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It is very hard to explain what spirituality is because it is a matter of feeling. If a person shares such feelings, he will understand what is being described. But if he is not on the same level and doesn’t feel what the author speaks about, he won’t understand anything at all.
All our work takes place in “Egypt,” in exile, when we don’t yet feel the Creator, the upper force that can help us rise above our desire to receive. This is a time of choice and it is the best time because this is when we learn how to work against our desire.
I have to constantly imagine that I am already in bestowal, in the spiritual world, in sanctity, and I do not create any partition, barrier, in the way of the upper Light that fills all of reality. I annul my personality, my egoistic “self,” and although I feel different states that go through me and summon different reactions in my ego, I have to try being only in pure bestowal.
It is as if I am already in the spiritual world, I’m immersed in a sea of Light by being totally equivalent to it. This is because everything that actually separates me from the Light is my desire to receive, my ego, which resembles a box that doesn’t let the light through. I put obstacles for myself, I’m the only one who stands out with his ego in the Light. Except for me everything is corrected and ready.
Only I see that this reality is distorted, that I’m corrupt, and that the Creator is evil and treats me badly. In addition, it seems to me that there is another authority besides the Creator.
All our work is to imagine our state correctly, the way it actually is, and not what is depicted in our ego. There is nothing except the Creator, but my ego tells me that there are many different forces that make decisions and there is also me.
It seems to me that I feel and decide something myself, but even this isn’t true. The Creator is the one who sends me all these feelings so that based on the impressions I receive from Him every instant, I will be able to do the work and to annul myself, my thoughts that I seemingly think and feel independently, that I receive something from the environment, the group, and the whole external world. Instead, I have to imagine that I am totally under the control of the upper Light that fills all of reality.
[74221]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/2012, Shamati #59
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Question: The holiday of Passover is coming soon. What should we focus on now? How can we use this time for unity?
Answer: Passover is a very special time when I discover that I am in exile. This is the beginning of the Egyptian slavery. Unless I feel that I am in exile, I am still not in Egypt, I am not Pharaoh’s slave yet. To put it differently, if don’t strive for unity, I haven’t started the process yet. But when I am drawn to unity and I feel that I cannot unite because my ego stops me and blocks the way, the ego is revealed to me as Pharaoh. It controls me and doesn’t let me reach unity and discover the Creator.
The exile is not feeling the Creator. I feel that I miss Him, then I continue to head towards unity, and the ego, Pharaoh, appears as tougher and tougher. Eventually I don’t know what to do, I see no way out, and then the point called “Moses” is revealed in me. It begins to draw me out, to the unknown, while I am confused and don’t know in what way this point is different from Pharaoh. Thus Moses grows in Pharaoh’s palace, in the ego, either separating himself from Pharaoh or merging with him in my eyes. He aspires straight to the Creator, but is nourished on self-love.
And so I advance: I want to build a vessel, but instead I build “poor cities,” Pithom and Ramses. Every time I want to get close to others, to unite, new problems come up: disputes and separation, detachment and indifference. The ego holds power and doesn’t let me free, doesn’t let me do anything. No matter how hard I try to draw the connection, it doesn’t exist. My efforts are for the good of “Pharaoh” and they harm “Israel.”
And so I arrive to the ten plagues of Egypt, I suffer because my egoistic desire doesn’t let me unite with the friends. In answer to all my attempts, it summons great suffering in me and pulls in different directions. It gives my “beast” everything it wants, but blocks the way to unity because otherwise I will escape from Egypt.
Then Moses goes to Pharaoh demanding: “Let my people go.” We try to unite even more and want to escape Pharaoh’s control. This is already a true revelation. So what can we do? After all, the Creator constantly hardens my heart.
Thus I go through the ten plagues, until I manage to totally break loose from my ego. In the dark I escape to unity, to the mountain of hatred (Sina) that is revealed to me and to mutual guarantee as the essential means against the ego. I don’t suppress hatred, I don’t annul it, but rather build mutual guarantee around it. After all, this hate is a priceless acquisition: Thanks to mutual guarantee, I will be able to turn this mountain of hatred to the summit of Holiness, the mountain of the Lord.
Today it isn’t only about us. The whole world is starting this process by discovering that the destructive ego that controls it threatens to erase all of humanity from the face of the earth.
[74225]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/2012, “Introduction to TES”
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Question: How should we prepare for the convention in Brazil in the best possible way?
Answer: First, I would like to say that in the beginning I will be having short meetings with the groups in Columbia and Chile. But this doesn’t replace the convention in any way. Therefore, I am inviting all our friends from South America and, in general, from the whole world to this convention. I strongly recommend that you come to Brazil. I think that we will have a wonderful “carnival” there.
It is very important to attend a convention at least once. I don’t know when I will visit South America again, and so let’s meet. It isn’t just any meeting, but another kind of contact, not like via the Internet. If it doesn’t work out, we will meet in Columbia and in Chile, but if you can, come to Brazil.
This convention will be multi-lingual. Perhaps it will be easier for those living in Australia or in the Far East to come to Brazil than to our other conventions, and it is worth it. It is a problem if a person has never attended a convention “physically.” After all, in our world we exist in a body and need this kind of interaction. We can’t form a virtual connection that leaves such a strong impression yet.
It isn’t by chance that business people fly to meetings all over the world, although they could call each other or use Skype. We may wonder why would a person waste so much time flying. It would be better if he sat in an office; he could get much more work done. But people still need direct communication, even if it lacks any feeling and warmth. Dry, cunning, and far from being honest, these contacts still require personal face-to-face meetings.
So trust me that for us it is very important. By creating such contact we will be able to carry it through, and without it, it is very hard to advance.
The collective preparation is just as important. This is a collective convention, and so we should feel it. Disregard will cause great harm to all of us. We mustn’t sit and wait for someone else to organize things. If this happens you will not benefit from the convention in any way. Without preparation it is even worthless to connect via the Internet because it would be stealing, actual stealing. You have to make efforts and you will benefit accordingly. If no one thinks about it, no one worries about it, no one cares, the convention will only bring harm.
Everyone has to take an active part, at least in some way according to one’s abilities. One should be concerned at least in the heart: “What did I do for it?” Without participating, you will have no vessel. So what will you be able receive? In what will you receive it? Clearly, it is only by our joint work that we are creating this vessel.
[74230]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/2012, “Introduction to TES”
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Our approach to replacing the current education method includes both theoretical developments and practical work, and pertains both to children and adults. Today there are many others in the world who conduct similar research and practical work either parallel to us or based on our work.
Presently the situation in schools has become so complicated that it’s dangerous for kids to be there. Too often they become victims of peer pressure, bullying, cruelty, and violence. It seems that the only reason kids attend school is to learn bad examples.
In contrast, we are implementing a new system of education and upbringing. The integral method rules out a form of education when children sit opposite an instructor, who stands before them and demands of them certain knowledge, which ultimately results in exams. First and foremost, we turn studying into a game, a discussion, or a conversation. Children sit in a circle with an instructor on equal terms, and not as lesser individuals against someone greater than them, and discuss some topic. Through this mutual discussion they begin to understand the material and naturally and easily absorb it within.
Having gone through such education, our children enter universities as early as 13-14 years of age. They perceive the material completely differently: freely and easily. They recognize all the particular items they study as parts of one integral whole.
Additionally, we have great success with younger children being taught by older ones, like when 12-13 year olds teach 9-10 year olds. This practice has proven to be very beneficial for both. The older kids are proud of being able to teach the younger ones, and this pride raises their self-esteem. And the younger kids are proud that the older ones pay attention to them.
This way we solve many psychological problems and issues by removing all conflicts and tension in the classroom and school.
[74242]
From a lecture at Siauliai University 3.22.2012
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An embryo annuls itself and that’s its only job. It gratefully accepts everything that happens to it and always perceives the upper one as good and benevolent.
My work is only to annul myself no matter what happens, whatever changes take place from one end of the world to the other. I keep myself in a state of bestowal, Hafetz Hesed, no matter what. This means that I exist in the upper one, annul my personality, my independence, and I don’t disturb the upper one as He influences me—let Him do with me whatever He wants. I’m like a baby in the arms of his mother, who doesn’t think about anything.
If you were carried in someone’s arms, how would you feel? Imagine that ten people are holding you now and lifting you up in the air. Although they will undoubtedly be strong enough to hold you, you will tremble and feel afraid to find yourself in the arms of others. You will be afraid that you might fall and will doubt whether they have enough strength to hold you.
A baby has no such doubts. Have you seen how peacefully a baby sleeps in his mother’s arms? This is the attribute of self-annulment in relation to the upper one. A baby does it naturally. But thanks to these forces an embryo grows in its mother’s womb. This means that being in the AHP of the upper one, it annuls itself no matter what happens: for better or worse, no matter what state it is in. An embryo only increases its loyalty and annulment.
This is called the the root level of the desire (Aviut Shoresh), and this work isn’t simple at all; it’s actually very hard. By that you sculpt your first form. No matter which Light comes, you only annul yourself, no matter what you feel: pain or pleasure, shortage or abundance. Thus you form yourself and become similar to the Creator in your first form called “an embryo.”
An embryo is in its mother’s waters and shapes itself into the spiritual Partzuf: the 10 Sefirot that are filled by the Light of Nefesh. When it ends its self-annulment and there is nothing else it can do on that level, on the root level of desire, it has to move forward, and this is called birth.
The difference between these states is immense since by being born, a spiritual embryo begins to work with the vessels of reception. He feels that he is detached from the upper one. The birth is the most significant change of all the changes on our way.
An embryo is each of us who annuls himself before the others, who become a mother’s womb for him. Our collective embryo is the field that connects us, which we want to create between us. If we all connect, the mother’s womb becomes the general revelation of the upper force where we all exist.
[74085]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/29/2012, TES
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Question: How can it be that we shouldn’t ask to revoke the concealment, but at the same time, only the revelation can correct and connect us?
Answer: The question is what revelation am I asking for? I need to ask for the revelation of the attribute of bestowal, which I want to acquire. The Creator lets me feel that He exists but is as if hiding behind a curtain. All this is so that I will reveal Him. I can reveal Him only by developing the attribute of bestowal within me.
But what would I ask for now, in my egoistic desire? I ask that He becomes revealed in order to fill me, and this is why I am in concealment. The concealment protects my ego like a circuit breaker in a short circuit.
The concealment puts me at a certain distance, keeps me at a certain range, and lets me understand that if I correct myself, I will be able to get closer. And if not, I will stay at a distance.
Now the question is what I will ask for when being at such a distance: Do I ask that the Creator reveals Himself and fills me for my own personal pleasure, as if I want to enjoy myself, or do I first want to acquire the desire to bestow and in it, receive the filling, that is, do I want to be filled by the actions of bestowal and not by the actions of reception?
The concealment is meant to allow me to decide what I want.
[74088]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/30/2012, “Preface to The Book of Zohar”
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It is written, “there is none else besides Him [besides the only force of nature].” This means that there is no other force in the world… that is opposite or similar to it, that exists besides it. That is, there is only one force in the world, Nature, which includes everything in it.
Actually, it doesn’t include anything in it; it only seems to us that it is divided into many parts. It seems to us that there are many forces, reasons, results, and different occurrences in the world, but it all stems from this one force.
We are among many people, with such big problems, worries, and constantly changing actions on purpose, so that despite everything, despite all these actions, problems, and interruptions we will focus our attention only on the force that created everything around us.
Everything that seems like interruptions that negate the uniqueness of this force, Nature, and that stems from one plan, one thought, one goal, all of it is meant to repel us from it so that we will return to the same track, like a missile that has to constantly follow the same course. It constantly checks itself when it is off track, and only so it can aim itself again towards the goal, like an ordinary surveillance system.
I have to direct myself at the goal, but I am on the path, not knowing how to advance, as if hanging in the air, and there are no road signs around. So how can I do anything? This is the state we are in: We don’t see the goal. It is totally hidden from us by the screen that conceals it.
Since there is a screen, we don’t know what goes on behind it. So how can we reach this goal?
To do that, we have “road signs” and certain diversions, and we constantly check ourselves and thus advance forward. By diverting from the goal, I calculate the error and return to a normal state. And this happens all the time.
But what state is considered normal? How do I know it? After all, I have never seen this great goal, so how can I aspire to it? I aspire to it when I aim all my thoughts, longings, actions, the reasons, the results, and everything that happens in the world to one source only. I have to attribute all the minuses and the pluses, everything that happens to me to one thing only—to this source.
This means that there are individual forces of a single force of Nature, which purposefully acts with the intention to divert a person from the goal.
[73794]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 3
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A spark emerges specifically out of collision, explosion, like when striking a flint against steel. A spark is something completely new; it is the result of a collision between two uncompromising opposites that fight with each other.
Nothing of this kind ever existed before; matter has always been under the Creator’s control. All of a sudden, a crash happens and it produces a spark. This spark does not exist either in the Creator or matter—either in the property of bestowal or in the property of reception. It results from a strike and creates a foundation that allows us to grow and become independent.
Solely due to this spark, we name the upper force “the Creator” who made something that didn’t exist in nature before. The spark is in fact creation.
Everything starts with a breakthrough, a collision, a sparkle. Our work is to shape our life around it. This spark is an independent point from which our development begins, similarly to a fetus in the Upper Mother.
The mother possesses two forces: Hochma and Hassadim, but we still need a spark to start growing using these two forces. Otherwise, creation will not exist. Only this particular kind of semen “impregnates” the Upper Mother.
Do you really think that any piece of matter placed into Her can eventually grow into a human being? She won’t accept anything other than that. She consists of two forces: bestowal and reception, which are separated by an abyss, a gap: the middle third of Sefira Tifferet. This is exactly where we should insert our spark since it also emerged as a result of the collision between two contradictory forces. When placed inside the mother, right in the middle of two opposite forces of Hochma and Hassadim, into Klipat Noga, we start growing there, which is called “one’s seed is also blessed.”
If I choose the desire to enjoy to the extent that I am able to create a screen (the intention to bestow) for it and connect them together, it means that I create myself. Of course, I do it with the help of the upper one: the group, the environment, and Bina. Then the entity formed there, within, is called man or Adam.
[73472]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/2012, TES
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