The Acting Intelligence
New York Congress 2007, Lesson 2, Part 2
Lesson by Rav Michael Laitman, Elizabeth, NJ (USA)
January 12, 2007
· Bold and indented: Original text of Baal HaSulam
· Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
· lowercase italics: emphasized words
· Capitalized Italics: transliteration from Hebrew
Question: “There is none else besides Him.” An interference arises, and “if not me, then who for me?” If I aspire towards the goal, how should I treat this interference when dealing with circumstances in this world? How do I find that borderline, where I need to work in the bounds of our egoistic world in this interference? And where is that level that I should have developed in myself in relation to the goal?
Interferences arise. At what point does one say, “Of course, there is none else besides Him. However, if not me, then who will help me?” And then should a person work within the bounds of this world, or should he leave this world and say, “There is none else besides Him” and only engage in some inner scrutiny? Where is that point, where one should separate oneself? Or maybe one shouldn’t?
Under no circumstances should a person separate two worlds or part one from the other. The universe is one whole. We reveal all the worlds and then the world of Infinity within ourselves. However, this does not happen in the five senses, it happens in the soul that develops in us.
There is no separation into two worlds; it exists in our consciousness and our present understanding. However, when we reveal the Upper World, we do not reveal it in such a way that something is lower or higher (“higher” being the Upper). It is the Upper One because it determines our world. It is more important and for this reason, we say that it is “higher.” Does it ever happen that someone is lower but also a boss, higher than you? How is he higher? Look at him! Napoleon was 150 cm in height, but he was Napoleon!
In other words, the Upper World is revealed within our world as additional connections, or its inner fulfillment and content. The sensations of space, time and movement, vanish immediately. You see how integrally everything interacts—all parts together at once.
Therefore, a person can never say, “I study Kabbalah from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm and now it’s time for my business.” Then why are these twenty hours in a day given to you (or 10 or 15 hours) during which you are preoccupied with your business? Are they given to you so that you would simply cross yourself out and make a living? If so, then the Creator would have given you this living without you having to work.
Nothing is done in vain. You don’t need to work 10 hours a day in order to make a living and study a little bit of Kabbalah in your free time from work. Then what are these 10 hours created for then?
Everything from beginning to end, all our functions, all our ailments, problems, physical needs, and all that surrounds us in the world, is made or created only for the purpose of having us use every detail of it properly. One needs to attach it with a precise inner intention, to the same integral picture which he needs to attain. For this reason one needs to attain his Upper state while being in our world.
If you work as a shoemaker, you will continue to work as a shoemaker and meanwhile, you will be at the level of full correction, like Rabbi Yochanan haSandler and others. In the past there were such Kabbalists and they were called just that: “shoemaker,” “Chayat,” etc. They stayed in their professions. It did not interfere with their work. They studied and worked.
One needs to study 24 hours in a day, so the 24 hours would be included in this continuous cycle, or the continuous path of development. Therefore, before you go to sleep, read an article. When you get up, you immediately need to study. Even if there are no studies during that time, turn something on and watch it for half an hour, and only then run to work. In that case, you will already be going to work with completely different thoughts. If you have a break during work, read a couple of lines. Maybe you can listen while you work, then you should constantly listen. Then all 24 hours a day will be included in this process.
Never should we separate the world into two worlds. If you’re having problems with your wife or your children, you need to consider all circumstances. They are all sent from a single source. Therefore, there is none else besides Him. It is not that “There is none else besides Him” and that’s it, we sit there calmly and think, ‘Yeah, He does everything, and there is none else besides Him.’” It is in the sense that everything that happens to me comes from Him. For this reason, I need to relate everything to my spiritual development.
Question: Why does the Creator’s plan become realized through matter?
Matter is the transition between Him and us which can be created by Him. It is like a table which He created and gave to a person. He created this world and us, and gave them to us. Now this world and we are at our disposal. But what about the Creator? The Creator is concealed within. Nature, real nature, is concealed within.
This means that when a person begins to act properly and to scrutinize himself and the world that surrounds him in order to attain the Creator, he begins to study or reveal Him in this object called “this world.” That’s what we spoke about in this article, “The Acting Intelligence.” By looking at a table, he begins to understand the woodworker who created it in this particular way, his thoughts, etc; of course, this is a primitive example. In our world, we exist in an infinite multitude of various influences of the Creator on us. When we study His behavior toward us through each influence, we begin to understand Him and gradually unite or come together with Him.
Question: So, that means that on account of our properties, we are simply incapable of receiving from the Creator?
We receive everything from the Creator, only we receive it in the form of our own inverse explanation. What is good for Him is bad for us.
Question: Does love of the parents toward their children exemplify absolute, non-egoistic bestowal? Should we strive to experience the same feelings toward all people?
We learn from the four stages of the development of matter (spiritual matter) that it develops from the property of bestowal, which is present in Bina, or Bhina Bet, the second phase. This property of bestowal in Bina is inherent. The Upper Light created the first phase, Hochma, in the will to receive. In the same manner, the same Upper Light created the second phase from Hochma, called Bina (bestowing). This phase is natural. Because of this it manifests a property of bestowal in our world and all the worlds in general. However, this property of bestowal is instinctive and natural in relation to what arose from Bina.
If Bina generates something, it perceives what it generates as itself. This is what constitutes the love of a mother in particular (we won’t use a father as an example because that’s a rare occasion). That’s the love of a mother toward her offspring, which she gave birth to. There is never a place to speak of altruism or egoism in this case; it is instinct.
Egoism is when a person acquires an additional egoistic desire, except the one that is his nature. Suppose a little kid comes over and grabs something from you. Do you get mad at him? No, because he acts instinctively. He just takes it by instinct. You react patiently to this. However, if a grown-up does the same thing, it is different. Why? This is because a grown-up has a certain intention, etc, and this action is no longer natural for him.
For a mother, it is a completely natural and instinctive act with respect to the child, and therefore, it is not considered to be egoistic or altruistic. It certainly cannot be called altruistic because it is implanted in nature, and a mother does not work on it. It can be said that it is egoistic because our whole nature is egoistic. So, it is not an example of non-egoistic bestowal. What non-egoistic bestowal can there be in this? It is absolute egoism, which is natural for the whole animal world, and there is nothing human or special about it.
Please forgive me ladies, we are not children. We understand that it is all pure instinct. I just saw my mom in Toronto and we met each other with such love. These are very good feelings on our level, our world. However, we need to understand that all of this happens on the level of animal states. Although these feelings are pleasant for us, it is nonetheless so.
Question: You said that by adopting the properties of the Sefirot we begin to perceive the Creator. Is there any difference between adopting the properties of one particular Sefira or those of another?
Yes, of course. Every Sefira is a completely individual property of the Creator. This is what differentiates them from one another. In other words, the Creator reveals Himself through eight transformations (roughly speaking, since I don’t want to go into details right now). He reveals Himself that way so that we would study Him that way and equalize ourselves to Him.
It is like a grown-up showing something to a child through examples. The child watches and does the same things. By so doing, the child begins to understand. He takes a wooden hammer, something like a tack, and begins to watch his father and to make the same motions. He does not understand what he is doing, but he does it and grows because of it, he develops a mind. In other words, he begins to understand the inner meaning in the act, although the act itself is meaningless for him and he simply copies it like a monkey.
It is the same with us. By equalizing ourselves to the Creator according to the external acts of the eight Sefirot, we discover their inner meaning.
Question: How do the 620 levels of the soul, or the elevation of the soul, relate to the 613 degrees of the commandments?
They are the same thing. The correction of our 613 desires which are also called commandments, is the same as rising by the 620 degrees of the soul.
Question: Does any unification of people allow the Creator’s properties to be revealed? For example, what if tomorrow all 7 billion people become fans of the same football team? Since they have the same goal and the same desire, will they feel the Creator?
They will be very close to that. God willing, let people unite even for such a silly cause. In actuality, you can’t imagine to what extent such unification (even though it is completely egoistic, animalistic, so low and small) nonetheless is close to the Creator. Of course, that’s only if it’s not to the detriment of humanity, but that’s not the case here, since we’re talking about all 7 billion. People will begin to feel their commonness. They will be united by a single thing, and they’ll understand what it means to be together and what strength lies therein. They will begin to feel a revelation of some Higher Force in this commonness.
For this reason, it is said Ir ha Nikdot Iefshar Leachriv. What does that mean? Suppose there’s a city surrounded by a wall, like in ancient times. Everyone is a horrible sinner in this city. They perform all possible sins, but they are all united like brothers. It is said that such a city cannot be taken by force. No possible siege can overcome this city because these people have unification. They can be the greatest sinners, but if they unite, that’s strength.
For this reason, particularly in Chasidic or Kabbalistic parables, we see many mentions of various thieves and robbers, united in gangs or groups of people, where they are very loyal to each other. They are always used as examples because there is great power in groups where every person is ready to give his life for the others. The fact that they’re criminals is irrelevant. They are accompanied by fortune.
Any unification causes a great inner power, even if it is horrible for all of humanity. Look at any Nazi alliances; it can even be seen on that antihuman level. Therefore, if you will all begin to root for the same football team, I’ll join you.
Question: Do the seven Mitzvot de Rabanan, the seven additional Mitzvot, go in addition to the 613, and that’s why it is said “620 times”?
Yes, they join them.
Question: If a person selflessly disseminates knowledge (e.g. psychology) which has nothing to do with Kabbalah, is that bestowal?
If a person selflessly disseminates knowledge (like psychology) which helps people, is it bestowal? Between you and me, that is not a good deed because you psychologically comfort people that way. Meanwhile, nature evolves and more awful blows are being prepared. Therefore, psychology only does harm.
It is forbidden to comfort a person. We can give everyone a sleeping pill and put each other to sleep for a given number of years. Can you imagine what will happen to our egoism in the meantime? If we’re not going to somehow adapt it to ourselves, adjust it, and realize as being evil? It will lead us to horrible consequences.
Under no circumstances should we shut a person’s eyes or spoil humanity. By so doing, you are dampening or weakening the Creator’s blows, which are directed precisely at each one of us and at all of us. We should not worsen these blows or gloat at them but we do need to patiently explain their cause. By explaining the cause, we help people to sweeten these blows, to understand that they are purposeful and will actually bring us to a kind and good goal, to eternity, and perfection. We should only act in this manner: explain the occurrences but never comfort.