Kabbalists tell us that the upper Light is in absolute rest and that nothing changes but the person himself. When a person changes, the Reshimot, (reminiscences) in him change, and if he knows how to organize the Reshimot, this is the world he gets. So there is no problem in working with ourselves, among us. If we know how to connect, how to organize our society so that it will constantly be connected the way it should, we will feel whatever we want in it. These are actually all the tools that were given to us and we don’t need more than that.

If the Light doesn’t change and the Reshimot in us constantly advance us towards it, we must constantly be more and more similar to the Light among us. It is simple and it depends only on us and not on any external factor. It doesn’t even depend on the Creator because the upper Light, His force, is in absolute rest. The way you place yourself with regard to it, together with the society, (because otherwise you don’t perceive it, everyone and more importantly all of us together), this is how we receive bestowal and feel it in the form of our world.

Therefore, wanting to connect our aspirations above ourselves so that they will be connected above us and in them we will feel our spiritual reality is the most important action for us. This is what the prayer is for. A prayer is when a person judges himself. To pray means to judge yourself. First a person must be his own judge: “Who am I, what am I in my present state, and who do I want to be?” the gap between what there is now and what is desired the next moment is actually raising MAN, which is a prayer.

We should determine correctly where we are now. This is called “the recognition of evil”: Our present state is still bad. And so at every moment, even in the more advanced states, the present moment is felt in us as bad and the more advanced state is felt as better. So it says: “Stay away from evil and do good.” Why does it say, “Do good”? What is the good I can do if the good is waiting for me in the next state? To “do good” means to imagine, to try, to play with it, to be in it, in this good.

And this is a prayer: To what extent am I in the recognition of evil in the present state, and how much I yearn for the desired state, to attain the good. How do I check the evil and the good? “To bring contentment to the Creator,” “to bestow upon Him,” it is all very vague and no one knows what it means. We don’t understand and don’t attain this, but only reach this attainment after having prepared ourselves.

How should we prepare ourselves? Here we receive a great gift: an environment in which I can aim myself at the Creator, the state from which I can leap to spirituality. The moment I adjust myself to this state with the others, it is revealed among us. Kabbalists prepared prayers for us, a plea from a person to “us” and to the Creator, which are actually very helpful in helping us reach the right approach.

The truth is that no one is worthy and no one deserves this. It is a wonder that it is possible to transcend from corporeality to spirituality.

Baal HaSulam says in letter 56: The Creator measures a person his measure. And so it says in the Bible: “that the sin of the Amorite is not complete yet,” and this is also our issue. The sin of the Amorite is the shell that protects the fruit, called “an awakening from Above,” or the Land of Israel. And this shell will not move even one bit, before Israel fully complete the measure of “an awakening from below,” that is obliged and that is called a “virtue.” That is the exertion and the labor above human power.

Because what is in a person’s power is called just simply work and is not an exertion, and when Israel come to this point, then they complete their measure, and then it means that “the sin of the Amorite is complete.” Meaning that it is clear to all that there is no Land of Israel and the honor of the Creator, the Divinity belongs to them. Then the shell called the “Amorite” is broken and Divinity is raised from the dust, and not before that, not even a moment, as it says.

On one hand, we should really understand that we don’t belong to spirituality. On the other hand, we must be audacious like is inherent in children and their demands. The lower level is always unworthy of the higher level, but makes demands of the higher level. It is written: “My sons have defeated me.” Audacity is what helps here. What audacity? I don’t deserve anything, but I demand it. All this must be included in the prayer.

What is special about a prayer? A prayer cannot be from one individual, but from all of us together. One person who prays is like a shout in the desert; it doesn’t affect anything. We must raise MAN, Mei Nukvin, when Malchut rises to Bina and Malchut is Knesset Israel (the assembly of Israel), which means that it assembles all the requests together. If a request comes from an individual, it is not received; it is not included in the spiritual vessel, in the Shechina (Divinity). So let’s try and feel our prayer, our collective desire, together.
[71455]
From the Arava Arvut Convention Lesson #3, 2/24/12

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In reality, spiritual work is very short and easy if we rise above egoistic intention and want to check to what extent we exist inside of it. We need only to look from the outside because it’s impossible to explore and experience this while you are inside your ego, as it rules over you and bribes you, depriving you of the ability to study critically.

In order to be an objective researcher and impartial judge, you have to be completely independent of what you examine. And this is a very high degree. But you need to try and begin from small things, to evaluate yourself as critically as possible. This is called the realization of evil. You must constantly check what your intention is to any action, look, or movement. At this point, you can immediately proceed to request to change your nature because our nature is egoistic, but there is another form nature: bestowal.

We see in our history how many billions of years were required to develop the still level of nature, hundreds of thousand years each to develop the vegetative and animate levels. Then we see how fast human evolution was as the last stage of development of the animate level that goes beyond the normal animal. It took only 20-30 thousand years. But each degree has its set stages, called the Sefirot, and we see how much the 20th century has added to our final development in comparison with all the previous millennia.

The same will happen in our spiritual development, only much faster. Everything that unfolded in history for thousands, millions, and billions of years can happen to us in a few hours. There is no time in spirituality! These changes can be instant. And especially because we live in such a time when all of humanity (that is, the whole universe) begins to approach the realization of evil of its egoistic intention, its ego, it’s not a miracle that it will be revealed completely. Many people in the world already need this and more or less understand, but just don’t see the opportunity to do something. They all say nice words, but don’t go beyond them.

This means that our changes can be very fast, and everything depends on us. And that is why “we have gathered here to ascend to the degree of man,” who is the master of his intention whether it will be for its own sake or for the sake of bestowal. We just need to catch this intention “by its tail” and constantly analyze in what intention we are, doing only this all the time. No matter what actions we perform, the most important thing is intention.

The world that operates on the basis of action is called this world because there is only one intention. And the world that operates on the basis of intention is called the upper world. If a person reveals that his intention is egoistic, this is already called the spiritual or upper world, however only from the “left side,” from the side of the impure force, shell (Klipa). But this is already a spiritual level, so we should be interested even in discovering evil and rejoice that we have revealed it.

The main thing is that I approach studying in terms of intention. And whether it’s good or bad, for its own sake or for the sake of bestowal is not important; my task is to get deeper into it and live only in it. Thus, I move into a totally different dimension of my life, meaning I discover the relation to it only according to intention. And I worry about nothing else. If we fully concentrate on this, we will find a tiny, narrow opening into the spiritual world! It’s only in this.

The difficulty is to catch one’s intention each time and to stay in it constantly. Then, we begin to evolve at the speed of light! It will hardly take any time at all; this is already labor pains through which we are born into the world of intentions.
[71249]
From the Arava Arvut Convention 2/23/12 Lesson #1 

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Opinion (Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning economist): “The 130-billion euro aid will not save Athens from default, and ultimately Greece will have no choice but to leave the EU. Politicians are not paving the road for exiting the crisis, but leading the EU to the collapse.

“’Europe is a major threat not only to the US, but the entire world economy. A total failure of European politicians to develop a comprehensive anti-crisis solution… is evident.’

“‘The strategy of cutting back on spending during the crisis does not help.

“‘There is a widespread misconception that a time of saving is suitable for structural reforms because the transformation will make more people unemployed. Structural reforms must be carried out at a time of prosperity of the economy. The Lost Decade in Europe is the end of the EU story that simply will not survive such a weak growth.

“‘The crisis heats up society. The “Arab Spring” can spread around the world, or on the opposite, there might be a slant towards authoritarian regimes, like it happened in Hungary. The example of Hungary is a possible scenario for Europe, and it is very scary. The world is now in the state like in 1934, and the economic crisis creates high political volatility. … I have never seen such uncertainty. Any turn of events is possible in social order.”

My Comment: Again, he advocates expanding the economy, rather than bringing it to a reasonable size, and strengthening the consumer society, rather than against it. The EU will disappear not due to the lack of growth, but due to the lack of unity because it is not the EU by concept. And as for the possibilities of the Nazi regimes in the EU countries, Baal HaSulam wrote about it in his newspaper “The Nation (HaUma)” 70 years ago.
[70873] 

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Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “HaShavua,” Selected Excerpts
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Question: It was said that it is impossible to attain the revelation of the Creator without joy. But I do not understand how can you feel joy when working against your desire, against egoism?

Answer: Maybe some feel joyful when dancing in a club. But here we are joyful about working for the spiritual goal. It is written: “Our heart will rejoice at Them.”

Maybe you would like to be joyful, but you do not feel this joy in your heart. There is one advice for this: Try to be joyful! You will see how this will affect the others who will look at you and then they will also start dancing and singing. And you will also feel joy by looking at them.

It does not matter if at first your joy is simulated. If you do not play and remain “sincere,” according to your egoism, you will remain as the rest of the world. The entire world behaves absolutely sincerely:They act as their egoism commands them to act.

But you want to come out of your egoism, and this can only be done by playing. We play as if we really want bestowal, as if we need the group, as if we need the Creator. All this we do “as if,” because what do I really need: to consume the world!

Play is a very serious thing. You see how seriously little children play, and their play helps them grow. No matter what you study, your understanding comes through the exercises. Exercise is also play; you are being instructed to do certain actions, which have no other purpose but to make you learn.

Spiritual work is also play. It is like in the case of a child who was given building blocks to build something. Does anyone really need whatever he will build? But he thinks that he is really building, that he is doing something important. And this is really important because this makes him grow.

And we must do the same now; we must play with the higher degree like children. As if we were already connected and happy, revealing the Creator. We need to play with it! And you will really achieve it by playing because you attract the Reforming Light by playing.

You have no connection with the upper Light, but you awaken it from afar by playing. When a child plays, he also awakens the same Reforming Light, only he plays corporeal games, and this is why the Light influences him on the same level. The same principle applies here.

This is very serious. You think I am just lecturing you, but this is the foundation of creation. We experiment with this world and learn that this is the way things work. Kabbalists do not give us any strange, illogical advice: We only need to make a little effort to try to understand it.

These are unchanging laws, like the laws of physics. And spiritual laws are even more strict and precise that the laws of our world, the laws of physics and chemistry. The conditions for awakening the force that will change and grow you are being explained to you. This refers to the actions which you do to awaken the forces of nature. And you have nothing to object here: The only thing left for you to do is to approach it as seriously as you can and play.
[71338]
From the Arava Arvut Convention 2/23/12 Lesson #2

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Question: Men’s work on integral unity takes 7-8 hours a day. Is a woman supposed to spend as much 
time studying?

Answer: Women have much fewer problems than men because their work begins when they join work 
around the men’s group.

Before that, their work is in theoretical studies, and there cannot be any ties there. This includes discussions, role playing, and dedicating a lot of time to the upbringing of children from the integral perspective, and so on, but not on the relationships between women, which they will feel is a just violation of their nature.

A woman’s group begins to observe the men and their mutual work only once they are ready and the men’s group is sufficiently trained in theory and is already undergoing practical integration among themselves. We gradually begin to teach them the foundations of the help needed from their part to attain the next state: the state of unity, harmony, and the perception of nature on the next level of “Adam” (“Man”), which we can reach through this kind of unity.

The men’s group attains unity with their own strength, as a man attains fulfillment and food.

The women’s group helps them with it, inspires, pushes them, and serves as a very powerful tool for men without which they cannot unite. The women must influence men very carefully without disturbing their sensation of uniting, they must give the men a feeling that they are expecting it from them, they value them, inspire them, and treat them like a mother to a child.

Every woman can relate to men this way, and the men feel the woman’s influence. This is why the women’s group takes on the fundamental role in moving the men’s group towards unity, by influencing it with its inspiration and expectation, like a mother: “What do I expect from my child.” And the child feels that the mother is expecting a certain result from him.

All this needs to be done carefully and gently to avoid causing the feeling of indifference in men or a negative reaction. Everything must be done very delicately, to a certain extent, and always measured.

When both groups look at themselves objectively from aside, they feel that they need each other. I admit to the women’s group that I need its support and influence, its inspiration, its expectation of something of me. This will inspire, support me, and rouse me toward achieving a result.

In general, there is a huge range of influences of mutual feelings and expectations. If all of this is done through indirect contact, from afar, through “induction” from the women’s group to the men’s group, then a result of proper mutual interaction is achieved.

And as a result, the men’s group attains unity with the help of the women’s group. And this unity is passed on to the women’s group.

But these groups do not merge, do not mix; they keep existing as two “circles”: the external – women’s, and the internal – men’s.
[71366]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #10, 12/16/11

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Question: I played basketball when I was young, and I remember that our team had better results when there were girls sitting on the bench, quietly supporting us. But when guys were sitting, the inspiration wasn’t there. In groups of integral upbringing, how will women observe men: through video cameras?

Answer: From time to time we organize mutual picnics, trips, and meetings. We know each other, but in principle, this knowledge is pointless. I do not need to know anyone’s face.

It is simply the weight of the women, which shows me that it depends on me and waits for the manifestation of my masculine inclination; this is enough. They do not interfere in our work, but just like the players on the field, we must feel this pressure.

I must feel on my back the gaze of the women’s part, which evokes all these actions in me, not pride or any other egoistic impulses, but responsibility for the  expectation that we will enter a new level. This is necessary.

Women are not pushing us towards individual acts of heroism, but specifically towards rising above ourselves and unity. At the same time, each one of us loses himself, but together we attain the form of “Adam.”
[71362]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #10, 12/16/11

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Opinion (from Reuters): “Risk consultancy Maplecroft said its Global Risk Atlas, which highlights potentially destabilising factors in the world’s key growth economies, found that Brazil, Russia, India and China were no less susceptible to potential security or economic shocks than in previous years….

“For some of them, governance and reform have not kept pace with economic growth, leaving them vulnerable to potential risks such as terrorism or climate change, the survey found.

“According to the report, India and Russia are among 41 countries classified as ‘high risk’, with poor governance, systemic corruption and terrorism identified as particular risks.

“China, meanwhile, is also exposed to security issues, but is classified as ‘medium risk’ due to the unlikelihood of social or political upheaval on a national scale, the report said.

“Brazil, also ranked ‘medium risk’, is considered the least susceptible to global risks of the four BRICs, due in part to the stability of its political structure and record of strong governance.”

My Comment: The crisis will spare no one because it is global and will eventually lead to the need for all countries to change goals and development programs, to replace the material development of society of unlimited consumption  with a society of reasonable consumption, and instead of chasing fulfillment in shopping, fulfilling oneself above our life with what a human seeks subconsciously.
[71376]

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Opinion (Shigehiro Oishi, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia): “Using General Social Survey data from 1972 to 2008, we found that Americans were on average happier in the years with less national income inequality than in the years with more national income inequality. We further demonstrated that this inverse relation between income inequality and happiness was explained by perceived fairness and general trust.”

My Comment: According to many studies, happiness is measured relative to others, and that is why, no doubt, it will be optimally felt in a society of equal members.
[71379]

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