Question: At school, the teacher usually asks a question and a student answers. You have a completely different approach: You ask questions very rarely and, as a rule, wait to be asked questions. Why?

Answer: This is because I basically crave, aspire for my explanation to evoke in a student emptiness, empty places, meaning questions in order to know, to learn. A correct explanation does not “shut him up,” does not give him fulfillment. It reveals a little bit of what I am explaining and then a student suddenly runs into: “But why is it so? What if it’s not so, but different?”

It’s as if I instill into my explanations my questions, the opportunity to ask, and perplexity brought about by them, and I do it in advance. I want them to find defects in my explanations. This will help them grasp my explanation, understand it better, and to absorb it. This is very important.

That’s why if I am explaining and everything is clear to everybody, and there are no questions, I consider that I haven’t explained anything at all. I feel very bad then. When there are many questions—“this is not so, not from here, not like this”—then this is the material that will be absorbed for sure.

Comment: A question though, is not always a question….

Answer: Turn it around, do what you think is necessary so that the audience will learn from it. A lot of people ask, but they don’t know how to formulate the question exactly. We understand that the teacher must help the student here and to feel him or her.

I believe that if I transmit the information in 15-20 minutes, and then questions take up twice as much time, then this is a lesson truly absorbed. This is very important. It’s as if you are throwing them bait, and they swallow and clutch at it. With the help of this bait, they necessarily must approach you, hold on to you. It’s because the question and answer or an explanation begins with the fact that you have something and they don’t. You are trying to pass on to them what you have at the given moment decided to pass on.

The transfer has to consist of you giving them the information, and them, in response, asking any kind of questions from the entirety of the material that they have heard (only heard!) in order for them to experience, master, and completely absorb it inside. And this is only being reached with the help of questions, questions of various kinds, and from various kinds of people.

Question: What is the characteristic of an answer with which I shut off the interest of a person?

Answer: I never do this. I try to give an answer in which I purposely touch upon another, some kind of a crafty aspect. The student immediately has a reaction here: “Really? And how does this work?” This means that the answer leads him to other questions.

I want for the entire material, which I gave them during the first 15 minutes, to later be penetrated with questions from all sides. Then it will stay in them. I help them with my answers to ask a new question. The correct answer carries the next question in itself, and a correct question is already half the answer.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #11, 12/16/11

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Question: You are saying that the force of reception will continue to grow as the force of bestowal keeps developing in us? Will it not diminish?

Answer: A new force of reception will grow in you as much as the force of bestowal will develop in you. It is not the force of a little egoist, which you were using on the animate level or on the level of a person of the “old world.” Now two forces are developing in you together, forces of a person of the new world.

Until now you were developing instinctively, like any animal. But unlike an animal, you have developed to such a level of egoism that it has simply become unbearable. And now you are trying to develop the force of bestowal with the help of the environment.

Bestowal assumes more than a gift; it is giving, mutual participation, closeness, support, mercy, to the point of love. Love includes all the other manifestations of connection and the ability to feel the desires of another. This is called the force of bestowal.

The moment I begin to develop this force within me, a second force begins to grow parallel to it, the force of reception, and it helps me to bestow. Because I do not have anything myself, I am unable to give to others, there is no way for me to establish a connection with them. But by using my entire force of reception, I can bestow to others.

I have only the force of reception by nature, and I have existed with it from the beginning of the universe until now. And now a question arises: How can I learn to bestow to others, to society, which will not accept me otherwise and will think that I am a savage, a nobody. I will feel shame in front of my children, my wife, relatives, all the people I care about, my closest environment, which even an egoist has.

I feel like everyone regrets my existence. And then I begin to understand that I need to begin to bestow. But how can I bestow? I can bestow through the force of reception that I have and connect to bestowal.

I have a big egoism that enabled me to win, to build, and do things. And now I use the same force to benefit others. This is called the force of bestowal. But these are very internal things, which a beginner probably cannot understand. They will not summon an inner response, a reaction, because we are not built this way. From this point on, we already need the force of correction contained in the Light that Reforms.

So, our conclusion is: By acquiring the force of bestowal, I develop an inner ability to see the entire world as if it were transparent, to see through it, to know what happens, to fix myself, my family, my immediate and distant social environments, and to arrange my life in a perfect way.

It enables me to attain the state of absolute happiness. I feel included in the eternal reality, and I rise to the human degree that gives me the feeling that life is worth living, existing, and continuing our species, having children. I feel satisfaction and fulfillment in life.

And all this happens by acquiring the force of bestowal though the proper environment.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #12, 12/16/11  

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Question: You say that all of our development is meant to raise our consciousness about who we are. So, who are we?

Answer: First of all, we are not animals existing inside of our bodies and only caring about how to fulfill it. Second, we are not simply egoistic creatures obliged to please our ego, which plays us and pushes us toward various false goals, only giving us suffering throughout our whole lives. It is written: “A person dies without having achieved even half of the desired,” meaning that no one is left satisfied about his life and while dying, does not take anything with him. Now, we have arrived at such a state where we are left with nothing, even prior to death.

However, we are creatures who have an absolutely unique potential, and we are located at the very top of nature that created the entire universe and, as a result of this wondrous process, developed life on earth along with us. This is what the goal of human development consists of.

This development, by the good or forceful path, must end with everyone attaining the whole of all-encompassing nature, identifying themselves, and reaching balance and perfect connection with it, which in Kabbalah is called “adhesion.” All of the person’s qualities have to be used for the sake of bestowal, serving the force of bestowal, like all of nature.

Then, we will see where our development has been leading us, in the form that existed before the planet earth was formed and afterward, in the periods of the formation of the still, vegetative, and animate nature and then the development of man. All of these forms up until today, when we have begun to enter the new world, the world of bestowal, all of the past development in our egoism, in the world of consumption where we search only for how to receive more, all of it was only preparation for the human level that we now have to develop within ourselves.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #12, 12/16/11 

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Shamati #19 “What Is the Creator Hates the Bodies in the Work,” (Start with: “One must know that during the work,” To: “This matter is implied in the Citron”) 
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “The Correction of the Lower World from the Upper World,” Item 297, Lesson 82
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 7, Item 14, Lesson 6
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Preparations for the European Congress: “Concerning the Importance of Society,” (Start with: “Therefore, in matters of work on the path of truth,” To: “Now we can  understand what our sages said”)
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In the News (form EurekAlert): “Mitsch, an environment and natural resources professor at Ohio State University, has led the effort to compare the behavior of two experimental marshes on campus – one that was planted in 1994 with wetland vegetation and another that was left to colonize plant and animal life on its own.

“The two wetlands now contain nearly the same number of plant species, and almost 100 more species than existed 15 years ago. When the two marshes were created, researchers planted 13 common wetland species in one marsh and left the other to develop naturally. Water from the nearby Olentangy River has been continually pumped into both marshes at rates designed to mimic water flow in a freshwater river wetland setting.”

My Comment: All this suggests that the initial conditions are not important: The main thing is to allow wetlands to develop naturally. We have the opportunity to return to nature: If we leave it alone, limit ourselves to the necessities of life, in a few years, we will find ourselves in a healthy world again.
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Since we perceive the world in our consciousness, we perceive only part of the surrounding world and only to the extent that our consciousness can perceive and feel it as a general picture—in our view (Partzuf), in our ten Sefirot. And because the Reshimot (the informational genes) and, consequently, the Partzuf (the vessel in which we sense the world) are constantly changing inside us, it seems that the world is also changing. All our study of the world is relative to our attributes. Therefore, whatever we feel and research in our sensations we perceive as the truth.

Based on the previous states (Partzufim), we make assumptions about future states. Theoretical scientific assumptions are also based on that. We call them “the models of the world.” This means that science is a method of models and can therefore be mistaken. If we are mistaken in our understanding of the world, that is, if we cannot build the right model based on our Reshimo (our internal data of development), we find ourselves in a world that we don’t understand. If we continue to regard it according to the previous models, we fail, experience crises and even disasters.

We must constantly build new notions (models) of the world. Otherwise we will come into conflict, opposition to what surrounds us and will feel a negative response from nature and society. The problem is that the egoism manages us, and we want to create models of the world that will please it, and not models that will reflect the world the way it is revealed to us (in the Reshimot). We are convinced that our assumptions are correct and do not want to acknowledge that it is our egoism that pushes us to such perception of the world.

We have to acknowledge the fact that the stage of our development that we have reached does not allow us to follow our distorted image of the world blindly. In fact, we must rise above our egoistic nature in order to perceive our development correctly and build the right models of a new world.

To do that, the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us. It explains how we should feel this world correctly and objectively, above our egoism. Then we will stop foolishly fighting nature; instead, we will understand its wholeness and sublimity and together with it rise to perfection.
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A person doesn’t care whether he receives or bestows, but rather how he feels about it. If I feel good, I am ready to bring you a present every day, every moment. The main thing is that it brings me pleasure.

The problem is not giving the present, but feeling pleasure in this. The moment I feel that bestowal fills me, I will give you whatever you want. I don’t think about whether to give or not to give, but about how to derive pleasure from it.

There isn’t much room for philosophy here because we are merely the desire to enjoy, and so we can do anything if it brings us fulfillment. The question is how to perform actions without receiving any fulfillment?

This is why we were given the desire to fill ourselves egoistically so that above it, we will build our attitude to the form of fulfillment. I have to check myself: How do I enjoy? This means that I grab myself by the throat and now decide how I should enjoy: this way or the other. Until then, I strangle myself and don’t allow myself to receive anything.

Then I become independent. I am free with regards to the filling, and am able to stop myself from receiving fulfillment or, on the contrary, to fill myself. This makes me similar to the Creator because He is the master both of the desire and the fulfillment, and so I also become the master and have control over the two.

We don’t understand how we can strangle ourselves with our own hands and how free we are once we reach that! It is such a high status that only in it am I called “Human.”

Until then there is only an automatic calculation in me and nothing more than that. It is like wanting to stop smoking because it is unhealthy. It all depends on what is more important to me.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/2012, TES

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We have gathered to lay the foundation of the group for those interested in learning the laws of nature and following them. Our development represents a path that allows us to rise from unconscious development under the pressure of the forces of nature at the animate level and reach the level of conscious development appropriate to the human level. The difference between animate development and development at the level of human is in the understanding of the process of our natural development and its conscious realization.

The essence of the human level is that instead of developing under the compelling forces of nature, a person studies the laws of nature and follows them consciously. Thus, he wins twofold: He moves on his own accord and quickly, without suffering blows and gladly accepting all the changes within himself. He penetrates the laws of nature and becomes the master of his destiny.

It should be made clear that the cause of all our suffering is our lack of understanding of the laws of nature with respect to the individual and society. We study and are able to understand nature at its still, vegetative, and animate levels, but since we are at the level of human, we cannot comprehend this level, that is, the attitude of nature toward us. We can study only what is at the level below us.

Nature is integral, whole, and it gradually develops all its parts, including us, to this state. Until our time, we were developing in a simple, linear, egoistic progression, instinctively obeying the orders of nature within us. However, recently, we have completed the phase of our linear, egoistic development and further must become, individually and all together, similar to integral nature. The objective of our natural development is to learn the essence of nature, its program and purpose.

By studying the laws of integral, analog systems, we recognize that it means our complete unity in a single society, mutual bestowal and love. We realize that this is completely opposite to our egoism, the nature in which we were created. We wish to fulfill only our personal desires. This is opposite to that level of full interconnectedness that we have to achieve according to the plan of nature.

By uniting in spite of everyone’s egoistic desire through our actions of mutual bestowal, we are building a model that is similar to nature, to its quality to give to and to fulfill its parts. Through our efforts of mutual bestowal and love, we leave behind the impact of the harsh driving forces of development and advance toward the goal: complete integration and similarity to nature.

We can be proud that we evolve consciously, not running away from the blows like an animal, but by attaining the force that governs us. This raises us to the highest level of nature, to its complete attainment, toward being fulfilled by its upper force and goodness.

Although we have not reached the goal, we have the desire to achieve it. This also should be important for us, although we are still at the beginning of the path. However, we hope that we will reach this exalted goal.
(On the basis of Rabash’s article “Purpose of Society (1)”
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Question: What should I do with the hate towards the friends that I reveal on the spiritual path?

Answer: Learn from the authors of The Book of Zohar. Gathering together in order to “engage in the Torah,” that is, discover the Creator, they felt hatred towards one another first. This was the result of the great work of connection they did previously. Each time a new state, a new desire to receive, a new Reshimo (the informational gene), was revealed to them—and everyone felt it as corrupt: “I hate the others and I love myself, I want everything for myself.”

This is the right preparation: the revelation of new conditions that I have to correct now. First I discover the corruption and then I work on the correction, for which I need the Torah. It says: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.” When the evil inclination is revealed, I can turn to the Torah for help.

If you don’t discover the evil from the start, you don’t reach the Torah either. In this case you don’t learn the method of correction, but theory. The “Torah” is the Light that Reforms that you draw from the writings of Kabbalists to the extent that you discover the evil within you and suffer because you don’t want it. This is because you yearn for bestowal, and the evil that is revealed to you disturbs you by not letting you reach it. It’s not that it brings you misfortunes or bad luck in this life; it prevents you from reaching bestowal in particular.

So the preparation for the lesson is the most important thing, as Baal HaSulam writes in “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 17. This is how one should approach the study. Wherever people study you can check: Do they reach the recognition of evil? Do they not just beat themselves on the chest and confess, but truly discover the evil in them?

A person doesn’t discover this with regard to his neighbors, colleagues, or family members, but only in relation to the friends, when he hates them instead of loving them. He tries to connect with them with all his heart, with all his might, but he cannot. Instead, he feels how hateful and repelling just the thought of it is.

There is no greater rejection and disapproval—after all, it is as if you are being forced to love. It comes to very difficult sensations. And it is then that you should engage in the Torah, that is, the method of correction.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/2012, “Introduction to TES”

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