If I accept the environment
I find myself in
as given to me by the Creator,
to lead me forward and to meet my main goal,
desire, and aspiration to reveal the meaning of life,
to reveal the Creator
then everything depends on
how I make myself dependent on this environment.
Michael Laitman -From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22
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Let us begin:
When we speak of
Environment
We are specifically referring to the
hidden force of life.
This One and no OTHER
has done, does, and will do
all the actions that appear before our eyes,
and consequently,
all that is yet to appear.
Although there is no Time,
Space and Motion
in Him
In this way, we should, to a certain extent,
understand the importance of the environment.
A first degree of importance, towards our environment,
in order to relate to it,
in a closer way
towards the development of each part and of all as a whole
in preparation
for the
future.
Therefore, we see that it is in the environment,
where we will find the hidden force of life.
And at the same time, we need new tools,
meaning new education.
Thus, “The environment”
works towards me,
and since I am devoid of any real tools,
I end up relating to an expression of life,
as I understand it.
Who
can blame me?
However,
it is specifically from there
that
the disparity of form is revealed,
which brings
darkness
into your desire,
and the
place for choice
is set.
But,
it is the
beginning of the way,
for this request,
the one for help,
as if I could feel that I am lacking
belongs
to the
Speaking level.
For now,
he must investigate and make many efforts,
until he comes to clarify
in his heart,
that finally,
he does long for
that next state.
And,
above himself,
ask for help.
As it is written,
"Everyone who comes for help is aided."
He needs to be educated in this direction,
he must take new books, and new teachers and
secure a good environment to practice.
as in everything else,
he must work.
“Come and See”,
your reward is assured, protected, and guarded.
The matter of creation must be revealed.
Its purpose, formation, and structure.
The Correction of Creation
and
the Purpose of Creation.
"COME AND SEE"
Baruch Shalom Ha-Levi Ashlag (Rabash)/Articles – Article 7, 1987
It is known
that our work,
which we need to exert in every way,
is only to achieve equivalence of form,
called adhesion.
Only then is it possible to achieve to do good to His creations
meaning
TO
REVELATION
But before the creatures obtain the vessels of equivalence of form,
the purpose of creation cannot be revealed to everyone.
Rather, it is concealed
and we must merely believe
that it is with the intention
to do good.
What has been revealed
to everyone
contradicts the good,
since each one always feels deficient in his life,
and always lives with grievances against the upper guidance.
He finds it difficult to say that he is enjoying his life
and say all day long,
“Blessed is the Lord.”
That is,
I am grateful
to You for dealing with me
benevolently.
Instead, a person’s life is always full of lack and pain.
He always sees that there is no meaning to his life
when he begins to think
about life’s purpose,
namely the benefits he gains while suffering the war of life.
This means that only when he tastes some pleasure, the pleasure intoxicates him and he loses his mind and reason and forgets to think about life’s purpose.
But when the pleasure in which he is immersed
departs from him,
for whatever reason,
he immediately begins to ponder
life’s purpose.
Only when one
has nothing
with which to
nourish his body,
meaning
when he does
not feel pleasure,
he immediately
begins to think
about life’s purpose.
That is, a person asks himself “What is the meaning of my life? For what purpose was I born in the world?
Was creation made so there would be creatures that suffer torments and pains in the world?”
That state
causes one to begin to contemplate
life’s purpose—what is it and what is it for?
This is regarded as a person raising his head from the currents of life, where all the creatures are,
and they have no time
to think about
what they are.
Rather,
they go with the flow
where the water goes.
And there is no one who can see the end,
meaning
where the flow of life is leading.
Only he,
because the lack of pleasure causes him to raise his head up
in order to look at life’s purpose,
at that time he sees and hears as though a clarion from above
tells him that the world was created with the intention
TO DO GOOD
TO HIS CREATIONS
Let’s see an example:
a child who was born, on a certain continent, in a certain country,
under a certain environment, i.e. family,
village, town, city, the many conditions, customs, past, and history,
which will be his nourishment for the next few years.
Thus, from the cradle,
childhood, infancy, and adolescence,
we see that at 20 years of age,
he will already know who he is,
and what he expects to do in his life.
In this way, he receives – according to each place, beliefs, and customs
– a certain influence that is built on him and determines
every detail in this person.
Over the years,
he receives everything
from the environment.
So we see that he grows, does and behaves
according to this received education
to this
received
education
plus his life experience
which apparently
enriches and creates the particular and
unique traits of his person.
and which he received without exception
from the different environments
in which
he was
introduced.
"COME AND SEE"
Rav Yehuda Leib Halevi Hashlag-Baal HaSulam-Freedom
Four Factors
Bear in mind that
every emergence occurring
in the beings of the world
must be perceived
not as
extending existence from absence,
but as
existence
from existence,
through an actual entity that has shed its previous form and
has robbed
its current one.
Therefore:
we must understand that in every emergence in the world,
there are four factors
and from the four of them
together
arises that emergence.
They are called by the names:
A. The source.
B. The unchanging conduct of cause and effect related to the source’s own attribute.
C. Its internal conduct of cause and effect changes by contact with alien forces.
D. The conduct of cause and effect of alien things which affect it from the outside.
I will clarify them
one
by one.
The First Reason: The Source, the First Matter
The “source” is the first matter,
related to that being.
For “there is nothing new under the sun,”
and anything that happens in our world is not
existence from absence, but existence from existence
It is an entity that has stripped off its former shape and taken on another form, different from the first.
And that entity, which shed its previous form, is defined as “the source.”
In it
lies the potential destined
to be revealed and determined at the end
of the formation of that emergence.
Therefore, it is clearly considered its primary cause.
The Second Reason: Cause and Effect that stems from Itself
This is a conduct of cause and effect
related to the
source’s own attribute,
and which is unchanging
Take, for example, a stalk of wheat that has rotted in the ground
and arrived at a state of sowing many stalks of wheat.
Thus, that rotten state is deemed the “source,”
meaning that the essence of the wheat has been stripped of its former shape,
the shape of wheat, and has taken on a new quality,
that of rotten wheat, which is the seed called “the source,”
which has no shape at all.
Now,after rotting in the groundit has become suitable for robing another form,
the form of many stalks of wheat,
intended to emerge from that source,
which is the seed.
It is known to all that this source
is destined to become neither cereal nor oats
but only equalize with its former shape,
which has left it,
being the single stalk of wheat
Although it changes to a certain degree in quality and quantity
for in the former shape,
it was a single stalk,
and now there are ten stalks,
and in taste and appearance, too,
the essence of the shape of the wheat
remains
unchanged.
Thus,
there is a conduct of
cause and effect here,
ascribed to
the source’s own attribute,
Thus,
the cereal will never emerge from wheat,
as we have said,
and this is called “the second reason.”
The Third Reason: Internal Cause and Effect
This is the conduct of the internal cause and effect of the source,
which changes
upon encountering
the alien forces in its environment
Thus, we find that from one stalk of wheat, which rots in the ground, many stalks emerge, sometimes larger and better wheat
than prior to sowing.
Therefore, there must be additional factors involved here,
collaborating and connecting with the force concealed in the environment,
meaning the “source.”
And because of this, the additions in quality and quantity, which were absent in the previous form of wheat,
have now
appeared.
those are the
minerals and the materials in the ground,
the rain, and the sun.
All these operate on it
by administering from their forces
and joining the force within the source itself.
And through the conduct of cause and effect,
they produced multiplicity
in quantity and quality in that emergence.
We must understand that this third factor joins the internality of the source,
since the force hidden in the source controls them.
In the end,
all these changes
belong to wheat and
to no other plant
Hence, we define them as internal factors
for in the former shape, it was a single stalk,
and now there are ten stalks,
and in taste and appearance, too,
The essence of the shape of the wheat remains unchanged.
However,
they differ from the second factor,
which is utterly unchanging,
whereas the third-factor changes in both
quality and quantity.
The Fourth Reason: Cause and Effect through Alien Things
This is a conduct
of cause and effect of alien things
that act upon it
from the outside.
In other words,
they have no direct relation to the wheat
like minerals, rain, or sun, but are alien to it,
such as nearby things or external events, such as hail, wind, etc.
And you find that four factors combine with wheat throughout its growth.
Each particular state that the wheat is subject to during that time
becomes conditioned
on the four of them,
and
the quality and quantity
of each state
are determined by them.
As we have portrayed in the wheat, so is the rule in every emergence in the world, even in thoughts and ideas.
If, for example,
we picture some
conceptual state
in a certain individual,
such as a state of a person being
religious or non-religious,
or an extreme orthodox or not-so-extreme,
or midway,
we will understand that that state was established in that person
by the four
above factors.
Hereditary Possessions
The cause of the first reason is the source, which is its first substance.
Man is created existence-from-existence, meaning from the minds of its progenitors.
Thus,
to a certain extent
he is like
a replication
from book to book
This means that almost
all the matters that were accepted and attained
by the fathers and forefathers
are replicated here, as well.
But the difference is that they are in an abstract form,
like the sowed wheat that is not fit for sowing until it has rotted and shed its former shape.
So is the case
with the drop of sperm
from which man is born:
There is nothing in it of its forefathers’ shapes,
only abstract force.
The same ideas that were concepts in his forefathers have turned into mere tendencies in him, called “instincts” or “habits,”
without even knowing why he does what he does.
BUT
Indeed,
they are hidden forces he had inherited from his ancestors
in a way that not only do material possessions come to us by
inheritance from our ancestors,
the spiritual possessions and all the concepts that our fathers engaged in
also, come to us by inheritance
from generation to generation.
All these pictures that appear in people are not their own property,
which they have acquired, but mere inheritance that had been given to them by their ancestors
From here
come the manifold tendencies
that we find in people
such as a tendency to believe or to criticize,
a tendency to settle for earthly life
or desire only spiritual,
moral wholeness,
despising a worthless life,
stingy, yielding, bold, or shy.
But because the concepts of our ancestors, acquired through their experiences,
have become mere tendencies in us, they are considered the same as the sowed wheat,
In our matter, these tendencies will robe the forms of concepts.
This is considered the first matter, and this is the primary factor,
called “source.”
which has taken off its former shape and has remained bare,
having only potential forces
fit of receiving
New Forms
In it
reside all the forces of the unique tendencies
he had inherited from his progenitors,
which are defined as “ancestral heritage.”
Bear in mind that some of these tendencies come in a negative form,
meaning the opposite of the ones that were in the ancestors.
This is why they said,
“All that is concealed in the father’s heart
emerges openly in the son.”
The reason for this
is that the source
takes off
its former shape
IN ORDER TO TAKE
A NEW FORM.
Hence, it is close to losing the shapes of the concepts of the ancestors,
like the wheat that rots in the ground
loses the shape that existed in the wheat.
However, it still depends on the other three factors, as I have written above.
Influence of the Environment
The second reason is unchanging, direct conduct of cause and effect,
related to
the source’s attribute.
Meaning,
as we have clarified with the wheat that rots in the ground,
the environment in which the source rests,
such as soil, minerals, rain, air, and the sun affect the sowing
by a long chain of
cause and effect in a long and gradual process,
state by state,
until it ripens.
And that source retakes its former shape, the shape of wheat,
but
differing in
quality and quantity.
In their general aspect,
they remain completely
unchanged;
hence, no cereal or oats will grow from them.
But in their particular aspect, they change in quantity,
as from one stalk emerge a dozen or two dozen stalks,
and in quality,
as they are better or worse than the former shape of the wheat.
It is the same here:
Man, as a “source,” is placed in an environment,
meaning society.
He is necessarily
affected by it,
as the wheat from its environment,
for the source
is but
a raw form.
Thus,
through the constant contact
with the environment
the society,
he is gradually impressed by them through a chain of consecutive states,
one by one,
as
cause and effect.
At that time the tendencies included in his source changed and take
on the form of concepts.
For example,
if one inherits from his ancestors a tendency to stinginess,
as he grows he builds for himself concepts and ideas
that conclude decisively that it is good for a person to be stingy.
Thus, although his father was generous,
he might inherit from him the negative tendency—to be stingy—
for the absence is just as much inheritance as the presence.
Or, if one inherits from one’s ancestors a tendency to be open-minded,
he builds for himself concepts and draws from them conclusions
that it is good for a person to be open-minded.
But where does one find those sentences and reasoning?
He takes all this
from the environment
unconsciously,
for they impart upon him
their views and likings
in the form of gradual
cause and effect.
Hence, man regards them as his possession, which he acquired through his free thought.
But here, too, as with the wheatthere is one unchanging part of the source,
which is that in the end,
the tendencies he had inherited
remain as they were in his forefathers.
This is called “the second factor.”
Habit Becomes a Second Nature
The third reason
is the conduct of direct cause and effect,
which affects the source
and changes it.
Because the inherited tendencies in man
have become concepts due to the environment,
they operate in the same directions
that these concepts define.
For example,
a man of frugal nature
in whom the tendency to stinginess
has been turned into a concept,
through the environment,
perceives frugality
through some reasonable
definition.
Let us assume
that by this conduct he protects himself
from needing other people.
Thus,
he has acquired
a scale for frugality,
and when that fear is absent, he can waive it.
It follows that he has changed
substantially for the better
from the tendency, he had inherited
from his forefathers.
And sometimes one manages to completely uproot a bad tendency.
This is done by habit, which has the ability to become second nature.
In that, the strength of a man is greater than that of a plant,
for wheat can change only in its own part,
whereas man
can change through
the cause and effect of the environment,
even in the
general parts,
meaning to completely uproot a tendency and invert it to its opposite.
External Factors
The fourth reason
is a conduct of cause and
effect that affects the source
by things that are completely alien to it
and operates on it
from the outside.
This means that these things are not at all related to the source’s growth conduct to affect it directly.
Rather, they operate indirectly.
For example, finances, burdens, or the winds, etc.,
have their own complete, slow, and gradual order of states by way of “cause and effect”
that change man’s concepts
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
AS CLAY IN THE HANDS OF A POTTER
Even if one were to sit and contemplate something all day long,
he will not be able to add or alter what those four factors give him.
Any addition he can add
it in the quantity:
whether a great intellect or a small one.
But in the quality,
he cannot add one bit.
This is because
they are the ones that compellingly determine the nature
and shape of the idea and
the conclusion against our will
without
asking
our opinion.
Thus, I have set up the four natural factors that each thought and idea
that appears in us is but their fruits.
Free Choice
However, when we examine these four factors,
we find that although
our strength
is not enough to face the first factor,
the source,
we still have the ability and free choice
to protect ourselves
against the other three factors
by which the source
changes in its parts,
and sometimes in its general part, as well, through habit,
which endows it
with a second nature,
as explained above.
The Environment as a Factor
This protection means that we can always add to the matter of choosing our environment, which are friends, books, teachers, and so on.
It is like a person who inherited a few stalks of wheat from his father.
From this small amount, he can grow many dozens of stalks through his choice of environment for his source, which is fertile soil that contains all the necessary minerals and raw materials that nourish the wheat abundantly.
There is also the matter of the work
of improving the environmental conditions
to fit the needs of the plant and its growth,
for the wise
will do well
to choose the best
conditions and will succeed.
AND
THE
FOOL
will take from whatever comes before him
and thus turn the sowing
into a curse rather than a blessing.
Thus, all the praise and spirit depend on the choice of the environment in which to sow the wheat.
But
once it has been sown
in the selected location,
the wheat’s absolute shape
is determined according to the measure
that the environment
is capable of providing.
So is the case with our topic, for it is true that the desire has no freedom.
And one is compelled to think and examine as they suggest,
denied of any strength to criticize or change,
as the wheat that has been sown in its environment.
However,
there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment,
such books, and guides
that impart upon him good concepts.
If one does not do this
but is willing to enter any environment that appears before him and read any book that falls into his hands,
he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and more accessible.
Rather, it is operated by the above four factors.
In consequence,
he will be forced into foul concepts that make him
sin and condemn.
HE WILL CERTANLY BE PUNISHED
NOT because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice,
but because he did not choose to be in a good environment.
for in this there is definitely a choice.
The Mind’s Control over the Body
Some external contemporary sages,
after contemplating the above matter
and see how man’s mind is but a fruit that
grows out of the events of life,
concluded that the mind has no control whatsoever over the body.
Rather,
only life’s events,
imprinted in the physical tendons of the brain,
control and activate man.
Man’s mind is like a mirror, reflecting the shapes before it.
Although
the mirror is the carrier
of these shapes,
it cannot
activate or move
the shapes reflected in it.
So is the mind.
Although life’s events,
in all their manners of cause and effect,
are seen and recognized
by the mind,
the mind is nonetheless
utterly incapable
of controlling the body,
to bring it into motion, meaning to bring it closer to the good or push it away from the bad.
This is because the spiritual and the physical are completely remote from one another, and there is no intermediary tool between them to enable the spiritual mind to activate and operate the corporeal body, as has been discussed at length.
But where they are smart, there they disrupt
Man’s imagination
uses the mind just as
the microscope serves the eyes:
Without the microscope,
we would not see anything harmful,
due to its smallness.
But once we see the harmful being through the microscope we distance ourselves
from the noxious element.
Thus, the microscope brings man to distance himself from harm, not the sense, for the sense did not detect the harm-doer.
And to that extent, the mind fully controls man’s body, to push it away from bad and pull it toward the good.
Thus,
in all the places where the attribute of the body fails
to recognize the beneficial or the detrimental,
it needs only
the mind’s knowledge.
Furthermore, since man knows his mind,
which is a true conclusion from life’s experiences, he can therefore receive knowledge and understanding from a trusted person
and take it as law,
although his life’s events have not yet revealed
these concepts to him.
It is like a person
who asks for the advice of a doctor
and obeys him
even though
he understands nothing with his own mind.
Thus, one uses the mind of others no less than one uses one’s own.
There are two ways for Providence
to make certain that man achieves the good,
final goal:
The path of suffering
and
the path of Torah.
All the clarity in the path of Torah stems from this
For these clear conceptions
that were revealed and recognized after a long chain of events
in the lives of the prophets and the men of God,
there comes a man who fully utilizes them and benefits from them, as though these concepts were events of his own life.
Thus,
you see that one is exempted from all the ordeals one must experience
before he can develop
that clear mind by himself.
Thus,
one saves both
time and pain.
It can be compared
to a sick man who
does not wish to obey the doctor’s orders before he understands by himself how that advice would cure him
and therefore begins to study medicine by himself.
He could die of his illness
before he learns
medicine.
Once again, when we speak of the environment, we refer to the hidden force of life
that performs all the actions
we experience
in our existence.
Every little detail is guarded and guided to ensure its final development.
Let us see what has brought us to our days,
the environment
we find ourselves in,
and where it will lead us.
One, Unique and Unified.
Born in Warsaw, Poland, in the month of Tishrei, in 1884 – died in Jerusalem, in 1954, also known as Baal HaSulam (בעל הסולם, “the author of the ladder”, his Zohar commentary), was a 20th-century rabbi and Kabbalist. Ashlag founded a center for disseminating Kabbalah, aimed at the masses and continued by his disciples.
RAV YEHUDA ASHLAG
There are no words to describe his work and legacy, but we can say that their writings will be studied to the end of the correction and beyond. Thank You
Also known as the “Rabash,” was born in Warsaw, on January 22, 1907 – died in Israel, on September 13, 1991. He began his Kabbalah studies with his father, Yehuda Ashlag, selected students at the age of nine. his work, still unknown to the great majority, gave continuity to the legacy of his father and teacher, he expanded the foundations, the structure, the order, and all the necessary content for the development of humanity for anyone who wishes to reach the degree of man.
RAV BARUJ ASHLAG
Rabash, you are the pillar of this great nation that today rises on your wonderful work, your comfortable words, and your heart, that still live in our great Teacher. Thank you
Laitman was the student and personal assistant of Rav Baruch Ashlag.
In 1991, after his teacher’s death, Laitman founded his Kabbalah study group called “Bnei Baruch”, “The Sons of Baruch”, named in honor and memory of his teacher.
Dr. Michael Laitman is an internationally renowned kabbalist, who leads daily live lessons, for anyone who wishes to learn about the wisdom of Kabbalah.
Rav Michael Laitman
You are the sun revealed in the morning, shining upon all the people, bringing them their daily sustenance, work, and peace. Your words are the shofar heard by all. Thank You.
Thus,
from the hand of Baal Hasulam, the hand of Rabash,
and still in our days, from the hand of our Master,
Rav Michael Laitman,
we have received this Method,
in an indescribable compilation,
ready to be used by everyone
who needs it.
Invaluable words, ready to become the veins that transmit the blood to this lifeless body
that lies at the beginning of its path.
Today, after the great processes that have taken place,
we receive more than 130 continuous years
in the development of the wisdom of the Kabbalah
and therefore of man.
Everything has been explained, and any person in the world,
regardless of nationality, beliefs, sex, education, past, or anything that prevents him from taking from here,
and revealing what until today was kept hidden.
Therefore, "choose life".
To follow in his footsteps,
his work, his effort, and his devotion for this one reason,
which brings us together today in this reality,
to walk in his ways and adhere to Him.
His legacy represents
the internality of the deepest discernments
of the soul.
May we be rewarded and blessed to continue in all His ways, elevate the Divine from the dust and cleave to Him.
Rest not and give Him no rest…
To our parents, teachers, and friends.
“Environment”
This is His legacy, and it belongs to everyone.
The only difference
is how we will follow,
consciously or unconsciously.
That is inanimate, vegetative, animal, or SPEAKING.
"COME AND SEE"
Shamati 1.
There is none besides Him
Rav Yehuda Leib Ha-levi Ashlag
