student: I meant the sixth sense.
M. Laitman: The sixth sense is not intuition. The sixth sense is a sense that exists in each and every one. And if a person feels an urge to develop it, if he already feels a lack for it, for that sixth sense, then here there's already a special method for how to develop it.
Student: It requires freedom of choice.
M. Laitman: (59:34) Yes, but you have to realize this freedom of choice. You can't tell a person, oh, you're free to choose - choose. You have to teach him where the freedom is. As I explained, you have a thousand paths, and you can't separate between them, or you don't even see them, that there are a thousand different paths, and they're intertwined. And you have to somehow choose the right path out of all of those where you can advance, and in everything else you don't. So the choice is in choosing your path and how to advance on this path. Meaning, there are many… there's a lot of knowledge here and a very precise method, forces that you seemingly need to invite upon yourself to advance, and you're still not in contact with them. How can I go, if I really feel like in a desert? There's this inner contradiction here. If I have to make the right direction in the desert, what direction do I go? 360 degrees - it's all the same. So, if I see, there's no choice anymore. So I was made in such a way that I don't see. But then how will I choose? So, the situation itself is unreasonable, illogical in our mind. In the spiritual mind, we immediately see, there's no choice. But in ours, there is. So how do I advance, after all? So here, we have to see how to use the forces that are still not felt. And therefore, we have to receive something from outside in this method. It doesn't exist in us. Many people claim, I'll just advance according to how I feel my soul, to whatever I feel, and this will be it. If you advance with yourself, you'll be a beast. Here, you have to acquire something new that is not there. And so without receiving this wisdom from above, from outside, from the other world, you cannot advance. Therefore, without the study - also the study itself, through the study, we simply draw forces upon ourselves that will work and help us make the choice. That's it. A force comes from above, and it gives me what is called grace of holiness. And then by doing that to me, how does it work on me? I don't know. And what exactly is He doing? I also don't know. I only know the desired end result that I want from this study. That during the study, the surrounding light will shine, the surrounding light works on the point in the heart, the root of the soul, and then I begin to feel some attraction in the right direction towards the source from where the light that reforms comes. And then this attraction, this little urge is what determines the choice. That's it. So you can see that there is something hidden here. Of course, it's hidden. I as if need to summon a higher force, and how to invite it, how to acquire it, in what tool of measurement I can see, how many volts or kilograms or watts, what is it? But the conditions are just such that you take a book, and if you sit in front of the right book, reading the correct book, and before that, you've made the preparation of what you want to demand from the book, exactly what you want to achieve, by what do you want to achieve it, and if you've consolidated that desire before with labor, truly, then what comes to you is the correct spiritual force. So there are many details here, but altogether the result of our whole gathering and studying, our action, is that the light will come from above, and pull us. That's the choice.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:40) In a state of descent, from where will I gain the power to offer that awakening from below?
M. Laitman: So again, in order to let the person make some effort, some movement of his own, he is left alone. So from above, you don't have some force that comes and tracks you towards the goal. It's the opposite. They block your path forward. It doesn't happen right away. The person is being put in the right direction a bit, he begins to feel, he begins to notice all kinds of little things, and then suddenly you feel that he is completely detached and in a bad mood, meaning that both in his blissfulness and in his spirituality, he is being lowered. Why is that done? To give the sense of the desert, that you don't know what to do. So, where to go, I also don't know. And then when you don't have the inner state, called the present, and the surrounding state, the surrounding light, called the future, it shines from afar. If you don't have both, that leads a person to a sense of despair, not in the present and not in the future. You can't live from what you have now or from what you will have. So why is that done? To simply show you what state you're truly in and without a correction from above. Can you do something in that state? Almost nothing. And still, just to somewhat inspect and see how much better it is to go with the forces that come from above. So, these states teach the person, they build the person. They teach the person about the truth. These states build the person. Because otherwise, when he's given all kinds of fulfillment and is drawn from it, it's not real. Everyone will advance in his way.