A Social Network on the Spiritual Level

Question: It seems to me that people prefer to communicate by e-mails and

SMS instead of speaking to each other. Why is it so?

Today the ego has evolved to such a degree that we prefer a more virtual

relationship with others.

It is not that we do or do not want others. But we feel better, more

comfortable, more complete when we connect with others through text

messages or a computer screen, or something else.

Why? Because in this way we don’t touch others’ bodies, their external forms.

To understand why it happens, we must know the root of this phenomenon.

The desire to receive in us has evolved and wishes to transcend the animal

level of our bodies. The animal level has nothing further to give us; it does not

provide us contact with others. However, we do seek deeper contact with

others, so for the time being we turn to virtual relationships.

In the next phase, virtual relationships will not satisfy us and we will want an

even deeper connection. Amidst the virtual connection, we will sense a need

to be internally, spiritually connected with others.

The more removed we become on the physical level, the more we sense the

need for connection. This explains the revolution of the internet and why

everyone is so drawn to it.

Where does this attraction come from, which sometimes turns into an actual

obsession? It comes from our wish to satisfy our need for connection with

others. Although social networks and forums today are usually filled with

drivel, and surely there is no true fulfillment in this connection, there is

nevertheless a kind of connection here and it addicts us.

M. Laitman

Contrasts

Question: Why were we created with ego in the first place, if we will

eventually have to correct it?

We come to know the world by comparing opposites—hot vs. cold, black vs.

white. We recognize one in relation to the other. If everything were white, we

wouldn’t detect anything. Likewise, if everything were black, we wouldn’t

detect anything, either.

Contrast is always necessary, the disparity between colors, sensations, and

places. We sense the differences between things, but not each thing separately.

The Creator is love and bestowal. However, we will not be able to sense what

bestowal is if we are not opposite to it. This is why we need the ego—“help

made against him.” Being opposite from the Creator helps us know and sense

the Creator.

The Creator—the desire to love and give

The creature—the desire to receive

Because we are currently opposite from the Creator

we are hiding Him from ourselves

Correction—as we acquire the quality of love and bestowal

we equalize with the Creator and begin to sense Him

The Button

Currently, we are seeing the picture of this world as if we are all watching the

same TV channel.

We have become so accustomed to it that we can’t even imagine that there is

another channel.

One day, it gets a little boring. The point in the heart has awakened in us, and

a desire to change the channel rises from within. Previously, we didn’t even

imagine this was possible.

Gradually, we begin to realize that we can change the channel, but only if we

truly want to. Our desire is the button that can change the channel.

As soon as we are ready, the other channel will turn on automatically. It isn’t

that the first channel will disappear, but that the second one will be added; we

will view the first channel, and be aware of the second in the background.

Thus, the two worlds will merge within us into a single, all-inclusive

harmony.

M.Laitman

Here and Now

You cannot take a train ride to the spiritual world;

you cannot fly there, either, because it is within us.

We need only evoke the spiritual sensation within us,

sharpen our senses,

and open wide our perception

to what is happening right here.

Then we will find ourselves in a never-ending, wonderful adventure

that will leave us agape with awe.

And from then on, it will never stop growing.

M. Laitman

Entrance

What is the purpose?

The One Above desires to dwell in things below. The transcendent within the mundane.

Meaning that a breath of Godly life descends below and dresses itself in a body and human personality. And this body and personality come to negate and conceal the light of this Godly soul…

And nevertheless, the soul purifies and elevates the body, the person and even her share of the world.

And what is the reason behind this purpose?

There is none.

It is from before reason.

And so it is unbounded and all-consuming.

For it is a desire of the Essence.

T. Freeman

Plan B

At the outset of Creation, He removed all light. And that is the source of all that ever goes wrong.

Why did He remove the light? Why did He choose that things could go wrong?

Sometimes we say He wanted darkness as a background, a place to shine a new light and make a world of light. The darkness, we say, is there for the sake of light. Pain exists for the sake of healing.

But this could not be the entire answer.

Why? Because darkness for the purpose of light is not complete darkness. This darkness was absolute, a void, an emptiness, the diametric opposite of the Infinite Light that preceded it. And so, too, we find evil in the world that has no explanation, no answer, no light to shine.

The entire answer must be that in Light alone, God cannot be found. For He is beyond dark and light, presence and absence, being and not being.

And so, just as darkness is there for the sake of light, so is light there for the sake of darkness—to reveal its true purpose, to allow knowledge of a wholly transcendent God to enter His world.

T. Freeman

"We are told that under the reign of the ottoman sultan Mehmet II ..."

"We are told that under the reign of the ottoman sultan Mehmet II,

known as 'the Conqueror', there was a famous warrior who had won

twenty-two victories against enemy armies. It was at a time when

fighting was done with swords, and so, one day, the sultan asked

for this all-victorious sword to be brought to him, as he thought

it must possess exceptional qualities. So the sword was brought

to him. He took it, turned it one way, turned it the other way...

But it was a completely ordinary sword, and the sultan,

disappointed, returned it, saying he had no use for such an

ordinary weapon. When the hero who had emerged victorious from so

many battles learned of the sultan's reaction, he exclaimed, 'But

he saw only the sword, he didn't see my arm. It is my arm that

won the victories'. 

I, too, give you a sword, which is to say, effective spiritual

methods, that is, effective provided you apply them. Even a tiny

knife can work wonders if we practise handling it every day, and

a single match can set a whole city ablaze. With some seemingly

unimpressive method, one can also do an immense work: it is all

in the arm, that is, in the will."

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

There Is World

here are three things to always remember:

The One Above, yourself below, and the world in between.

Abandon any one of those and you will stumble and fall.

Even those who grasp for God alone, they do not build, but desolate.

To reach God, you must deal with the reality of your world and redeem it.

T. Freeman

The Parable

The world is a parable, two stories at once,

layered one beneath the other.

On the outside, it is the story of a monster called reality,

with its intimidating army of fiends and beasts, lunacy and futility.

From the inside, it is a story of Him alone with you,

and all these challenges nothing less than _expressions of His love, drawing you yet closer.

The world is a parable,

and you choose the channel in which you wish to live.

T. Freeman

Reframing

There are no things. There are only words. The Divine Words of Creation.

The words become fragmented, their letters scattered.

Only then are they called things; for scattered, they have no meaning.

Words in exile.

If so, their redemption lies in the story we tell with them. How we reorganize fragments into meaning, things into words, redefining what is real and what is not, and living life accordingly.

Life is in the interpretation of the words God gives us.

T. Freeman

When that which is God

When that which is God -- or that which is that which man wants to call "God" -- is being understood by man, man has to translate it into the format he understands. But this Energy -- this Source that man is giving the label of "God", cannot be quantified in anything that man understands. And as man attempts to do it, the distortions are enormous.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, August 4th, 2001 #378

Being Truth

What is your job in this world? It is to become truth.

How do you become truth? By not lying to yourself.

It is not that you must do whatever you do with sincerity.

Sincerity itself is the work you must do.

It is what you must become.

T. Freeman

Cause & Effect

Everything in the universe works in a chain of cause and effect. At the beginning of every such chain lies a decision, a free choice for which there is no cause, nothing that forced it to be that way. Whatever comes out of that chain will come back to the one who initiated it.

At the beginning of each chain and at its end, there lies purpose.

T.Freeman

If you don't meet resistance with resistance, it dissipates dramatically.

If you don't meet resistance with resistance, it dissipates dramatically. It just softens. Try it! Next time somebody says to you, "I'm right, and you're wrong," say, "Pfftt, you're right. You are right. You're right." And mean it. In other words, don't mock them. Don't be sarcastic. "You're right." And then watch how, all of a sudden, their legs almost go right out from under them. They don't have the energy to blast you, because you just took the fuel away from the fire.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Boston, MA on Saturday, May 17th, 2003 #380

In All Ways

People imagine a place of Godliness as a place for seriousness, a solemn place, a place that fills you with trepidation.

The fact is, where there is God, there is joy.

That is why our every moment is a moment to celebrate and fill with joy. Because at every moment we are fulfilling our mission of bringing Godliness into this world.

Not just the obviously joyful matters, such as meditation, study, prayer and good deeds, but also regular, mundane activities and the ways we earn an income and go about life -all are ways by which we know Him and bring Him into our world.

T.Freeman

When people say 'I'

"When people say 'I', do they always know who they really mean?
When they say, 'I am... ill or well, unhappy or happy; I want...
money, a car, a wife; I have... this wish, that interest, the
other opinion', they think they are talking of themselves, but
that is where they are wrong.
As humans have never studied themselves deeply enough to know
their true nature, they identify at all times with the 'I' that
is represented by their physical body, their instincts, their
desires, feelings and thoughts. But if they were to try, now, to
find themselves through study and meditation, they would actually
discover that, beyond all appearances, their true self is one
with God himself. For, in reality, there is not a multitude of
separate beings but one Being working through all beings, giving
them life and manifesting within them, even though they are not
aware of it. Once they are able to sense this reality, humans
will draw close to the divine Source from which they all
originate."

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Serious Darkness

Don’t take the world and its darkness so seriously --it is not as real as it feigns to be.

It is only a creation and it is being re-created out of absolutely nothing at every moment. The only thing real about it is its purpose of being --that you should purify it.

T.Freeman

Friendly Hardships

Hardships in life are the material world’s way of beckoning to you, “Purify me! Elevate me!”

They come to you knowing you can overcome them, and thereby they will fulfill their purpose of being.

T.Freeman

Sensitivity vs Sentimentality

"We say that someone who is easily wounded or offended is
sensitive. No, true sensitivity means being completely open to
the beauty and light of the divine world and closed to all the
ugliness and absurdity of the human world. So, what is generally
called sensitivity, that is, our ability to feel upset by
indifference, scorn, criticism and humiliation, is in fact only
susceptibility, sentimentality. So, what is left for these poor
unhappy souls, for whom heaven, angels, friends or beauty do not
exist, but only unfair, malicious, ill-intentioned people?
You must not confuse sensitivity with sentimentality.
Sentimentality is the unhealthy expression of a poor, mean,
narrow, neurotic ego. Sensitivity, on the other hand, is a higher
degree of evolution, which brings humans into contact with the
heavenly regions and enables them to resonate with all the beauty
of the universe."

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

La véritable certitude est un don du coeur.

La véritable certitude est un don du coeur. Celui qui n'a pas touché son coeur n'est sûr de rien. Il croit qu'il a des certitudes sur un grand nombre de questions, alors qu'un rien suffit à le faire douter. Celui qui base sa vie sur l'impersonnel, celui-là connaît le diamant de la certitude.
O.Manitara

The Human Ego

When I look at others,

My ego evokes envy and hate

and desire to control.

I don’t wish others well,

or at least, not better than me.

I want them to succeed a little,

a relative success,

but I want everyone to see that I am more successful.

------------------------------

Our nature, through which we sense the world and ourselves alive and

operating in it, is a program that depicts a certain reality for us.

It is called “Ego”—the will to receive and to enjoy by myself and for myself,

even when it is at the expense of others.

This software locks us from within, immerses us within it, draws all of our

attention, and actually compels us to focus solely on ourselves.

We operate according to this program and cannot even contemplate the

existence of another reality.

--------------------------------

We must not destroy anything within us.

Even the most negative attributes should remain.

We do not create anything new,

but only correct how we use

what already exists within us.

---------------------------

Michael Laitman PHD

This Marathon Has Run Its Course

We may think we have everything, but everything no longer satisfies us.

We are still playing the game and chasing transient goals, which we envision

as pleasures such as money, honors, and power. After all, what else is there to

do in this life?

We look at each other and thoughtlessly follow the current trend. We say to

ourselves, “If I behave like everyone else, I’ll feel good.” Then, we choose a

certain vague, agreeable goal and chase it, hoping to escape the emptiness.

We must be constantly preoccupied or the eternal questions will haunt us:

“What am I living for? What’s happening with my life?”

But sooner or later, the point in our hearts will awaken and we will not be

able to focus on mundane issues.

Suddenly, we will understand that this chase was prearranged in order to

distract our minds from what is most important.

As long as we closed our eyes to avoid truly seeing, we could run along with

the crowd.

But we have exhausted our strength. While everyone else is still racing, we

have dropped out. It is simply not appealing anymore; in fact, we find it

pointless.

Our will has deepened so much, it no longer allows us to settle for mundane

goals. This is when we begin the quest for a higher goal.

Michael Laitman PHD

Le pouvoir royal a pour insigne le sceptre et le globe.

"Le pouvoir royal a pour insigne le sceptre et le globe. Chaque
fois qu’un personnage est représenté avec un sceptre dans la main
droite et un globe dans la main gauche, on sait qu’il s’agit d’un
personnage royal. Mais que connaît-on de la signification
profonde de ces deux objets ? Et les monarques eux-mêmes la
connaissent-ils vraiment ?
On considère généralement que le sceptre est le symbole de
l’autorité et le globe celui du territoire sur lequel s’exerce
cette autorité. En réalité, cela va encore plus loin. Le sceptre
et le globe représentent l’activité des deux principes masculin
et féminin. Le principe masculin est toujours symbolisé par une
ligne droite (un sceptre, un caducée, une lance, une épée, un
pilier, un arbre), et par la main droite. Et le principe féminin
est symbolisé par une ligne courbe (tout objet creux ou arrondi,
une sphère, un vase, une coupe ou encore un abîme, une grotte),
et par la main gauche. Tenir le sceptre et le globe signifie que
l’on comprend les deux principes et qu’on sait travailler avec
eux."

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov