To be in a state of Lo Lishma (for oneself) means to know what Lishma (bestowal) is. We cannot make judgments about any quality if we have not attained its opposite. That is why we have to feel to some extent what Lo Lishma and Lishma are, in order to assess in which state, relative to these, we are.

All of the Lo Lishma steps begin with the moment a person imagines himself to be in the upper Light, in the absolute quality of bestowal, but he does not feel this quality because his own qualities are not yet corrected and they conceal the true perception from him, meaning that they conceal the Creator from him personally. Then, a person says that he is located in Lo Lishma, in egoism.

He can say which qualities in particular are concealing the Creator from him during each moment, at any given opportunity. He is like a child who is perceiving life on the level of a two-year-old or a ten-year-old.

In other words, we have to imagine what bestowal is. We may not perceive it yet in its true sense, but we already feel that we are located opposite to this quality, besides which there is nothing.

However, in our perception of reality, we see our own dark qualities, opposite to bestowal, that draw us such a picture, all kinds of forms against the white background of the quality of Bina, the property of bestowal. This picture, the level of concealment from us of the quality of bestowal, is called this world. On the other hand, this world “covers” (compensates for) my imperfections and conceals them from me, and I am able to exist behind this concealing screen.

The Creator simultaneously reveals and conceals Himself from us, and we need to take this example from Him and clarify both of His qualities: His revealing Himself to us and His concealing Himself. That is, there always exists some kind of revelation and concealment called the “screen,” “covering,” which conceals and at the same time adds and compensates.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Egoism Is Embedded in the Nature of Every Person

The nature of each and every person is to exploit the lives of all other people in the world for his own benefit [without considering the profit of another at all]. And all that he gives to another [by using him or her] is only out of necessity; and even then there is exploitation of others in it, but it is done cunningly [by distributing prizes or rewards, privileges to disguise the exploitation], so that his friend will not notice it and concede willingly.
– Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”

Anything outside one’s own body is regarded as unreal and empty. And any movement that a person makes to love another is performed only…to receive a reward. Thus, such an act cannot be considered “love of another” because it is judged by its end. …But making any kind of movement only as a result of love for others, without…any hope for any kind of self-gratification in return, is completely impossible by nature.
– Baal HaSulam, Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah), Item 13
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Komsomolskaya Pravda (Komsomol Truth), a daily Russian newspaper, published an article on the World Kabbalah Convention that took place last week in Moscow. The article includes a clip with my interview to the special correspondent of the newspaper, a portion of a lesson, and photos from the convention.

An excerpt from the article: “On Friday, Kabbalah followers gathered at the convention titled “Unity—the Future of the World” that was held in Sokolniki, Moscow. Kabbalah followers from Russia as well as Canada, Germany, China, and other countries attended the event. The lectures were given by the founder of the International Kabbalah Study Center Dr. Michael Laitman who is originally from Russia, has lived in Israel for many years, and has thousands of supporters around the world.

Dr. Laitman thinks that humanity is immersed in depression and crises because it has separated from its nature, forgotten how to enjoy, and lost desires. His students are sure that they will find the key to understanding the world, become happy, and teach others.…

The first day of the Moscow Convention ended with the delegates singing “The Future is in the Unity of the World.” Holding each other’s shoulders, dozens of people swayed to the beat of the anthem with belief that namely they are called to bring the true Light into our dark world.”
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Question: Does the women’s desire contain the desire to acquire the intention to bestow?

Answer: This intention is absent from the desires of both men and women. How can it just appear inside us? All we want is to receive. How can we acquire the intention to bestow? The Light does this and not us.

I am an absolute egoist; I only think about myself and cannot leave this state. Neither the desires in my heart nor the thoughts in my mind can work differently. This is nature, this is how I was made. So what to do?

Only if we, together, wish correctly for the Light to descend upon us and correct us, will we acquire, apart from our egoism, an intention to work with it correctly. This will be the desire for the Light, for the will to bestow, to love.

Our egoism will stay. But working on it correctly, we increase and intensify the Light. This is the essence of our historical path.

From the world of Infinity, our first state, where we begin, we pass through our present, second state, and reach the world of Infinity, the third state, once again. This third state is said to be 620 times greater than the first state. 620 is just a name, in reality it is billions of billions of times greater. The key is that in the third state, we know where we are.

In the first state we were a drop of semen, and in the third state we become completely like the Creator, gaining his status. This is what we achieve thanks to this amplification, when our egoism stays, slowly developing in us as a huge ego, while we can use it to intensify the weak Light of Nefesh that filled us in the first state.

Nefesh is a very small Light, in which life barely exists. And in the third state we achieve a degree that’s called NRNHY, a huge Light that fills all the worlds.
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From the 2nd lesson at the Moscow Convention 6/10/11

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Question: What is closeness to the teacher and what is study “mouth to mouth”?

Answer: Closeness to the teacher does not mean that a person is physically close to him—this does not matter at all. A person is close to the teacher when he feels that the teacher can transfer everything he has to him and desires to do so, but to the extent that the person opens himself to it. This is because when it comes to contact and communication, the one who transfers and the one who receives have to connect.

So first of all, one should believe that the teacher constantly transfers and there are things that can be taken from him. This depends on the student. Second, the student needs to understand that he can receive whatever comes from the teacher only to the extent of his sensitivity to it.

Of course, in general everything depends on the student. Only on the student! Practically nothing depends on the teacher. On the other hand, the student must completely attune himself to receiving. What does it mean to receive? It means to connect. In other words, he needs to have thoughts, feelings, and directions somewhat like his teacher’s, even if it is only in one percent similarity. He must desire to perceive from him, he must be tuned to the same current. And then he will succeed.

The study consists of two levels:

1. “From mouth to ears,” which is verbal communication, when I speak with my mouth, and the student perceives with his ear.
2. “From mouth to mouth,” where the mouth refers to the common screen, which is in the mouth of the spiritual Partzuf.

So when we communicate in such a way that the student does not want or is not yet able to be on the same level as his teacher, then he listens. He can listen without a desire, without much effort; he can even be against his teacher and still hear him in a way.

This is not yet one screen, one aspiration, some kind of a mutual connection, when they are connected at least by one percent. When they are connected, the student will be able to receive information from mouth to mouth to the extent of this connection, that is, to the extent of this shared screen, shared aspiration. This is something to strive for. This is difficult work with one’s egoism, but it is possible, and then everything the teacher has flows into the student.

Question: Do you have the opportunity to choose who will be close to you?

Answer: Whoever will be close to the teacher does not depend on him. Whoever puts himself in the place of a student, will be a student. Sometimes the teacher really wants for certain people to be his students because these people have certain special attributes, and it might be easier to convey the ideas to humanity in a faster and more vivid way through them, but these people might be incapable of it, neglect the opportunity, and miss the chance.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson from Moscow 6/16/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Writings of Rabash, “He Who Did Not Toil Himself on Shabbat Eve, What Will He Eat on Shabbat in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, “Truma (Donation), ‘Gold and Silver and Bronze,’” Item 249, Lesson 10
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 24, Lesson 29
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 13, Lesson 8
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“Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 7, Lesson 4
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