Secrets of the Eternal Book

“Secrets of the Eternal Book”

Video program with

Dr. Michael Laitman and

film director and scriptwriterSemen Vinokur.

Part 4, Chapter Noah

Semen Vinokur:Hello, dear friends. We are continuingthe series of our programs "Secrets of the Eternal Book." We are talking about how to read The Five Books of Moses, or the Torah correctly, how to put yourself, so to speak, inside of this book, and feel everything that happens there.

Main titles: Noah, TV program #4

Semen Vinokur:As always,Dr. Michael Laitman is with us. Hello.

Michael Laitman:I would say it maybe vice versa: how to see that it is within us; it is our internal structure that is actually described in the Torah;ittalks about two forces that act inside a man:positive and negative force and the forces of nature in general. We learn byattaining the reality that everything we sense outside is in fact within us. Meaning thatall the nature, the Universe, the outer space, everything is sensed within us.

Credit titles: Dr. Michael Laitman, PhD, Kabbalist

Michael Laitman: Doesit exist outside us, around us? This is a big question for an average person.Nothing in fact exists outside us: all these are our inner sensations. So, sincewe are discussing it,everything that is written there is about our sensing of the world, the universe, and even the worlds. All of themare within a person.

S.V.:Withthis...Iamafraidthatwestartconfusingapersonalittlebit. Toimagine...

M.L.:Well, let it be, he will pass over through confusion.

S.V.: How can a person imagine that all the worlds are inside him? Trytoexplainittome...

M.L.:No, wait a minute, well; it is in general clear to us today. Talk to people workingin the fields of biology, physiology, comprehension of reality, well, partially philosophy.Well, unfortunately, the philosophersgenerally arebecoming silent, vanishing nowadays.

S.V.:The history of philosophy develops...

M.L.:Yes. Wait a minute. Let’s comparea person to a certain device, for example, a computer. If I can see some images on my computer, on the screen, it means they already exist in the computer. Some electrical signals, which were not visual and didn't have any volume (didn't have anything except carrying some virtual information) have already been sentto the computer. The virtual informationwas received, and processed in a certain way by the computer, and it is in front of me, just for me,with the purpose for me to understand it. It appears on the screen in a certain way, in the form of letters, drawings, and some different visual images, and maybe in the way of all kinds of movements. It is done for me, actually just for me. In fact, it is all the same electrical forces, or just forces, because they are set up in that wayin relation to me. These arejust forces,whichoperate in the nature; if Iperceivethem as a picture, this is because I perceive them, their combination that way. In general, nothing but forcesexists in nature. Therefore, all that we perceive around us, this all is a combination of forces that build a picture for me on my screen, but what exists outsideare just forces.

S.V.:Why do they build that particular image for me?

M.L.:That particularone is because I do not perceive it otherwise. Why do I perceive the world that way? Because I am built in such a way. Why am I built in such a way? Well, to explain that we need tostart from the beginning. What we have already partially learntin the beginning is why a man was created in such a way: with his properties, forces, which appear in the form of a video image, or letters, sounds, tactile sensations, he needs to perceive something that exists as if outside of his sensations, and otherwise cannot be perceived.

We needto feelit somehow and for thatwe have five senses, which convertsomething that is not sensed into something that can be sensed. Well, something that is not sensed exists outside of us. That's why the Torah tells us about how we can perceive the universe so we will feel and work with the forces, and not be limited by our five senses. Why do we need it?To getrid of our body. I need that "animal" now because I cannot sense anything without it.

S.V.:When you refer to the "animal" do you mean the body?

M.L.:Yes, the body. Our body is an animal. I do not feel anything without it. If I disconnect from it: the ear aches, the eye gets swollen, and somethingsuddenly happens there, the limbs get numb, and I don't feel anything, I have already been disconnected from the world. Have the world and I been created so limited? No. I was given these limitations only in order to get rid of them. When I can rise above them, first, I will go beyond them, andif I rise over these five limited, animalistic properties—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and tactile sense (touch and tactile senseare the same )—I build a new kind of sensation above them, which are called Sefirot: Keter, Hochma , Bina, ZA, and Malchut.

I apologize for such "indecent" expressions here.They are terms and we cannot get away from them; and we will get used to them.

S.V.: We should say that the word Sefirot derives from "glowing."

M.L.:They are glowing, because I begin to feel theLight in them, in these properties. If I may feel just pleasure or, on the contrary, some unpleasant sensation in thetactile senses, butthere, I feel the Light, meaningunceasing, constant, and boundless delight.

S.V.:That means one should rise above the body to discover the Light there.

M.L.: Above the body...One should get out of one's body, to rise over it.

S.V.:To getoutofthebody.

M.L.:Yes.

S.V.:And see the body from the side or not?

M.L.:We can see it not in the form of the body: we can see it as if small selfishproperties, which are trying to absorb everything and, unfortunately or fortunately, can not succeed.

S.V.: But we can see how pitiful it is.

M.L.:No, it's just like you can see that otherwise it cannot work; it's similar to a dog or a catnext to me, and I can stroke them and sit next to them. I understand that this is my little friend and that this is its level of development, and this is mine:so we complement each other. I need it, this little friend of mine, in general to get out of itand grow further with its support. I should not abuse it. I should take care of it and treat it like an animal:to take care of it and provide it with all necessary so to say...

S.V.: To the body?

M.L.:Yes, to the body.And not more than that; andif it gets more, it's harmful. We can see ourselves when we start... Have you ever had a dog? Didyouoverfeedit?

S.V.:Yes, obesity occurs. You want more and more; it stimulates you to want more and more.

M.L.:And all that isharmful. An animal is created in the way so it needs just the very minimum, and that minimum is its necessary.

S.V.:Well,a dogknows it...

M.L.: Necessary and sufficient.

S.V.: A dog actually knows it.

M.L.: The animals that are not spoiled by us, know this and they clearly know that this is "all right", and that is too much.

S.V.: So,as I understand it, the wild animals know it better. Dogsandcats...

M.L.:eatwithusallsortsofpatties.

S.V.:Yes, all sorts of....patties. [Dr. Laitman and Semion are laughing.] We'll advance. As the perception of reality it's a very interesting topic. But we are slowly going back now to our chapter "Noah."

M.L.:So, no.So, therefore, we discuss all these chapters to go through them into a new reality.

S.V.: To feel the forces.

M.L.:To feel the forces that act behindthis, our imaginary world. It is imaginary because it can only be perceived this way in our senses. If we had other senses, we would perceive it differently.

S.V.: Do a dog and a bee perceive the world completely differently?

M.L.:Absolutely. Well, yes, but it is still at the level of our world; it's all at the same ...how to say... at the same level, we are with themin the same world.

S.V.:It'sclear.

M.L.:In the other dimension, where we rise over our body, there of course everything is perceived as just forces alone.

S.V.: It's miraculous!

M.L.:Then the person feels that he, his knowledge is unlimited, above time, motion, and space. These three constraints keep us like in prison, in a cell. When we get rid of them we begin to understand the true,unlimited perception.

S.V.: We are not surprised when you suddenly say, "Then a person lives forever and doesn't have any doubt..."

M.L.: No. Because he suddenly...

S.V.: Feels...

M.L.:is not limited byhis perceptions,the body; yes, heenters a completely different...

S.V.: Theword "eternity" becomesquitecommontohim, doesn'tit? Meaning it becomes the regular state that one can exist forever.

M.L.:Because for him the cause and effect become the same. Because he deals with the forces that cause our results and actions. When the force and effect are all the same for him then thenotion of "time" vanishes. Time is something that is between the cause and its effect: there is the beginning of the action, the action, and its effect: there is a gap between them.

S.V.:Yes.

M.L.: There is the time gap; yes, it could be a distance gap.

S.V.: Theaction.

M.L.:When the action itself, the thought, the vision, its beginning and end exist together to you, because you are dealing with forces, you rose to the level where only the force operates; this force has changed somehow and that's it! Then all kinds of actions happenin our world, and you do not pay attention to these:the resultitself doesn't matter to you. Because from the level of these forces it is clear that in our world that is being dependenton thosehigher forces everything will happen and therefore,you are above time, the result no longer existfor you. Theactionitselfisalreadytheeffecttoyou.

S.V.: It means the moment I relate to the eternal everything, all these already become...

M.L.: This is called the "the World of Infinity", unlimited, without end.

S.V.: The purpose is to connect to the eternal.

M.L.:Yes.

S.V.:This book is written for that reason: to bring a person to the feeling of eternity.

M.L.:Therefore, the Torahderives from the wordsOhr (Light) and Oraa(an instruction), the instruction on how to bringus to the Light. First, the light in our world is so to speak the highest energy, the highest speed. The spiritual reality, as Rambam (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) writes, imagine that the Kabbalist of the 11th centurywrote, that the Upper World is above the speed of light. Can you imagine talking about the speed of lightthen, in the 11th century?

S.V.: It is something...

M.L.:Yes, he writes...They ask him there, in his letters,about the spiritual world,and whatis the correlation? So,he expresses it the way that the spiritual world is the state that existsabove the speed of light!

S.V.: Does one need to attain it to write this?

M.L.:Well, of course! Otherwise, how can you talk about the light, about the speed of light at all...?

S.V.:Yes, indeed.

M.L.: ...andthatthereissomethingabovethisspeed. Talking about all these concepts overall in the 11th century! Nowadayswecanonlytheoreticallygraspthemsomehow.

S.V.:We talked in the previous program about how we imagined the entrance into Noah's ark, with all his best qualities, wishes and how hedevelops there. We pictured this as an embryo was developing, growing in the mother's womb; the water leaves, the ark sits on the Mount Ararat, it's like the maternal watersare coming out, and the baby is being born.

M.L.: Yes, the door in Noah's ark opens...

S.V.: The door in Noah's arks opens...

M.L.:...as ifthe mother's womb opensup and a new life, a new man is born.

S.V.:And it comes out and is born. He is different; the land has been already cleaned and ready for his life, and so he begins to emerge. There was a detail there I still wanted to ask you about; I missed it a little bit. What was it when the ark sat on the Mount Ararat, and suddenly it said that Noah made a window, and opened it slightly? So, he slightly opened it. Whatdoesitmeantoopenthearkslightly?

M.L.:I do not know how to explain it inregularterms. The thing is that there is a transition from one stage to another. He was there as a child inside the mother who is inside her entirety, completely so to speak under her protection, annuls himself, and therefore,she rules overhim and provides him completely: supplies him with only what is needed, and removes from him all the unnecessary; the entireorganism is protected by her, under her full control and management. The window starts to open here. The window is called deficiency,flaws, and new unfulfilled desires. In order to cut through the windowwe make a space in the wall; we practically cut off a piece of it, meaning, the wall is not solid, but because of that incompleteness the light enters the room.

S.V.: Yes, it is very beautiful by the way.

M.L.:Here we begin to understand that the development is based on discoveringthe new deficiencies, even flaws, and the lack of perfection. The lack of perfection and its disclosure are necessary to let the Light in. Here is the paradox...

S.V.: The paradox!

M.L.: ...as if one thing denies the other. So, before the birth of a new world, it happens that the ark opens up;Meaning, the ark was complete,perfect. You are fully protected inside, there you are inside the mother; what can be ...

S.V.: The world of sun...as it says in some song.

M.L.:...yes, the Creator protects you and that's it. He told you, "You do this, and do not think about the rest. I will take a complete care about you and everything so to speak will be okay."And now you're breaking the completeness of His protection. And it is done to be born independently, exit Him and start adulthood on your own. So ... well, it was written a lot about it in Kabbalah: how a person begins to discover within a new level of desires...

S.V.:That means, I am alone looking for some deficiency in me, am I not?

M.L.: In the Creator!

S.V.: In the Creator Himself?!

M.L.: In the Creator!

S.V.:What are you saying?!

M.L.:In His defense system. You cut through the window; you want to be independent; you separate yourself from Him. That means, the protection Heorganized for you....you're looking forits fault; you have outgrown it; you have to be born.

S.V.:So I say, "Here I have no my free will. I want to have my freedom of choice."

M.L.:Yours. Yes, so this independency manifests here just a little bit: couple of words are enough because...

S.V.:It's clear.

M.L.: ...you can tell about it in the form of forces, vectors, and various formulas: how to balance the influence from the Creator, and froma man. It results in new desires and how they need to get their implementation:elevating from the level of an embryo,where a personis in this ark, to the level of already a little man who begins to comprehend the Upper World. When Noah comes out of the ark, he gets out; basically, he is born into the new world.

S.V.: So I want to say that it turns out that as if Noah says by that,"I want to earn myself a spiritual world."Is it correct? "I do not want You to feed me with a spoon. Iwantmyselftoenterthisworld, itis...."

M.L.:Yes, it already begins the conscious comprehension of the Higher World.

S.V.: It is written here the following...

M.L.:It is,of course,as usual, unpleasant; and the problems start...

S.V.: A day and night, descends and ascends: and all thatone should tolerate and go through.

M.L.: We always grow with the help of two states: you need new egoistic forces and their correction, and only after thecorrection you comprehend the Upper world. We are given the egoism in order to turn it upside down,similar to plowing the land...

S.V.: We have ascended...

M.L.: ...to ascend to a higher level. You're not going anywhere; we have no other material. So of course the whole book, the whole Biblewrites only abouttransgressions and corrections, transgressions and corrections. All the time...

S.V.: the wars...

M.L.: ...yes, here are now those internal human problems, which he solves, and rises above them until he reaches the level of the Creator. Allhavetogothroughit.

S.V.:

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."

M.L.: Yes, that means, these properties, which were born in you.

S.V.: ...wereacquired.

M.L.:...were acquired inside the ark: it's a person who acquires the properties like an embryo acquires human's properties when it develops from the drop of semen and turns already into a baby at the exit. That baby contains all the properties of a future man who while being in a small stateis capable of their development. So, "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth," which means that all the properties that you possess, which I gave you during those days while you stayed at the time of the flood, when you sat quietly inside, and I developed those properties. Now, start to develop further these properties by yourselves, be fruitful and multiply in these properties, and fill the earth. The "earth" derives from the word "desire", Ratzon, Eretz (land).

The "earth"derives from the word"desire", Ratzon; and fill out your selfish desires with the new altruistic properties,with which you have just been born into a new world. That means, a person has been born in the Upper World: he acquired the properties of bestowal and love; take a little bit now of your selfish properties,join to these altruistic ones, and thus, you will reach reproduction, distribution, implementation, etc. So,until you correct all your huge egoism with the help of these newly acquiredspiritual qualities.