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All assignments and homework for the Young Group with Dave and Danny
Homework #Lesson 5:
Each friend leaves in the forum a short message:
What did I take from the lesson?Read the quote by Dr. Laitman:
“What I do in this work is demand the Reforming Light. And when the Reforming Light comes to me it brings me closer to the friend, I begin to feel him close to me, and I begin to care for him, that I have a certain warmth to him, still far from the actual flame, but I can somehow say that I am beginning to get close to the matter of love. And then, when I feel such a sensation, this sensation makes us equal, equal by me not being able to think of myself, only of two, and first of him and then of myself. And so on, these are the degrees, but this is all from the Reforming Light. That’s it, so you have an exercise, be above, be below, and demand the Light that brings you the feeling of love, and then you are equal”.Discuss on the forum:
How do we make sure that we draw the reforming light with every action of ours?Leave in the forum a message that will help build between us a demand so that none of us will be able to differentiate themselves from the others, and we will feel as one.
Last but not least:
Remind each other of the connection throughout the week without overwhelming the friends in the GE Forum. If you’re naturally active on the GE Forum, make efforts to leave room for others. If you’re naturally inactive, make efforts to inspire the friends.
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There is nothing more natural than coming into contact with one’s Maker, for He owns nature. In fact, every creature has contact with his Maker, as it is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and not that one does not know and does not feel it. Actually, one who attains contact with Him attains only the awareness. It is as though one has a treasure in his pocket, and he does not know. Along comes another who lets him know what is in his pocket, and now he really has become rich. Yet, there is nothing new here, no cause for excitation. In fact, nothing has been added. Baal HaSulam, “The Solution”
Why I chose this reading:
I love how simply and beautifully Baal Hasulam communicates to us from this excerpt that there is none else besides Him.
What I felt:
I felt warm and pleasant while reading this excerpt.
Homework Lesson #4
“It is written, ‘there is none else besides Him.’ This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what men sees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household, the reason is that this is His will.” – 1. There Is None Else Besides Him – Shamati, Baal HaSulam
Why do I chose it and what I feel about:
Honestly? I feel that this is the most important of all steps in revealing the Creator and achieving equivalence of form. Because this is a state in which one relinquishes control and recognizes that he has no control, also that he has nothing to comment on because of some “evil”.
Allowing that state, really diving into it and letting it permeate you – that requires complete trust, Faith, that’s just what we don’t know and lets the ego go completely haywire. Here is the point of letting go as well as surrendering. It’s a powerful exercise.
And I feel that I need a few days, even a few weeks, just to practice that. What it says. Just letting that sink in. Feel it, live it. Being like that.Homework lesson #4:
Each friend picks an excerpt from our sources, shares it on the Grad Environment Forum and leaves a written explanation, for why he chose it and what he felt from the text. Make sure to space out your posts throughout the week.
https://kabbalahmedia.info/en/sources/he3tEpLuLesson #4 Homework
What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator in the Work?
I heard on Shevat 12, February 6, 1944We must know the reason for the heaviness one feels when he wants to work in annulling his self before the Creator and not worry about his own benefit. A person comes to a state as though the entire world stands still, and he alone is now seemingly absent from this world, and leaves his family and friends for the sake of annulling before the Creator.
There is but a simple reason for this, called “lack of faith.” It means that one does not see before whom he nullifies, meaning he does not feel the existence of the Creator. This causes him heaviness.
But when he begins to feel the existence of the Creator, his soul immediately yearns to annul and connect with the root, to be contained in it like a candle in a torch, without any mind or reason. However, this comes naturally, as a candle is canceled before a torch.
It therefore follows that the essence of one’s work is only to come to feel the existence of the Creator, meaning to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and this will be one’s entire work. That is, all the energy one puts into the work will be only to achieve this, and nothing else.
One should not be misled into having to acquire anything. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs: faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.
We must know that there is no difference between a small illumination or a great illumination that a person obtains, since there are no changes in the light. Rather, all the changes are in the Kelim [vessels] that receive the abundance, as it is written, “I the Lord did not change.” Hence, if one can magnify one’s Kelim, to that extent he magnifies the illumination.
Yet, the question is, With what can one magnify one’s Kelim? The answer is that to the extent to which he praises and thanks the Creator for having brought him closer to Him, so he would feel Him a little and think of the importance of the matter, meaning that he was rewarded with having some connection with the Creator.
To the extent of the importance that one pictures for oneself, so the illumination grows in him. One must know that he will never come to know the true measure of the importance of the connection between man and the Creator because one cannot assess its true value. Instead, as much as one appreciates it, so he attains its merit and importance. There is a Segula [power/remedy/virtue] in this, since by this he can be rewarded with this illumination staying permanently within him.
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This passage touches me deeply. Before coming to know some of the basics through Kabu, I felt lost and alone – a version of the heaviness (of the heart, I believe). I often asked myself “What is the purpose of my life? Why was I even born? Looking at the world and it’s clear there’s no point.” Now I think of work ahead and feel faith in the future. The connection and loss of connection will be difficult, but is also integral to the process. I wonder if it will feel like the lost and alone experience that I had in the past…
Excerpt #1
155) Therefore we must ask, why then, did the Kabbalists obligate each person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Indeed, there is a great thing in it,worthy of being publicized: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround
their souls.
Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the study of the Ten Sefirot, item 155Thanks to the Creator, I found Kabbalah, and this science answered most questions I had.
But, it is not all about me. “why then, did the Kabbalists obligate each person to study….Although they do not understand…”
In dissemination, also my life would have some value.
From “They Helped Every One His Friend”
The Creator hears only one request from us: the one for the connection with friends, for mutual bestowal in the group—nothing else. If we want to complain to Him about our personal problems, this is not the right address. He will not hear these complaints because He is the one who created these problems in order for us to want to connect with the group above them. The need to connect with the ten should be more important than personal problems, and with this request, we can turn to the Creator. It means that the spiritual is more important to us than the material, meaning that the connection with the Creator and the friends is more important to us than various corporeal problems.
This excerpt opened my eyes to the importance of the group in an enhanced way. If I elevate the importance of the group in my eyes, I am, ipso facto elevating the importance of spirituality. If I make showing up for the Young Group more important that the million corporeal things I could show up for instead, I am, in a very, very direct way showing up for spirituality. This takes all of the vagueness out of “pursuing spirituality.”
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