Question: When is our state called self-sacrifice?

Answer: At the moment, we should simply try to do whatever is in our power according to our understanding of what self-sacrifice means. Try to find your point of the shattering, which is the opposite from the point that was created during the shattering from top down, and correct the place of the shattering in the ascent from the bottom up. This is what we call to clarify what you can give up, in order to hold on to bestowal.

Suppose I am ready to give to someone, to help him, to think about him under certain conditions, but beyond that—no. Can I do anything else above that “no?” A single step or half a step? What will I feel then?

These are very high concepts, which cannot be conveyed in words. People think that it is simple: We often say that a person sacrifices himself for his work, for his family, etc., but true self-sacrifice is not in the hands of the created being at all. We can’t do it as long as we operate within our egoistic nature. There must be the influence of the Light, which raises me above my egoistic desire, and then I can work in self-sacrifice.

To sacrifice my soul means to give myself to a higher level. But if I am within my egoism now, how can I reach the level of bestowal? And if I am on a certain level of bestowal, how do I rise to a higher level? I have to give my soul to the higher level, to enter the upper, like a fetus.

In order to become a fetus in the upper, I have to annul my feelings, my mind, my clarifications, and all my healthy logic and common sense. But I feel that I am a grown up, that I am clever, and not some insane fool. So how can I give myself to the upper?

And what does it mean to give myself: simply not to do anything and to wait until He does something with me? No, it won’t work this way. To give myself the upper means to do whatever I feel as His desire by myself, above my reason. If you can’t do that, you cry out!

In the article: “The Matter of the Association of the Quality of Mercy with Judgment,” it says that it is in the darkest state that a person tries to reach self-sacrifice. It is in the darkness that a person is given this opportunity.

It is very hard to do this alone. If a person makes great efforts, for a long time by oneself and sees that it leads nowhere, he can reach the conclusion that he needs the group’s support. I won’t be able to do it alone, and neither will all the others if they operate alone. So let’s help one another, as it says: “they shall help one another” and then we will have a reason to go out to the desert!

A desert is a place where we despair of our own powers and cry out. Therefore, we need to prepare the vessels for this.
[67731]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/12, Shamati #219

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All our work is climbing up the levels, where every level is totally cut off from the previous one. Such a ladder is created during the cascading from top down, when Malchut of the upper becomes the Keter of the lower. And this is how the transition from one state to another takes place, even if it isn’t an ascent up the spiritual degrees yet.

It is a real transformation, and the change our matter goes through is so thorough and complete that we cease to understand ourselves during the transition from one state to another. This is because all these states are made of the change in the amount of the Light that evokes our desire to receive, and both, the Light and the desire, give birth to a new level, a new state.

When we are on the new level, we have nothing left of the previous state except for the Reshimot (informational genes) that brought about this new state. It is also concealed. This means that there is nothing from the previous state in the new spiritual state.

We feel that it happens this way even before entering the spiritual world; we have to agree with all the states we go through, and learn from them what the spiritual transition really is as we move from one world to another. Every level is actually a world in itself.

The problem is that there are two elements in every level: the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, which are two opposites that contradict one another—the right and left lines, each with its own shell. We have to become the middle line that connects the two in it, that controls them and that is above them.

The cascading from top down takes place in the following way: Hochma (on the right), Bina (on the left), and then Da’at (wisdom) (below, in the middle). And thus a triangle is formed with a vertex facing downwards. During the ascent from the bottom up there is Hochma (on the right) and Bina (on the left) and then Keter (on the top, in the middle), because we only want to rise. Each time it is the result of Hochma and Bina, Hassadim and Gevurot, fear and love, and always above them.

And so there is always a problem of how to combine these two components that contradict one another, until the third arrives and decides. The third component comes from Above in the form of the revelation of the Creator, after a person sees that he absolutely cannot reconcile the two.

Therefore, self-sacrifice is required both in fear and in love. In fear it is harder to attain than in love, because love also absorbs the soul and they both act in the same way. If I love someone, I am totally devoted to him and desire to connect to him. This is how it seems to us in this world, because we love what our desire to receive likes.

But in the spiritual world I love what is hated by my egoism, as it says: “love will cover all the sins.” This means that self-sacrifice is also difficult in love, but in hate it is totally impossible.

To hate and to give my soul is called to use my vessels to receive in order to bestow. So how can I unite my most hated enemies who also hate me, and to bestow upon everyone the good that I can only do to the people I love most and that are closest to me?

This can only be done for some additional goal that justifies everything else. But if the goal is the action itself, it is simply impossible. This means that a very difficult ascent is expected here, above personal accounts.

We approach it gradually, perhaps not by the Light, which is the shortest and nicest path, but on a much longer path that includes sufferings and that is called “Derech Ererz,” (the path of the earth). Eventually, however, we reach the goal, because the upper Light operates on every action that we perform and decides between the two rival sides.

Therefore, although I have to give my soul both in fear and in love, they arrive alternately, until we rise and are able to connect everything. Then you can be in a state of self-sacrifice in fear too, just like in love.
[67721]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/12, Shamati #219

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Opinion (Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund): “The world must act now to prevent a ‘1930s moment’ and a ‘downward spiral’ into economic catastrophe, the International Monetary Fund warned last night

“Mrs Lagarde said: ‘We could easily slide into a 1930s moment, a moment where trust and cooperation break down and countries turn inward, a moment ultimately leading to a downward spiral that could engulf the entire world.’

“Mrs Lagarde added: ‘But what we must all understand is that this is a defining moment. It is not about saving one country or region. It is about saving the world from a downward economic spiral. The longer we wait, the worse it will get. The only solution is to move forward together. Our collective economic future depends on it.’”

Comment: If we admit that the entire world is completely interdependent and, through imposing restrictions on any communication with the non-aligned, oblige all the countries to be integrally connected, which is quite real today, we will be able to establish joint management of the world economy, raise the income of the needy to the level of subsistence, create a system of upbringing of an integral society, and not only overcome the crisis, but also lead people to happiness.
[67884]

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Opinion (Karl- Heinz Ruckriegel, an economics professor and a happiness researcher at the University of Applied Sciences, Nuremberg): “Scientists tend to agree [that money does not buy happiness]. When people have to fight for survival, they are not satisfied with their lives, and a direct correlation between income and satisfaction is observed.

“However, this correlation weakens as income rises over $ 10,000 a year, and after $ 20,000 it is gone completely. That is, when the basic needs are met, a person just gets used to the standard of living, but does become happier; besides, he begins to compare himself with others and cannot calm down.”

My Comment: Undoubtedly, the country’s GDP says nothing about the happiness of its people. Of course, first it’s necessary to ensure that everyone’s income level is sufficient to cover basic necessities. But we do not have to provide more than that; rather, we should teach people how to achieve happiness through unity—this is the fulfillment that nature has prepared for us.

And although we still view this as totally unacceptable and repulsive, we must learn this science of achieving happiness. As a result, we attain eternity and perfection and begin to feel the highest level of Nature.
[67878]

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Opinion (Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of America’s leading strategists, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter): “Nathan Gardels: While China focuses on the long term and plots out its future, the US in particular is beset with a short-term mentality. In effect, we are no longer an ‘industrial democracy’ in the strict sense, but a ‘consumer democracy’ where all the feedback signals – the market, the media, and politics – are short-term and geared to immediate gratification.

“Gardels: How can America’s short-term mentality be changed? Are the West’s political institutions up to the challenge?

“Brzezinski: Yes, if we develop a more effective and longer-range response to the current crisis. …We are so preoccupied with the current crisis and so lacking in a longer-term perspective that we have no strategic vision which would give us some sense of historical momentum.

“Democracy is capable of responding provided we focus on the right aims. The question today is whether democracies can thrive with financial systems that are out of control, that are capable of generating selfishly beneficial consequences only for the few, without any effective framework that gives us a larger, more ambitious sense of purpose. That is the real problem.

“The essential political leadership in Europe – the Germans and the French mainly, along with some others – are demonstrating a sense of responsibility for the future of Europe. They are increasingly determined to shape a political framework which will supplant what Europe has been lately, namely a financial union for some and a politically loose community for all. Inevitably, a genuine political union will take shape in stages and steps, probably beginning through a de facto treaty reached by inter-governmental agreement in the near future.

“We are now entering a phase in which no power is likely to be truly supreme.

“This is why, in my view, the idea of an expanded West – which eventually should include both Russia and Turkey – would be a very important element contributing to greater global stability. An enlarged West – in which the United States plays the role of conciliator and at the same time of balancer in Asia – would be better able to forge constructive policies to cope with global issues than a world in which there is increasing turmoil and conflict with many small players vying for their own self-interest.”

My Comment: We need to pull the financial system from the egoistic hands and use it only for the benefit of society. Otherwise, those in power will kill us.
[67875]

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Report (from the International Labour Organization): “The world faces the ‘urgent challenge’ of creating 600 million productive jobs over the next decade in order to generate sustainable growth and maintain social cohesion, according to the annual report on global employment by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

“The Global Employment Trends Report also said the world faces the additional challenge of creating decent jobs for the estimated 900 million workers living with their families below the US$ 2 a day poverty line, mostly in developing countries.

“‘Despite strenuous government efforts, the jobs crisis continues unabated, with one in three workers worldwide – or an estimated 1.1 billion people – either unemployed or living in poverty,’ said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. ‘What is needed is that job creation in the real economy must become our number one priority.’

“Global Employment Trends 2012 says 74.8 million youth aged 15-24 were unemployed in 2011, an increase of more than 4 million since 2007. It adds that globally, young people are nearly three times as likely as adults to be unemployed. The global youth unemployment rate, at 12.7 per cent, remains a full percentage point above the pre-crisis level.”

My Comment: There is no solution in the creation of new jobs; on the contrary, production is expected to fall. The solution is to revise the entire economic policy, to train people to exist in the new world with limited employment, and to provide training and education for the entire population to live in the new social conditions, in which people’s participation in training and education is considered their work and is paid at the level, necessary for their existence.

Accordingly, a society that will gradually change under the impact of new integral education will be ready for a more equitable distribution of income.
[67871]

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Opinion (from The Independent): “The British people are becoming less honest and their trust in government and business leaders has fallen to a new low amid fears that the nation is heading for an ‘integrity crisis.’

“Lying, having an affair, driving while drunk, having underage sex and buying stolen goods are all more acceptable than they were a decade ago. But people are less tolerant of benefits fraud…

“The ‘integrity problem’ is likely to get worse because young people are more tolerant of dishonest behaviour than the older generation. The new centre will look at issues arising from recent scandals such as phone hacking, MPs’ expenses and the banking crisis.

“Trust levels in MPs from all parties slumped by 36 points to 4 per cent after last summer’s riots. People also lost confidence in the young and the police. Only 29 per cent of people believe the Government is doing the right thing, while 38 per cent trust businesses and a surprisingly low 42 per cent trust non-governmental organisations.”

My Comment: Obviously, only education can change society! A person is a product of the society in which he lives and develops. The only way to effect change in the world is to create a correct environment.
[67828]

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When we read The Book of Zohar, we must open our hearts. What does a person use to open his heart? What code does he use to crack open the “safe” that locks up his heart, so that it can open up before reading The Zohar?

Kabbalists are called “the sages of the heart” because they treat the heart, the desires, so that the Light of Hochma will enter them.

Therefore, we should think about how we can open our hearts; otherwise, we won’t attain the Light of Hochma. How can we open our desires, so that they will be open for the Light?

The Zohar is like a magic book, which we actually enter. It isn’t a novel that you read in which you picture yourself the hero. When you read The Zohar, you don’t need to imagine, you simply enter it, live there, not as if, but actually so. You enter it and you find yourself there, and the state you were in before reading The Zohar doesn’t exist anymore. You’ve entered by reading and you stay there and have only to advance.
[67724]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/12, The Zohar

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Question: In Russia the gap between an idealized picture of a beautiful life and the actual life is very big. Entire masses of people have learned to believe that there is something beautiful yet unreal and unreachable, and then there is the everyday life where “there is no fence against ill fortune.” How can we overcome the fact that a Russian person does not believe that he can live better than now?

Answer: In the course of many centuries Russian people were so pressured, restricted, and enslaved that this faith was simply “etched out” of them. Many leaders and regimes were preoccupied only with that: How they could convert a normal citizen into an abnormal slave. That is why today we see a mutilated society, unfortunate people with tremendous potential, the kind that doesn’t exist, perhaps, in any other nation in the world. It is a nation of overwhelming possibility: intelligent, sensitive, and at the same time so tortured, cornered, embittered, and full of mistrust towards everyone.

Whenever I visit Moscow and look at people, I notice that all of them walk around either hunched over or conversely, show themselves off. There is no normal and free person who would walk along and be carefree about what goes on around him. That is, a person is truly placed under very difficult conditions that weigh heavily upon him.

But on the other hand, Russian people have an exceptionally high perceptiveness towards science, closeness, and understanding of the new. Unlike the Germans or the English, they are not so intransigent. The ability to adapt and change is present in Russians more than in any other people.

Therefore I think that on the contrary, in Russia, as a result of widespread dissemination of the idea of integral education and upbringing, the integral future of the world could be quickly accepted and people could begin to adapt to it quickly. It is because they are constantly searching for the Russian idea, identity, and individuality. This “fermentation” continuously goes on in a person, it’s just that now people have thrown up their hands. Now there is a stretch of nihilism, but it’s only external; internally this demand exists anyway.
[66478]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #5, 12/13/11

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Preparation to the Lesson
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Writings of Rabash “Letter 40”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Let Us Make Man,” Item 172, Lesson 48
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, Item 19, Lesson 11
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“Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 61, Lesson 31
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