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There can be three states in the exercise of the “tens” (connecting in groups of tens): At one time, I am below everyone else, another time, I am the upper one, the one who bestows, and the third time, we are all equal. Equality is a result of the first two states, and it is the middle line.

We cannot stand equality nor measure it. We actually don’t have it. We understand what it means to be above or below others, but we lose sensation where equality begins. Even a missile cannot focus straight on target and constantly must feel a certain degree of deviation. We have to feel a certain degree of deviation in everything.

So, we are given the balance from Above as the middle line, which comes together with the revelation of the Creator. The vessel and the Light, the middle line and the Creator, come together as a sign that you have exerted yourself enough and have attained a certain level of accuracy in different measurements that now enable you to feel the middle line and the Creator to a certain extent. For example, you have measured 10 pounds of the vessel and 10 pounds of the Light, and the fact that there is a deviation of 10 ounces in these 10 pounds is ignored from Above.

Next time, you will attain the middle line in those 10 pounds, and then you will value it as 100 pounds, and the accuracy will not be in the range of 10 ounces, but of 1 ounce. Thus, each time, you value your adhesion with the Creator more and thereby expand your vessel. The accuracy grows, that is, the middle line becomes increasingly thinner and thus more qualitative.
[106916]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/6/13, TES 

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You will attain everything within the “ten,” which is a group made of ten friends that works on the connection between them (an exercise that we conduct at present), and not just by studying The Zohar or Talmud Eser Sefirot. You don’t know how it will all be revealed, but it will be revealed.

Question: How should I act with regards to my “ten?”

Answer: Sometimes, I have to check myself with regards to that ten, this Minyan (a quorum of ten). Sometimes I have to see this Minyan as one person, sometimes I have to see myself above the ten and to bestow upon others, and sometimes I have to see that I am lower than them and to be under their influence.

Sometimes we feel that we are together, as one force field, in which we are equally incorporated in one another and each one is made of all the ten. When each of us is already made of all the ten and is incorporated in all the ten again, it becomes 10×10, that is, 100. The 100 are incorporated in the ten again and become 1,000, and so on. Eventually we fill this area in our mutual incorporation so densely that it becomes a whole, solid surface upon which we reveal the Creator.

I can imagine that it is I who brings the deficiency to the ten and the others worry about me like ZAT (the lower seven Sefirot) of Bina. I am in them like in a mother’s womb and compel them to draw the Light that Reforms upon me so that I will adhere to them more strongly and will bestow upon them and help.

I can also discover this attitude in the ten when we all connect into one whole. After I bestow upon them and receive from them, I attain this unity with them, feeling that not only do we share everything but I also expect to reveal the Creator as a result of this unity and this partnership. The moment the “ten” attains the concept of Minyan (a connection of ten people), I reveal the Creator in it.

It says: “I came and there was no man,” which means that the wholeness in which the Creator is revealed was missing. Therefore, the Creator says: “I came and there was no man.” “Man” is the image in which the Creator can dress.
[106913]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/6/13, TES

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Opinion (Wu Jianmin, President of the China Foreign Affairs University): “The world is deeply interdependent, especially in economic terms — a remarkable achievement.

“The common challenges the world faces have never been as severe as they are today. They include climate change, terrorism, environmental degradation, drug trafficking and pandemics. No country, no matter how powerful, is able to cope with these challenges alone. The human race is bound to unite in order to meet these challenges for their survival.

“The notion that war is the last resort for settling international disputes has become obsolete.

“War and revolution was the theme of the past epoch. But the theme of today’s epoch is peace and development. It is irresistible.”

My Comment: This is the freedom of will: In which way do we advance towards similarity with Nature, towards a unified humanity: unwillingly, through wars, or consciously, by means of integral education? After the war we will nevertheless have to choose the method of coming together, which instills in people the desire for unity, as necessary and essential according to the laws of Nature.
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Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“: In the generation of the Messiah anyone can reach adhesion and attainment. 

We are in the days of the Messiah and can enter the spiritual world, although we will have to sweat in order to do that.

After millennia of evolution, the desire to receive has been revealed in its fullest on the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature. Only the speaking level is left, which we uncover thanks to the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is the reason that it is revealed to everyone unexceptionally. We can attain all the 125 levels and reach the end of correction.

In the past, in the generation of Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon’s group, who wrote The Book of Zohar, were given this chance. Today, however, although we are small and worthless, lowly and weak, the structure of our vessels is fit for The Book of Zohar.

It is just like an embryo that is not a ripe human being yet, but still belongs to the same species and only must develop. It is the same with us who, unlike previous generations, “fit” The Book of Zohar and can use it to draw the Light that Reforms, and this is why it is revealed.

Anyone who thinks that it is forbidden to study the wisdom of Kabbalah should understand this. Things have changed since new human desires are appearing that belong to the generation of the Messiah.

“The generation of the Messiah” is the name of a period when the Light called “Messiah” comes and acts on the vessels. On the previous levels, we advanced by the egoistic evolution, according to the principle of “go and make a living from one another,” in the egoistic sense. Today, the desire of the fourth level, on the human level, is developing, and thus we all depend on each other. After all, a human being (“Adam” in Hebrew) is someone who feels that he depends on and is incorporated in the whole. This state is expressed in the global crisis of the modern world.

Everything begins from the Light that flows upon the first three levels of humanity: the still, the vegetative, and the animate. These levels are not mutually connected as they should be. They are not compatible with the upper system and the Light that comes from there. After all, the Light brings us the wholeness of the ten Sefirot, while the vessels are dispersed, their Sefirot are dispersed and separated, and so they experience a shattering, a crisis in different forms.

So, what should they do? We should unite, but how? Using their logic, they try to unite and correct where they feel the crisis—in cultural life, in education, in industry, in technology, in finance, in commerce, and so on. And, indeed, why not? “Wherever things are bad, this is where we must correct the situations so that it will be better.”

Yet, as a result, we experience even greater troubles. After all, the problem is not where we feel the emptiness, but in the means of filling this void. So, there is no point settling for a struggle in trying to fill this void.

Here, humanity faces a new source of pressure: the need for what we call Masach (screen). After all, the only way we can receive the Light correctly is if we connect with others in ten Sefirot. When you develop mutual bestowal in this connection, you become similar to the Light and its attributes, and then it fills you.

So, a totally different approach is needed today. The crisis is felt as an empty void, but the solution is not in egoistic fulfillment, but in unity.

People generally understand that together, they can manage in life. At the same time, in their attempts to unite without the integral system, they only contribute to worsening the situation. It is because the point isn’t just connection, but connection with the Creator, through Israel, according to the spiritual hierarchy.

In the past, the vessels of Israel were above the nations of the world. After the shattering, they fell, and now the nations of the world are above them, seem more prosperous, and of course don’t feel the need for Israel in order to come out of the crisis. It is because they are actually above Israel; they are not shattered, while Israel is, and so they see themselves as the religious authority, as responsible for the world and for everything in general.

In the current circumstances, this feeling is natural, and the correction must come by understanding the general picture, which will lead the nations of the world to the method of correction. Until then, all their efforts will lead to the opposite results, as is happening in Europe that has created a common market. Today, the Europeans should understand that unity is only possible according to the integral method thanks to the power of Israel in it.

This is the reason that many forms of unity in the world get stuck. We are the reason for that, those who represent the level of Israel. We must be ready to pass on the message about that to humanity: The real connection can only be through us. Otherwise, if they will begin to unite by themselves, this only will make things worse, and wars will immediately start all over the world.
[106179]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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Rabash, Shlavei Hasulam (Steps of the Ladder), Article 38, “What is a Glass of Blessing Should be Full, in the Work”: Since it is hard work to constantly overcome one’s self and annul before the upper one, so that the upper will make what the upper wants of it. This is called Ibur, which is the state of smallness that is most restricted.

On one hand, it’s a state of smallness (Katnut), a state of an “embryo,” the lowest possible level, and on the other hand, it’s a state of greatness (Gadlut). The point here is at what level I remain as an embryo. It’s because the phase of Ibur (conception) includes all the states and all the levels. Only later do I move on to the levels of Yenika (suckling) and Mochin (mind), when I already work with my desire in order to bestow, by continuing the same direction of self-annulment that is on the embryo level. Then, however, I already annul myself not only by restricting myself, by limiting my desire, but also in using it in order to bestow, in the same direction that I started using it initially.

Thus, the level of embryo, which is the basis for everything, is great and unique. On this basis the future human being continues his embryonic phase, but he already uses it differently. One way or the other, we constantly annul ourselves before the Creator, before the upper Light, so that it will show us our nature and will give us more strength.

To annul myself before the upper one means to rise above my current self and to take on its form. An “embryo” (Ubar – עֻבָּר) is a static state of someone who passes (Over – עוֹבֵר) from one state to another. What’s more, he moves feeling rage, and against his natural desires since he constantly clarifies and overcomes himself under pressure.

At first this path looks very difficult and unattainable. Is it possible to live this way? Of course it’s impossible if we had to act alone. But the Creator has created the shattering of the vessels for us, and we can work in a state of an embryo with the help of the environment, and not by ourselves. We are surrounded by friends and work with them. Thus our work is divided into many parts according to our efforts, and each part joins the others. So eventually we collect the right efforts for the state of Ibur, and we finally accept it.

We should thus understand that the difficult part is not self-annulment, but the unity and connection in the group. If I join the friends, I will have the power to become an embryo.
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From the Men’s Convention “The Next Step” 4/26/13, Lesson 2 

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Question: Along the spiritual path discover the evil of the ego, and yet, it is also pleasant since I aspire for something else.

Answer: If I enjoy the pain, even if it also connects me to the Creator, it is impurity, called a Klipa (shell) that protects the fruit until it ripens. It protects me so that I still will keep the connection with the Creator, but it isn’t the right state yet. After all, the sweetness in this pain is a sure revelation of the Creator. I feel that the pain comes from Him since otherwise, He cannot draw my attention. If I agree with this egoistic sweetness and enjoy it, it means that I am in impurity.

The question is to what degree can I bear the pain in the current state and at the same time, understand that it is essential in order to keep the connection with the Creator. How can I not fall into pleasure through this pain? How can I stop the moment I am in contact with it and immediately get on the right track?

After all, I am drawn to the sweetness. I descend and succumb to the deviousness of the ego, which lures me like a snake by the sweetness of this purposeful pain. Different religions and faiths based on the suffering of the righteous stem from this.

Question: How can I focus the process on the right path?

Answer: I ask the Creator who is Good and Benevolent for help. He wants me to feel good in the connection with Him and that the good will lead me to Him, but how can I do that?

If I feel emptiness, threats, troubles, and darkness in my egoistic desire, then, as a result of my hopelessness, my desire to receive looks for the source of evil, even if it is the Creator. It remembers some preliminary higher cause from which everything stems.

However, what should I do if I enjoy, if my desire is full, if I feel that the entire world is at my feet? My life is just fine, and I am fully satisfied, and nothing or no one threatens me. I have endless bars of gold in my warehouse. I am healthy, full of energy, and I have something into which to invest them.

At the same time, all this hides the Creator from me and bars any thought about Him. If the pain and emptiness push me toward Him, then the pleasure keeps me away from Him.

The question is, how do I prefer to advance: by the path of pain or by the path of pleasure? After all, in this state, the hard way is the way of pleasure that “encloses” me and eliminates all the options. How can I think about the upper force when I lack nothing in life?

It turns out that the path of “I shall hasten it” is not simple at all as compared to the path of “in its time.” When I advance according to schedule, my powers are enough. The suffering, the emptiness of the egoistic desire, pushes me to the Creator. At the same time, only along the path of “I shall hasten it” do we have free will.

If I want to hasten my advancement when I feel good, I need a group. My private desire is “fattened up” and “heavy,” and so I simply need the friends, additional external desires. Only by the connection with them can I advance.

The more I advance toward the end of correction, the more external desires I need. My inner desires are filled, and they immediately throw me off-track.

Question: When is the Creator revealed this way?

Answer: It is when you want to restrict Him, in other words, when you stop wanting Him and instead, want to bestow upon Him. After all, when you ask for His revelation, you want to discover the attribute of bestowal, real bestowal and not like “commercial” one when you give something in order to get something in return. This is bestowal in order to receive. On the other hand, when you begin to at least bestow in order to bestow, even not to receive in order to bestow, you begin to come to know the Creator’s attributes. Later, when you receive in order to bestow, you already begin to locate the attributes of the Creator within you, to identify them within you, and to attain Him.
[106522]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/2/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, from “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: If a handful from Israel betray and return to the filth of self-love, without consideration of their friends, that same amount of need that is put in the hands of those few would burden Israel with the need to provide for it themselves.

This is because those few will not pity them at all; hence, the fulfillment of the commandment of loving one’s friend will be prevented from the whole of Israel.

This is talking about an incontestable mutual guarantee, about group responsibility that links everyone into one whole so strongly and tightly that the life and death of everyone depends on this. If one of them were to violate the Arvut, all would be sentenced to death. This is already something  greater than the usual interdependence.

Therefore, everyone in a group needs to understand that this is a condition that cannot be changed. The issue here is not the faces of the friends, not their nature or their habits. To me, none of this matters. The main thing is: Am I creating with them a system of mutual guarantee like this or am I not?

Along with this, none of us know what is going on with the others. It is as if each is responsible for his plug sealing a hole in the shared boat. However, no one sees this. No one even feels what he himself is doing. When I take out my plug, I don’t notice that our ship is sinking.

We work in conditions of complete concealment, and we need to demonstrate responsibility, to yearn for adherence and unity; we need to remember that we depend on the upper one. Only He will unite and protect us.

Efforts on the way will help us understand what else we are missing.

Thus, these rebels cause those who keep the Torah to remain in their filth of self-love, for they will not be able to engage in the commandment, “Love thy friend as thyself,” and complete their love for others without their help.

I need to reach a state where I require the Torah, the method, to be united with the friends. This is my goal, and I am concerned only about that. Unity with friends is the supreme value in my eyes, and in order not to harm them, not to betray them, I require the help of the Creator, of the Torah.

I am dedicated completely to the group and fear only one thing: harming the friends. So, I ask the Creator: “Help prevent me from causing harm. This is all that I need from you, nothing else.”

Meanwhile, I am not thinking about how to satisfy Him. That level is still far from me. Being concerned about it now would be like not being concerned at all. What is waiting for me now is not love for the Creator, but love for people, love for the friends.

However, I am not ready to love like this. I only hate them, am jealous of them, reject them, or at the very least, don’t care about them. I forget about them all the time. So, I ask for strength from Above to be devoted to my friends, to be responsible for them, and to do everything that depends on me only so that I will be incorporated wholeheartedly in a group.

So, nothing will remain of me at all other than this intense concern that fills all my thoughts and feelings.

This is all that I ask from Above when I know that I cannot maintain this kind of devotion by myself. This is all I expect when I rely on help that will come and not leave me so that I will be able to protect my friends.

This is the first level that we need to attain, and if I truly want this, I merit receiving the Torah. You see in a case like this that I really need the Light that Reforms that will unite my vessels, my shattered desires, that will correct my soul, transforming it into a boat for everyone. In it, I will hold and protect my friends, making sure that nothing bad will happen to them.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Question: How would you describe the healthcare system in the future integral society?

Answer: I think that in the future integral society, medicine per se won’t exist.

The origin of all diseases is the breach of our social relationships. Once they are restored and corrected, a person automatically will become healthy. The moment that his time comes, he will lie down to sleep and not wake up in absolute serenity, without feeling any problem about this. Everything will be very smooth.

We need to understand that there is nothing destructive in our world except the ego. All other actions, influences, characteristics, negative events, everything that seems to us or that we witness, all of that are the manifestations of our the incongruity between our ego and the integral nature, which can be measured only relative to the integral link between us and nothing else.

If I now want to eat two lunches instead of one, I am not considered an egoist. Or if I want to sleep a couple hours more, this also is not the ego.

An egoist is someone who rejects his correct connection with others, and with this, rejects everyone from a correct connection with himself, thereby violating the natural map of interrelationships.
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From KabTV’s “The Medicine of the Future” 4/7/13

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: And you evidently find that the giving of the Torah had to be delayed until they came out of Egypt and became a nation of their own, so that all their needs were provided for by themselves, without dependence on others. This qualified them to receive the above Arvut, and then they were given the Torah.

I need a big desire to receive called “Egypt,” and I need to make an internal decision. I don’t have the strength to actualize this, but I have the strength to clarify and to conclude that I want to leave this Egypt, that I must rise above it.

In a way, I already feel that it is possible for me to get help from Above. Through my clarification, I understand that spiritual advancement is none other than a mutual integration between everyone into one vessel and its correction by the Light.

I require this Light. I agree to do everything that depends on me. I understand the urgency, necessity, and feasibility of what is happening and require only Light.

In such a circumstance, I am ready to receive the Torah, meaning the method of correction. I have all that is required for this need: a vessel of the proper size, deficiencies, necessities, awareness of the imperative of correction, connection, and also an inner struggle with myself for or against connection.

I already understand and feel all this, I agree with the spiritual way and want it. I lack only the Light that Reforms. I am ready to work with all these components that are found in me to obligate the influence of the Light that Reforms.

So, I reach a tipping point: From my side, I have attained all that has been required for a first contact, and I finally contact the upper Light.

It is important to remember here that the Creator is not the one who accepts a decision to give me the Light that Reforms. Rather, it is I myself who establishes this. Therefore, one shouldn’t expect any kindness and mercy from Above, as it is written: “A fool folds his hands, and sits and eats his own flesh.” Nothing just comes from Above—it is specifically I who opens all the doors.

Even though we talk about mutual relationships between a person and the upper one, it is actually I who construct the upper one. The upper Light is at absolute rest. Everything depends solely and only on my vessel, on my desire. If I am ready to open the valve, the faucet, then the upper Light arrives and performs the required action.

Everything depends on the person, on his efforts with the primary sources, with the teacher, with the group, with dissemination. Everything begins from below. If I have enough of a strong and correct desire below, then He will open the gates and activate all the spiritual forces from Above. A foundation of everything is the preparation by the lower one.
[106734]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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