A person goes through different stages in his spiritual development. At the beginning, while on the still level, a person isn’t capable of independent action, he doesn’t understand where he is; therefore, he includes himself in the group and it begins to effect his development.

A few years go by until a person realizes that his active involvement is required. There’s work for him and he needs to be active. He always has to clarify in what direction he’s headed. From that moment on, he advances from the still to the vegetative level. He begins to grow as a result of taking care of himself, connecting with others, following the teacher’s advice, and paying close attention to the path he’s on.

He submits himself to the influence of the environment because he realizes that a group isn’t just a gathering of people but that it possesses a unique inner force, which he needs in order to develop. He becomes a “plant” and the group becomes his “soil” from which he draws the strength to develop and to further include himself in the group. He realizes that only an adult tree can produce fruit and that a tree can grow only if a person includes oneself in the group.

Upon growing, he wishes to receive the fruits, which are connection, love, and the revelation of the force of mutual bestowal, where the Creator is revealed. For the time being this is all on the vegetative level.

Then there is the animate level. This is when a person can influence things and partially takes it upon himself to care for the connection between everyone. He is no longer a “tree” that’s stuck to the ground and that is passive in relation to the one taking care of it.

The human level within a human is where one takes care of the tree. But the animate level within a human is more than a tree because it also strives to grow and actively participate in the whole system. A person sees general flaws and tries to fix them. He sees not only how to correct himself and to passively include himself in the system, but also sees how to help others; thereby, he enters into general connections and corrections. This can be attributed to the animal level.

The human level is where one adheres to the Creator as a result of his actions. So it turns out that the basis for our development is in caring for the “tree”

Primarily it’s enough to divide your life into corporeal and spiritual. You should give to the corporeal what is necessary, no more and no less, and give the rest to your spiritual work without any limitation.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: The difficulty lies in the fact that the collective consciousness is governed entirely by egoism. Twenty years ago, when psychology was just emerging in Russia, it was regarded with disdain, but this attitude gradually changed. I hope that if we continue to promote our methodology of integral upbringing and education, the force of nature will help us implement it soon. At this stage, however, it’s still not evident.

Answer: If we are talking about the first implementation step, then first and foremost we need to assemble a good, serious virtual forum of scientists and experts on various areas, people who understand that the need for integrality is a law of nature and an ascent, an elevation. Man’s ascent towards this state is our mandatory next degree, the next stage of development.

We need to start promoting the general opinion of experts who are talking about this based on their own research, including their research on the crisis, which clearly demonstrates the origins and consequences of the crisis and confirms that only by curing the egoism within us can we transform it from a point of wreckage into a point of ascent. When we will combine all this together and will be able to explain it to everyone, to wide circles of society, then psychologists will receive a green light to begin shaping a desired influence on people, which will be received as such by society itself.
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From “Lessons About the New World” #6, 12/14/12

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Question: In the post “Call Upon Him While He Is Near” you say “not to miss the opportunities as they arise” and to “react properly.” Could you give an example of an “opportunity” and a “proper” reaction to it?

Answer: Aspire to feel yourself connected to the Creator each moment, and then you will develop a new sensation. After all, you are connected to the group and study together with us. However, you lack constant effort to keep yourself connected and feel that this is how the Creator is “talking” with you.

Question: I am wondering whether animals have souls, and if they do, whether they have the possibility of development?

Answer: Only the one who reaches the property of bestowal has the soul, and only to the extent that he masters this property.

Question: Are the friends my point in the heart? Does linking my desire to theirs reveal bestowal?

Answer: A point in the heart is one’s “Self,” and the soul is one’s aspirations to bestowal (the Creator), received from the environment and corrected by the Light.
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In the News (from The New York Times): “Belgium was paralyzed by a national strike Monday [January 30^th] as unions, angry over austerity measures, timed the protest to coincide with a one-day meeting of European Union leaders here in the capital.

“The rail network was shut down and flights were severely disrupted…Tram, bus and metro services in Brussels were suspended, transportation officials said. High-speed international trains, like the Eurostar from London and Thalys from Paris, were among those canceled.

“Belgian news media reported that most government buildings and many schools were closed and that postal services were not operating. Many stores were closed, and striking workers erected barriers to block access to industrial zones. …

“Belgium is one of many European nations struggling to control its budget, and unions are angry over plans to cut spending and raise taxes. “

Comment: Everything is possible to accomplish through simple discussion, gentle explanation, and public agreement at the round table, as one family, which people in general want—and come to the need for integral education in order to achieve equitable distribution.
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In the News (from Granma): The 85-year old Fidel Castro published a series of materials, “World Peace Hanging by a Thread,” in the leading Cuban newspaper Granma.

“…conflicting interests and the enormous profits gained by arms merchants led to the fabrication of even more cruel and destructive weapons, until modern technology provided the means and materials which, if employed, could lead to extinction.

“I hold the opinion, undoubtedly shared by all people with an elementary sense of responsibility, that no country, large or small, has the right to possess nuclear weapons….

“But the United States, the strongest and richest power, imposed the line to be followed on the rest of the world. Today it possesses hundreds of spy satellites and polices all inhabitants of the planet from space. Its naval, air and land forces are equipped with thousands of nuclear weapons and it governs, as it pleases, the world’s finances and investments through the International Monetary Fund….

“One even feels pity for those soldiers, separated from their families and friends, thousands of kilometers from their own homeland, sent to fight in countries which they maybe never even heard mentioned as students, where they are assigned the task of killing or dying in order to enrich transnational enterprises, weapons manufacturers and unscrupulous politicians who, every year, are squandering funds needed for the elimination and education of the countless millions of hungry and illiterate people in the world.”

Comment: How touching and true! But what did Fidel Castro do in his country during his many years of rule?

The correction of the world is not to change from one egoistic policy to another, but to eliminate the root of evil—human egoism—under the influence of an appropriate environment.
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Question: The Kabbalists are telling me about the property of bestowal, but I don’t sense it. I don’t even have the end of the thread…

Answer: When you experience the need for bestowal you can understand what bestowal is like. Try to bestow to your friends and you will see that you don’t want it. From this you will understand what it would be like if you possessed the property of bestowal. Then you will start guessing what you lack.

The reasoning is as follows. I want to achieve unity with my friends. They are united with one another while I am detached from them. Honestly I don’t want this unity, I am incapable of doing this, I keep forgetting about it. The sparkle of my desire dims. I can revive it only when I am with my friends, when I connect to them even because of shame.

I become closer to them, I work in the group and I begin to understand how much I need love. The sketches of my efforts gradually depict a picture of bestowal. I think about its benefits and this way I form a vessel, desire. Perhaps it’s still unreal and only preliminary. However, with every effort I draw the upper Light, which is built according to my desires. It is coming from perfection, from Eternity, to the very breakage, to this world. Perhaps like a child I play a guessing game, but the Light is doing its work. This makes it possible for me to move toward bestowal.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: I am very interested in the new, corrected relationships between people that you describe. As a father, I am especially impressed by your examples of children and the difficult situations in schools. I would really love to live in this world as you have outlined. But at the same time, I am engulfed with doubts because it is written “the human heart is evil from birth.” And you want a person to suddenly become good. How is it that this notorious egoist undergoes such a metamorphosis?

Answer: A person will enjoy using his ego in its opposite form. He will see examples around him and do the same. In order to bring a person to use his egoism in a good way, we need support from society, meaning the influence of good and evil, that is, reward and punishment. We need to establish support for children so that they respect or don’t respect their parents according to these qualities.

We play with human egoism in various forms by organizing the environment around a person. There are a few levels in this environment because a human being is comprised of four levels, thereby requiring these same levels to be built in circles around him. A person should be influenced by his children so that he feels that his children evaluate him by how much he gives to society. A child’s opinion is very important to parents.

The next circle is neighbors, the third one is co-workers, and the fourth one is the nation; they all evaluate him according to the same principle. Such an environment should be built around a person, but unlike a prison from which he wants to escape, it takes into account our egoism because this is our nature.

We have to understand how much we gain by learning not to suppress our egoism, but to use it correctly. For example, if I can use my big egoism to earn a fortune for my children, everyone is happy. The problem is not in egoism: It can be of great benefit to everyone. The only question is how I use it. If a society obliges me to use it for the benefit of all, then I do accordingly. And if I am not successful, then I strive to correct this. It all depends on the social framework; a person is a product of his environment. That’s why we need to act without any pressure and violence.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 6, 1/3/12

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We have to go to a great deal of trouble in order to eventually reach “the King of Egypt died.” And afterward, “many days” begin in which we have to carry out many acts in order to reveal the correct demand within us. If we simply “scream from the lack of will to work,” that is not called “sighing from the work.”

If we don’t receive pleasure from the work, we should gradually discern: “What does it mean “the King of Egypt died?” Why are we working and for whom? We gradually discern this, until we realize there is another king and we must exit Egypt in order to be the workers of the Creator, that is, to work for bestowal.

Yet, how can I do that, if here in Egypt everything’s so simple? I’m built in such a way that I feel pleasure the moment I carry out a certain act or make an effort in thinking. The reward arrives instantaneously, within my desire. Although initially, I seemed to long for bestowal, it was with the intent of “in order to receive.” I bestow, but that is how I receive pleasure,when I identify with my egoistic desire.

However, when the King of Egypt dies, it’s great help from Above, enabling us to detach from him. Indeed, he is now dead; I am rid of him. I didn’t want that, but he has left me. My ego has detached from him.

And I don’t know what to do; I have no one to work for any more. I cry and am still. I always enjoyed him so much, and now I am left with no pleasure in life. How will I find pleasure? In what desire, thought, or intent will I be able to feel it? I begin searching.

I used to work, bestowing in order to receive, yet now I will have to look for something else, and inevitably, through beatings, I will attain bestowal in order to bestow. I think to myself: If I don’t have the vessels in which I may find pleasure, I might be able to derive pleasure from someone else.

I look at someone else: He has pleasure, whereas I have no vitality. That is why I envy him and want to join him, in order to enjoy his pleasure. Perhaps that way, at least I’ll receive some satisfaction. That is how we begin to view our surroundings. I can’t enjoy by myself any more when I work within my “Egypt” as before.

However, if I bestow unto the environment and cause them pleasure, I’ll be able to join them and enjoy along with them; even though I join with the intent of receiving something in that manner, it still is called bestowing unto the environment. That is already called Lo Lishma (not for Her name). I bestow unto them and want for them to have goodness since I’m going to identify with them and join them, so that I will find goodness within them. That’s already an advanced stage.

There are different stages of drawing near exiting Egypt. Some already realize they act in order to benefit egoism and later reach Lishma, and there are others who don’t realize it in the meantime and only act in search of pleasure. Yet, no matter what, we’re advancing.

I already have the direction: I understand that I must join the group that is exiting Egypt. Indeed, I don’t receive pleasure from the simple life. Yet, if I join them, then there, within them, in our unity, I’ll find the pleasure and reveal my unique spiritual life. That’s already a step toward salvation: There’s a purpose in detaching from egoism. After all, Egypt is already dead and that is enough. If a person feels he must bestow unto the group and reveal the collective force in it called the Creator, if he wants to be included in it so that he will also receive something, that is already called Lo Lishma (an egoistic longing for spirituality).

There are various forms and levels in each one, at different times, but it already gives the direction until we conclude the struggle, the ten beatings, which help a person detach from Egypt for good and feel the life in Egypt as darkness.

The last beating is the killing of the firstborn, which shows us that nothing will stem from this situation for us, nothing will “be born” of it. And then it’s already totally clear to a person that this state can’t bear any result. When each firstborn in Egypt dies, then he agrees to escape.

All those states the Torah tells about take place in our will to receive. Beating after beating: Either Pharoah prevails, or the Creator prevails and “Moses” sees how all this happens within him and what the values are that he gives the will to receive and the will to bestow. That is until he sees the darkness in his situation, and remains with no choice other than escaping through this darkness to the will to bestow, only to see some sign of Light ahead. And this is how he escapes from Egypt. That’s what should happen in a person who’s prepared to join the society, even if he arrives in order to find livelihood in it and egoistic fulfillment: That is already called Lo Lishma
[68776]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/12, Shamati #159

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Question: You said that through advances in technology, people got more free time and that they could study science, culture, and philosophy as something not essential for life. Today, in our free time are we beginning to develop an “inner industry”?

Answer: First of all, everyone must go through educational courses: a long and pleasant study of a new world, the structure of man, his psychology, the relationships between people: parents and children, spouses, child-rearing, the structure of society, and the history of egoistic development. We need to examine global and integral systems with the example of the human body and the structure of the universe. A person should be a little more developed.

But all this is studied in a soft, gentle form, without any examinations, but through discussions, empathy, and communication within the group. This is not a class where you come in, learn, and go home as soon as possible. You are in this atmosphere because you need to know yourself and the world in which you live, just as we teach children. After all, what do we want from them? We want them to know the world in which they exist, and to learn to put to good use everything that surrounds them.

Adults should learn the same things now because they have not been taught that! “I and the world” is the essence of the study. They also should learn how this “I and the world” turns into “We and the world,” and then this “We and the world” turns into one big whole, into an integral system.

This is what we teach people because the general law of nature is balance. Inside this state of equilibrium, we feel most comfortable. Everything tends to equilibrium. That’s why it’s necessary to show people the laws existing at all levels in physics, chemistry, biology, and zoology, to see that this is true. And then it’s clear that human society is also obliged to be organized on the same principle.

This is not mysticism, but a serious science. We do so, not because some Lenin or Trotsky decided to implement such an idea, but because the nature of the global crisis compels us to do it. And we do so not because we are communists embodying the ideas of Marx, but because we have learned this from modern life, and we see that in fact, he was right.

Marx was right in what he said about the crisis. He did not really delve into how to realize this in practice. But in order to implement this, we address all the professionals that exist in our world. And whom can we trust if not scientists? We build everything on their recommendations.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 6, 1/3/12

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Question: Why do we search for the spiritual world through the eyes of the corporeal world?

Answer: This is the way we are built; these are our desires. We can fulfill them only through the means that have been given to us: hands, legs, the five senses, and the brain.

My calculation is rather simple: to fulfill myself as much as possible with the desired pleasures and constantly to remain fulfilled 100% of the time. But the moment that I approach the upper line of fulfillment, the pleasure disappears, and I need to descend a little. For example, before a meal, I must be hungry in order for it to give me pleasure.

We need to be concerned to create the Kli (vessel) and the fulfillment that is suited to it. Nevertheless, the fulfillment doesn’t need to extinguish the deficiency, but rather to accompany it. It is best when the fulfillment and the deficiency go hand in hand; the more I receive, the more I want; I still receive and I still desire, again and again.

Here the question arises: What do I feel—eternal pleasure or eternal deficiency, or maybe once this way and once that?

In our world the only possibility to enjoy both the deficiency and the fulfillment is if they are directed to a third party. Then both of them are desirable and exist within me. Not alternately, but at the same time, together. About this it is said, “Love covers all transgressions.”

If they exist side by side, then from within their combination the middle line is created, and I constantly enjoy myself, without end, without any transition between the deficiency and the fulfillment. And thus I reach the form of Infinity, and I don’t need to replace the periods of deficiency and fulfillment.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/6/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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