Reality Is a Mirror of Our Inner Self

It's great to be back with you after meeting you in person in Prague, Latvia and Lita. It's not something we should take for granted that friends come from all over for these gatherings. This experience was really important to see if you're happy with the course. It was great to understand that you're quite satisfied with the lessons. We enjoyed the informal discussions - it really helps us see how we can build courses in a way that advances you more. It was really special and we also started the topic of seeing a friend's attributes rather than their lackings.

Today we want to talk about why it's so important to truly search for a friend's good attributes rather than their bad attributes. This isn't about dealing with all of humanity. Not the people I work with or my family. It's with a very specific group of people - my friends on the school bench. But unlike other course in life suddenly we're being told that these friends are a means to reaching the Creator. If we're being honest - I didn't plan to have friends like this at all. So it's a really challenging process.

They wrote about this thousands of years ago, and hundreds of years ago - many people went through the process and wrote about this means we have for attaining the Creator - a friends. I understand just like most of humanity does from the movies - when a person dies they go to heaven and meet God. Sometimes you also need to do some good deeds - that's also open to interpretation. In a war for example each side feels totally justified.

But attaining Him here in this world - it's something most people have never heard of. And that I need to be in contact with a group of people that we'll eventually call love. To reach that state we try to see only good in the friends - there's a few dozen things like this we're leaning theoretically. Later on you'll start implementing these things in small groups. And you'll only do this with your ten. When you reach revelation then you'll understand what to do with your relatives and the rest of humanity. So we're going to keep reading about these principles that will advance us toward the Creator.

We're going to watch a clip about the root of all this. Looking for a friend's good attributes may sound like morality or something - but it's really far deeper. It's about seeing everything outside of me as part of Creation.

Clip - Perceiving reality correctly

Try more and more to describe the whole world so that you are in front of the Creator, in front of the Upper Light, that what they do you see your inner self. Everything I see in the world from the best things to the worst things, it's all thoughts and desires that I have, that I see them like this from the outside. It seems like something amazing, it's a movie, it's such a projection that it's impossible to describe.

Look at the whole world, at all of reality, the Creator as if through an X-ray machine transmits such X-rays through each and every one, and then we see on the screen our inner self, of each and every one, this is the truth. Only if we get used to perceiving reality like this, then it will be easier for us to change ourselves, to correct our attitude towards reality, towards the Creator, towards friends, towards everyone.

But this is the true perception, and from this it will also be easier for us to reach a state where, apart from correcting ourselves, each one of us, we no longer demand anything, we have no claim against anyone, including the Creator of course. We have only one request, that the Creator correct us. With what? That we cannot say anything bad about His creation. Michael Laitman

How can one consider his friend, who is greater than him, at the same time that he sees that he has greater virtues than his friend, that is, that he is more talented, that he has better qualities by nature. And this can be understood in two ways:

a. He goes with the consideration of faith above reason, that when he chose him as a friend, he already looks at him above reason.

b. This is more natural, that is, within reason. Since if he decided to accept him as a friend, and works with himself to love him, here is the way of love that he does not see only good things, and bad things, even though they exist in his friend, he does not see them, as it is written, "Love will cover all sins."

(Rabash, Article 17, Part 1. "On the Importance of Friends" 1984)

Rabash is recommending going above reason. If I see my attributes are better than my friend - I'm more talented. Then I need to go above reason. How can I see him as great if I'm more talented? It's unnatural - we need to check if it's even possible. Above reason is something about our human capacity. It's above what I feel - where do I take forces for that? We only learn this in the wisdom of Kabbalah - not anywhere else.

It's only when we really invest in someone do we love him. Rav always gives the example of an adopted child who we end up loving more because we need to prove ourselves. Same thing here - I invest in loving the friends and wherever I invest that's what I'll end up loving.

There is natural love and love above reason - these are the two approaches for having the right attitude to the friends and getting closer to the Creator.

Rabash is saying we have a problem - I need to see the friend as great. But I don't see this naturally. All of the wisdom of Kabbalah goes against my nature. But it's also very practical because we're not dealing with some abstract force like the force of bestowal. We have a friend sitting right in front of us - a ten sitting around a table. Maybe up until now we met virtually - suddenly we're sitting together and we look at them differently. First we observe them naturally - but how do we push ourselves from there to the state Rabash is talking about. He's saying there are two options - there is above reason, which isn't so easy because I have my own thoughts and opinions - how to do we do that exactly? It's a very wide and complex topic.

The other recommendation Rabash gives is when he says - that a person only loves himself. So when you invest in loving someone else you'll end up loving them. Just like you invest in your own kids. You'll invest in the friends and you won't necessarily love the friends - you'll love your investment in them. Then it will be easier to see them as great.

The bottom line is that you need to be able to see the Creator behind each and every friend in the ten, we need to see how He drives the friend. In the wisdom of Kabbalah we always explain how we create the Creator ourselves - it is our connection that creates the Creator. And this is how we have a chance to reach the Creator - to work with the friend to start putting this puzzle called the Creator together. This is why I have my work with the friend. I don't need them to love me - I need to love them. I receive tools to work with them and I need to get to work. Ask for help, have perceptions, attempt to do things - this practical work with the friends in a ten is how we attract the light that reforms us.