We create the pipes and the valves that transmit or conceal the Upper abundance. We open up the pipes of abundance through the quality of the connection between us and between all our attributes.
Spiritual Mathematics: Upper = I +1
Question: You said that at every moment the Upper inserts in me thoughts and feelings; who is that Upper?
The Upper is "I" + 1; the next spiritual step that does not exist for me at this moment. All my states, from my current state to Ein Sof (infinity) have already unfolded in front of me from bottom to top. However, like a baby I need to acquire them through my efforts. That is why there are people who can see all the future forms a baby takes, as he marries, becomes a father and a grandfather, until the end of its life. By contrast, the baby itself does not see all this, but acquires those states through minute by minute efforts. Nature forces a baby to invest efforts to realize all these states.
In spirituality we need to invest efforts through our own volition. Only if we do not do so through our own initiative, we are forced to do it by nature. The difference between corporeality and spirituality is that in the corporeal life I get a blow which subconsciously causes me to move from one state to the next. In the spiritual life I get a blow and then need to decide: "I feel bad, I better move toward bestowal." In my corporeal life I progress from one state to the next because my ego tells me that the next state offers more pleasure or less pain. By contrast, in the spiritual world I move because I envision a better state in my altruistic emotion. Therefore, I need to decide to move on my own, while overcoming my will to receive. In spirituality, the blow itself does not make me move, but the accumulation of blows eventually lead me to decide that spirituality is preferable to corporeality. In other words, in corporeality we progress without "conscious knowledge" while in spirituality we progress by knowledge - beyond the will to receive. To progress in spirituality is to decide that I must move beyond my current state. In corporeality I do not decide, a force beyond my direct control causes me to move. In the corporeal world no one knows why he grows.
As one approaches the end of life in the corporeal world, he asks with astonishment "Have I really gone through all this? Was it really me?" By contrast, in spirituality you must decide on your own about each step and on the entire process of growth. Therefore, the blows do not bring progress; there is no "regular pace." A "regular pace" means that you receive a blow and then decide to reduce its impact or avoid the next one by moving toward more bestowal. By contrast, an "accelerated pace" is one without blows, but there is a decision to move toward bestowal with the help of a group. You replace a blow with a group, but the decision to move forward must be taken every day because it is against our nature.
Choose To Develop
What's between corporeal development and spiritual development and what can we do in order to accelerate our development?
Every man, animal, and plant grows and develops in our world until it reaches its future form. It's possible to discern the power of nature that pushes them to develop, to change their present form. A very prominent and obvious example is that of a child, who from day to day changes and develops. The question that is asked is why does this happen? What is the motivating power of development, to attaining our "I" of the future?
The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that this power is called, "The Light that Reforms," and is what operates on the material of the vegetative, animal, and the speaking. The Light develops the material because Nature has a plan and purpose, otherwise the material would remain at the still level and would never change. Actually, this is the power that sustains our reality.
In contrast to the levels of the still, vegetative, and animal ( including the "animal" body of man) whose forms automatically develop by nature, man needs to chose, on his own, to develop spiritually. And here, the Kabbalists explain, exists two paths of development that are actually one-to cause the power to act upon us "the path of pain (within the time)" meaning through blows until we agree to take our development into our hands, or to save the blows and to invite it by ourselves, consciously. This way is called, "before the time", or the path of Torah and Mitzvot," which promises us accelerated and pleasant development.
Question from a student: Kabbalah says that people should not practice mysticism, but should treat everything taking place from a realistic standpoint. On the other hand, the method of Kabbalah is based on "miracles" from Above - things that are incomprehensible and irrational, as you have explained. How do these two things mesh together?
Dr. Laitman's Answer: We are situated in one part of nature - the material part, which is severed from the other part of nature - the spiritual part. It takes efforts to unite with the spiritual part, but if we make them, we will make a "discovery" of the unity that is there.
This resembles a miracle because we do not see the connection between our efforts and the spiritual revelation. If we knew what this connection is, we would clearly understand how many efforts we have to make in order to acquire what we want. However, this connection seems not to exist, because we exist inside the quality of reception, egoism, and we don't feel the quality of bestowal in this state.
We don't perform actions of bestowal and we have no evident contact with the spiritual world. Yet, there is a system that we activate with our egoistic actions which we make in order to reach the spiritual world; this system draws the Light that Reforms, Ohr Makif, upon us. This is a system of connection between ourselves - egoism, and the spiritual world - bestowal, and it is described by the verse, "I labored and found."
We are cut off from spirituality and we don't aspire to it at all. We imagine spirituality in the form of a profit or a finding rather than the quality of bestowal. However, even this kind of incentive is able to gradually draw the Light that Reforms upon us. As a result, we begin to have a greater desire for the spiritual quality of bestowal.
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