If I have a small child whom I’m going to send to a preschool because staying at home is no longer enough for his development, I try to place him in a group of slightly older children rather than younger ones so that he can learn from the older children. In other words, the higher my environment, the more opportunities I have to advance with it. And conversely, if I get into a company of primitive people, they relegate me to the level of their values. Everything depends on the environment.

We follow this principle when we make choices in our lives, seeing that “your environment today is you tomorrow.” For a person interested in growing, it is useful to be among great people. However, he has to realize that he has come there in order to grow. If he simply comes and sits among people not of his level, then the greater they are, the more he is annoyed by that. He wants to put them down.

However, if he comes with the purpose of growing in the environment of such people, the greater they are, the happier he is. His only lacks are the hatred and fire burning inside from the feeling of being so much lower than they are. But he is glad about such feelings because they spur him on and urge him to move forward.

Thus, everything depends on a person’s intention, on what he wants from his environment. A person can evaluate an external society by its values and interests, such as whether they like music and art, or whether they are educated and intelligent people. There are criteria with which the society can be tested.

But there are no criteria for such tests in a Kabbalistic environment. The only people who gather there are those whose point in the heart was awakened and they simply want to develop it. All of them go through constant ups and downs. No one knows on which degree he really is, not to speak of his friend’s degree.

Everything solely depends on how a person perceives the group, like Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma who valued his small and simple students to such an extent that he was not able to advance without them.

Thus, it is very important to understand that the group, the environment, is something the person perceives inside by valuing the friends brought to him by the Creator, Who gave them the same desire toward spirituality. Now, I can create an environment for myself according to the height and values that are required for my advancement, according to how and where I want to advance.

Apart from that, now, I can study myself. The extent that I like seeing them as great is a sign of my really being willing to advance. After all, it is possible to advance only due to my environment. My wanting to see them as lower than myself means that I am looking for a way to satisfy my pride, not to advance.

Through our attitude toward our environment we can accurately measure our spiritual state. Am I aspiring toward the goal of creation, or am I looking for a nice feeling, filling my egoism with a sense of self-importance?
[61436]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: In the post “I Do Not Want To Be A Mountain Climber” you write: “When the system becomes completely revealed, we will see that it is global, integral, and all its parts are completely binding, like an enormous live organism. Its individual parts do not have any freedom of will to do whatever they wish to do because this does not exist in nature. Everything abides by the law of determinism.”

I don’t agree with what you say about determinism. There are certain things out of our control, but still there is some choice too. For examples, cells can become cancerous….

Answer: Freedom of will is specifically in being either a healthy/giving or cancerous/receiving cell.

Question: How do we stop cursing emptiness in our heart and embrace it with gladness as part of the path? Or should we always expect some part of us to disagree with bestowal?

Answer: Don’t curse emptiness, but fill it with any of our fulfillments, although you will feel it from time to time.
[61350]

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Question: We have finished the Arava convention with an obligation between friends to maintain the mutual sensation attained at the convention.

Answer: I think everyone is trying to remain in the state that we experienced in our common unity. Everyone will remember it at least from time to time and maybe even constantly. The Light will shine on a person from Above, and he will remember and awaken. And at the end, he will receive an external awakening to return to the same state that he experienced at the convention. He will not do it on his own, but it will happen through the common awakening, the Light that will come from Above, from the Creator.

It is a pleasant state, and this is why it is worthwhile for him to return to it. Naturally, it is still an egoistic aspiration to feel good in this shining, exalted state. But this already comes from a proper action that originates from unity and is directed towards it.

Question: How do you work with this mutual obligation during the lesson?

Answer: Right now we only must be aware of: “Why am I doing this? Is it because I was in an elevated state? Then naturally, I wish to be in it all the time and even more than that. Am I only doing this to feel good, with respect to myself, because this is important to me?”

It is true that we have experienced a special elevation, desire, and phenomenon that we have never felt before. But how do I perceive this entire state? Do I perceive that it benefits me, makes me feel good, confident, and comfortable? Or do I want to transfer it to higher rails, to desire it for other reasons than it making me feel good or giving me pleasure.

I want for this sensation to come from the realization of its higher value without any connection to me. This is because when it comes to my egoistic connection, whatever fills me more has more value for me. But I want to appreciate this state because this sensation of bestowal is a higher sensation that comes from the upper force, and this way I become close to the Creator. At this moment I do not have any feelings for it, I do not see any importance or value in it, but I want to see it!

Now we begin to think about another reason to experience the same state that we attained at the convention. I want to feel it because this brings me closer to the Creator, to a higher degree. I do not wish to feel too much satisfaction from it. It is not that I reject it, but I do not want it to obligate me. I want for the greatness and importance of the actual state of bestowal to obligate me.

This way we begin to change degrees. That is, I want to rise from the degree that I am on right now, in my current desire, where I feel good and thus, wish to remain there because it is not a desert, but something beautiful and pleasant—a land full of life. However, I want to experience the desert for my ego and feel fulfilled in my desire to bestow, my aspiration towards the group, the Creator. This is referred to as wandering through the desert.

For this reason, we must now try to change the basis and the cause of the wonderful sensation of unity that we attained at this convention, where we had no foreign influence. And then we already begin to rise towards a different, more spiritual attitude towards the group, fulfillment, our inner sensation, and the past state.

We raise ourselves towards a different state when we are no longer influenced much by moods or different factors. I begin to be more connected with the actual importance of the state of bestowal. This is the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) already awakening in me, and a spiritual degree is shining on me slightly. I try to separate from my ego, from how much I feel in it, whether I feel better or worse, one way or another; I wish to separate from its outcomes, fulfillments, and values. I do not want it!

I want that wonderful, strong, and good sensation to remain. I do not neglect it, I only wish to perceive it in my attitude, which instead of coming from my desires to receive, comes from my desires to bestow and my intention to direct everything towards unity.

There are many inner sensations, calculations, and manifestations in this. But the Light of correction is already awakening these states over us. And then man begins to receive the so-called Light of faith, a force that keeps you above your ego, above all its inner calculations. And then we enter the actual work with the force of fulfillment, calculations, and attitude. This is already the beginning of analysis.
[61316]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, The Zohar

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After our correction, the machine that works only in order to receive remains. But it can do one of two things: It can either stop receiving, stop itself, which also takes great efforts, and then a person becomes neutral towards others like a righteous man living in the forest who doesn’t need anything, not even a shirt. Or it can start working inside itself, to receive in order to bestow.

This is still receiving. If someone looks at it from the outside, he will see a normal person who eats, drinks, celebrates, and worries about his health and his family; there is nothing exceptional about him. The only difference is in his internal actions, in his intention. So on the spiritual level he bestows, and whoever is with him on the same spiritual level will feel that he performs spiritual actions. Whoever is not there will not understand a thing.

It is like the well-known example of the host and the guest: We see how the guest swallows the delicacies, grabbing food from the plates, eating, drinking, and showing everyone how much he enjoys the food. Who knows what his intentions are?

In the end, all we add to our will to enjoy is the intention, which we want to receive from the force of the Creator and attach to our actions. The actions themselves remain the same. I can restrain myself out of fear, and thus not receive anything and harm no one. I can also act for the higher idea, wishing to resemble the Creator, to be closer to Him.

I can give others everything I have, receive from them in order to bestow, or even take something from certain people in order to pass it on to others out of my natural love, just like in our world. Or I can do the same for the sake of the Creator’s greatness.

There is no other reason in spirituality but the greatness of the Creator. All the other reasons to bestow are corporeal, as accepted in our world.
[61321]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, The Zohar

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Question: How can we preserve all that we have attained in the Arava convention? How can we pass this force onward?

Answer: In two weeks, we will begin the great convention, and we have to be very anxious about its results. It isn’t just another event, although it is great and impressive. We are proud that we have the ability to hold such complex events in which guests from all over the world take part. This is wonderful, of course, but now we should worry about something that is totally different.

When we went to the desert, we had one worry. We wanted to connect and find a new force in the connection between us: the vessel for the revelation of the Creator. Actually, we have achieved a great result. Each of us at least has tasted the meaning of “unity,” and each of us has a Reshimo, an impression of what he has experienced.

Now, the question is how to preserve these impressions. How do we reinforce them in the next couple of weeks above all the disturbances?

Everything is awakened by means of an opposite force. A friend of ours who has a fig orchard in the Arava told me that they water the trees with salty water. Why do they use salty water, not fresh water? It is because it makes the fruit sweeter. It is as if it urges the fruit to overcome and to ripen.

This is how nature’s universal law is revealed: Spiritual development is realized only by means of opposing forces. This is why we give children different exercises. We want to develop a certain attribute in a child, so we give him the right exercise. We “add salt”: We place him in some difficult situation so that he will overcome the obstacle and learn something from it.

Now, in the coming two weeks, you should watch out for, identify, and overcome the disturbances, while keeping the impressions from the Arava convention so that it won’t just be a spark, but the entire picture of your reality. Every new interruption will enable you to rise to another level. Every step will make you “sweeter,” and we will “taste” you in the convention.
[61331]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” (abridged version): The purpose of Creation lies on the shoulders of the whole of the human race. But because of the descent of human nature to the lowest degree, which is the self-love that unrestrictedly rules over all of humanity, there was no way to negotiate with them and persuade them to agree to take upon themselves, to exit their narrow world into the wide spaces of the love of others.

The exception was the Israeli nation because they were enslaved in the savage kingdom of Egypt. Because of these two forewords, they were qualified for it, as it is written, “and there Israel camped before the mountain,” as “one man in one heart. This is because each and every person from the nation completely detached himself from self-love, and wanted only to benefit his friend, for only then were they qualified to receive the Light that Reforms.

The correction of the world is done gradually. It cannot take place in one person, but must be divided among many souls. It cannot be realized in one time, in one generation, but rather in a sequence of generations. The correction cannot take place if everyone is the same. On the contrary, there should be different kinds of people. All these conditions were intended to ease the way.

The correction is always done by two forces: The force of suffering pushes us from behind, and the force of the Light pulls us forward. It makes no difference what kind of people are involved. Thus, we can understand why the souls are not the same. Some begin the correction first—they are called Israel, meaning those who aspire “straight to the Creator” (Yashar-El). They correct themselves before all the other souls join the process.

People who belong to the category of Israel feel the evil of their growing egoism, which is called “the Egyptian bondage.” They want to acquire the spiritual world, but encounter resistance: They are thrown backward, and weights are tied to their feet, which prevent them from rising. It is namely Israel who feel many interruptions on their spiritual pathway.

Accordingly, they are given a burning spark of the spiritual desire. Eventually, they find themselves between two opposing forces that pull them forward and backward, practically tearing them in two. On the one hand, they feel a pull upward and, on the other, the Egyptian exile.

This contrast is accompanied by difficult conditions in a difficult historical process, in hostile relationships on the part of the world, and so forth. However, all this helps us fulfill the correction faster than others and then help them. If it weren’t for the final goal, to perform the Creator’s actions in our world, one could only pity us. We can justify this way only if we understand the mission we have been given.

There are forces that push us forward, and there are other forces that won’t let us advance. We experience a very unpleasant development, “between the hammer and the anvil,” but we must understand that we are actually in the center of the corrections, and it all depends on us. Humanity already needs us.
[61334]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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The new society that exists in balance with the laws of nature will not face any everyday problems. We will reach a state where people will be physically healthy because physical problems are the consequence of our opposition to nature.

We do not understand what it is to live a proper and good life. Phobias and fears are feelings that keep us from doing certain harmful deeds and stimulate a corresponding social behavior. However, in an integrated system, all social phobias disappear.

The system of mutual, integrated inner dependence operates the same way as the system of our organism, when all its parts work in unison. Each part does what it needs to do and supports the common organism. This way, it remains healthy. The same applies to society. A healthy society where everyone has his place seems to shine its inner strength on everyone and maintains us in a healthy state.

Health is the balance of all inner parameters of a human organism, such as blood pressure, sugar level, and so forth. When we come into balance with all of nature, we restore the balance in us.

All of nature is based only on balance. Any law is a law of balance. Any formulas that we find basically become one formula: our inner balance with nature, when we really enter it like an integral part.

Animals existing in normal conditions do not get sick. They only suffer and fall ill because we introduce abnormalities into nature and deviate from it.

All problems only derive from man because he is the highest degree of development after the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature. The level of “man” affects all the lower levels, and this is why we are the source of problems for the entire world. The extent to which we will aspire toward integration will determine the condition of the rest of the world.
[61209]
From a TV Program “The Integral World” 10/30/2011

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There is no “upper world”; the upper world is the connection between us. If we feel this unification, we will sense the upper world within it. It does not exist somewhere outside of us. The spiritual world does not exist on its own. We, ourselves, create it and form it.

There is the simple upper Light, and there is a point standing in the midst of the Light. It is divided into many parts. If we unite this point into one whole and connect all of its parts together, it becomes similar to the Light. According to the law of similarity of form, it turns into a big vessel (Kli) for the Light.

It turns out that this black point within the Light of Infinity is transformed into a huge vessel that includes the entire Light. Without connecting its parts together, there is no vessel, there is nothing except for the black point. “Existence from existence” is the Light, while “existence from absence” is a tiny desire, which is still not sensed, non-existent as the creature.
[61221]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

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Essentially, we have nothing more to learn except the concept of Arvut (mutual guarantee). Our entire life and everything that would help us on the way to another life, to another existence, everything is attained within the vessel called “Arvut.”

The Creator created us with an egoistic desire to receive. This desire senses itself, thus we are, after all, vessels of sensations.

Prior to my coming to Rabash, I had studied Kabbalistic sources for a few years. I employed regular, rationalistic methods and tried to understand the material through the intellect as it is customary in other sciences. After all, the wisdom of Kabbalah is a science. But Rabash told me that in Kabbalah, it’s all a matter of feelings.

For me, “emotions” were something that lacked importance: Today I feel this way, and tomorrow I feel differently. I can drink a glass of wine and then life will be more cheerful, and I can listen to something sad and become sad myself. The emotions are something not real; they change, depending on the surroundings, on rumors, and many other factors.

I continued studying with Rabash and maintained the scientific approach: I used my intellect, but I used it on the emotions. The wisdom of Kabbalah researches the Light, goodness and pleasure, peace and movement, the overcoming, and drawing closer or distancing…. And all of this tells us what is happening within the desire. Although our work is calibrated according to various parameters, it is only in order to grasp and feel something within the desire. Our entire development has an emotional nature and is determined only according to the measure that we penetrate within our sensations.

Of course, feelings are accompanied by reason because we need to develop ourselves intellectually, consciously. When we feel something, we need to know how to measure this feeling, to be aware of what kind of sensation it is: Do we perceive it as external or internal, is it imaginary, how is it possible to examine it, and how do we go from current values and standards to other, more real values?

I need to objectively compare one with the other, outside of my current subjective feelings and understanding, which is called “above reason.” I begin to grasp that the “reason’’ is a vessel for the emotion, filled with the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) and the Light of Hochma (wisdom). When the Light of Hochma fills my vessels, my emotions, it gives me the facts, and the Light of faith enables me to broaden this “factual material” in me. But this way or the other, they are perceived within the sensation.

If a person penetrates a little deeper within the essence of his perception of his world, he understands that everything depends only on feeling. We are analog not digital systems.

When I served in the army, I discovered to my surprise that in the F15 jets, the instrument panels are full of indicator dials, despite that for the on-land equipment a digital control panel was used. The experts understand that man is an analog system. He can quickly identify situations, but not digits. When he quickly looks at the “control panel,” he immediately grasps their general picture.  When it comes to the value of numbers, he has to translate them within himself into some sensation, while the dial on the scale automatically instills in him this feeling.

Hence, we are sensual creatures, and all of our lives are built on feeling. Even if we measure our life according to money, power, or control, at the end, all of this is only to reach a correct conclusion: We need to develop our real vessels, vessels of sensations.

The politicians, bureaucrats, or technocrats who use the scientific, rational, “digital,” approach seem to us quite respectable. It is as if it is not worthy of them to develop feelings. However, the technocrats are very limited. They still haven’t moved from their personal, simple calculations, like “two multiplied by two” to the essence of the calculations. By experiencing another few small crises, they will understand what they missed. This is the way children grow up. But in general, it is desirable that the intellect and the feelings will develop reciprocally in a person, in harmony.
[61250]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/20/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Writings of Rabash “What Does It Mean that the World Was Created for the Torah”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “He Carved A Carving in the Upper Light,” Item 12, Lesson 2
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 8, Histaklut Pnimit, Item 15, Lesson 23
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose,” Lesson 1
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