Question: Assume residents of a small town began to study according to the integral methodology. How do we build teams of future educators and teachers from them?

Answer: Initially, there should just be general groups. But a few special individuals will stand out in these groups in the first couple weeks of training. These people should be taken into account, and later on, should go through additional trainings.

If they wish to join the learning process as educators, teachers, and organizers of the educational process later on, then in addition to initial sessions, additional classes are held where they are taught the psychology of working with groups etc.

It is possible that in the future they will be put into self-organized groups that will study according to a special program.

Question: After going through the initial stage of integral education, there comes a second stage, an integral upbringing. How do we build groups for the second stage?

Answer: For the second stage, only people who are capable of integral upbringing should be selected. Small groups to train educators and teachers will be formed from them. They will go through a serious training both from our side and from psychologists and economists. These people need to get serious basic training so they can explain, persuade, and fend off any questions and resolve all occurring problems.
[79143]
From KabTV’s “Experimental City: Education” 3/3/12

Related Material:
Education: The Main Law Of Modern Times
Being My Own Instructor
Everyone Will Be Able To Apply Himself

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing - No Comments →

Opinion (Y. Zheleznov, The Moscow Humanitarian University): “A person is greater than our perception of him. One shouldn’t draw an equal sign between a person and his ‘consciousness,’ cognition, intellect and mind, since a person is much more than that. He is deeper than his knowledge, smarter than his intelligence, more powerful than his brain, and richer than his mind. The essence of human existence is loftier and more complicated than his brainpower. People are not being driven by thoughts, but rather by love, even at times when they are overwhelmed by hatred and when the evil inside turns them ‘into stones.’ One is defined by what and how one loves. Each of us is an endless source of opinions; we all are a nonverbal origin of words and actions of our own; we are fountains of passion, dreams and desires, a harmony and dissonance of our longings. This is the reason why vibrant and clear thoughts cannot penetrate into the deepest basic root of the human personality; it explains why our ‘voice of reason’ is often reminiscent of ‘screams in the desert.’

“‘Thy neighbor’ is you. When Socrates was imprisoned for his beliefs, he said, ‘… only after I lost everything and everybody I had ever cherished – my home, children, family, health… at the time when I helplessly was facing death, and felt as a tormented, haunted animal, when my mind had sunk into the darkness and then suddenly was awakened at sunrise – all of this was totally necessary for me to UNDERSTAND.  I often mentioned that evil is a lack of enlightenment and everything in life can be scrutinized with the mind. It’s not so. In prison, I understood something that I never thought of before…LOVE…Love everybody… I realized that my neighbor is me… And I have to love him… If you attain this state, your mind will prompt you the truth.”

“Love of ‘others’ is a law. Love and compassion for others, empathy for all living creatures of Earth, is a law that manifests itself in plants, animals and humans. Researcher K. Baxter managed to record distant “signals of compassion” among plants, between plants and animals, and among people…

“Quite often (although not always) multiple experiments demonstrated that when a plant perished in boiling water, other plants of the same type experienced electric impulses that were clearly registered by a sensitive device. The nature of such a ‘scream’ was similar to the human signal of stress and pain. The plants were experiencing trauma at the time of the suffering and death of another plant; besides, they commiserated with live creatures of a different developmental level when the latter were throbbing and/or were close to a life-threatening danger.

“Similar ‘signals of suffering’ were registered by precise devices, which were placed on birch-trees located quite far from another birch-tree which was damaged and fell.

“Live creatures scream. A lie detector attached to a plant clearly showed that the plant was ‘indignant’ when it ‘faced’ lies, and reacted to it by electric impulses. All live organisms ‘scream’ when they interact with evil and convey dangerous information to others through vibrations that have a different nature than sound waves, and thus are not spread through the air. When facing evil, living creatures ‘shout’ without emitting sounds (air waves), but rather through other types of vibrations that convey information about pain and danger to others.

“Sensations do not depend on distance. At the time when baby-rabbits experienced pain on board a submarine deep down in the ocean, on board another submarine in another ocean their mother was shivering with ache. Professor Vernadsky was confident that biospheres of remote planets constantly exchange information with one another.

“Theory of informational transmittal. Besides transferring information from one cell to another, there exists another form of distant transmission of signals; it happens at the level of quantum particles and explains the influence of earth’s magnetism, presentiments of earthquakes by certain types of animals, as well as the influence of sun storms and weather conditions on the moods and health of all living creatures.”
[78361] 

Related Material:
Balancing On The Path Of Love
If Love Is So Important, Then What Are We Waiting For?
Building An Environment For Everyone

Filed under: News - 1 Comment →

In the News (from Newsweek Magazine): “The latest developments in cosmology point toward the possibility that our universe is merely one of billions.

“In Einstein’s day, the possibility that our universe could have turned out differently was a mind-bender that physicists might have bandied about long after the day’s more serious research was done. But recently, the question has shifted from the outskirts of physics to the mainstream.

“And rather than merely imagining that our universe might have had different properties, proponents of three independent developments now suggest that there are other universes, separate from ours, most made from different kinds of particles and governed by different forces, populating an astoundingly vast cosmos.

“The multiverse, as this vast cosmos is called, is one of the most polarizing concepts to have emerged from physics in decades, inspiring heated arguments between those who propose that it is the next phase in our understanding of reality, and those who claim that it is utter nonsense, a travesty born of theoreticians letting their imaginations run wild.

“Remarkably, mathematical analysis also revealed—and here’s where the multiverse enters—that as space expands the cosmic fuel replenishes itself, and so efficiently that it is virtually impossible to use it all up. Which means that the big bang would likely not be a unique event. Instead, the fuel would not only power the bang giving rise to our expanding realm, but it would power countless other bangs, too, each yielding its own separate, expanding universe. Our universe would then be a single expanding bubble inhabiting a grand cosmic bubble bath of universes—a multiverse.

“Through years of painstaking observations of distant galaxies, the teams collected data on how the expansion rate of space has changed over time. And when they completed the analysis, they all nearly fell out of their chairs. Both teams found that, far from slowing down, the expansion of space went into overdrive about 7 billion years ago and has been speeding up ever since.”

My Comment: Kabbalah says that everything is perceived in a person, in his property to receive, and to feel a different universe means to accept its qualities, to give, instead of the present one, to receive. Kabbalah presents us with this opportunity.
[78905]

Related Material:
For The First Time Scientists Were Awarded For The Discovery Of Unknown
Locked Between Two Forces
Why Did The Big Bang Happen?

Filed under: News, Science - 1 Comment →

In our longing to rise above our ego, to correspond to nature, to its attributes of bestowal and love, we need to be careful not to postpone our correction until “later.” This is what our ego pushes on us in its resistance to be diminished. Whoever postpones his correction from “ today” to “tomorrow,” “That which changes today for tomorrow for you,“ will discover his mistake only after many years of lack of advancement, “And he that can wait until tomorrow will get lost after years, G-d forbid.”

The reason for such a loss is the negligence in relation to the efforts in loving his friends, in relation to the necessary and sufficient methods of correction of all our ego.

We must understand what a huge force is hiding in the unity of the group and in each one of the friends. After all, we are not dealing with friends or a group, but with the huge force of nature. Each one of us is in unity with it, only the illusion of this world around us and all of its parts confuses us and hides from us the great forces and attributes of nature, of its system of governance regarding us so that each one of us will attain the attributes of bestow and love.

If we connect our forces to each of nature’s representatives, then in the assembly of friends, in love and friendship, we will discover forces that change us to be similar and to become equivalent to the upper force of nature.
[79150]
From Baal HaSulam, Pri Hacham (Fruit of the Wise), Letter 13, 1925

Related Material:
Equality For The Final Goal
Straight through Two Points To Infinity
Myself Is Actually Not Mine

Filed under: Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work, Mutual Guarantee, My Similarity to the Creator, Unity - No Comments →

We need to try to turn every lesson of ours into a workshop. In the beginning we describe the central point of the connection between us, of the entire world group, and from within the feeling of this center, this connection, we listen to the lesson, and clarify all the questions. We exist within this unity. From within it, together we raise the prayer of MAN, and all of us together attain the answer of MAD, the Light. This bonds and brings us to the state of revelation.

Everything depends on the preparation, from the search for the common point shared by us all, the Shechina (Divinity). Thus the preparation for the lesson is the most important thing.

According to the order of spiritual work, the day begins in the evening. A person completes the “day” he went through, exits his work, and enters into the bestowal of the upper that begins to change his Kelim (desires), Reshimot (informational genes). And a person needs to prepare himself for this, connect to the property of Bina, bestowal, leaving less of his feelings and mind, acting as if half-asleep.

Thus he prepares himself to changes that occur within his desires, Kelim, that are disclosed specifically in the darkness. In the evening, everything becomes mixed: the good and the bad, the light and the darkness, bestowal and reception. Everything becomes identically gray and undifferentiated. But the person deposits himself in the hands of the upper one and “goes to sleep.” This means that he understands that he needs to completely annul himself now, like a fetus in his mother’s womb, which is called, “secretly sits in the upper.”

Then, despite everything, he can continue and awaken at “midnight”, since he received new Kelim and desires. From the beginning of the evening, he executes corrections, and after the completion of the stage where he doesn’t rule in self-control, he then receives new desires and begins to awaken at the coming of “dawn”. And then comes the new connection, which is called the morning prayer (Schema Kriyat), it produces Light. In this way he begins his new day, new revelation, a new advancement with fresh forces.

It is specifically in this way that we need to prepare ourselves to the morning lesson.
[78875]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/23/12

Related Material:
The Meeting Was Set In The Center Of The Group
One Life And Common Prayer For Everyone
The Convention Is Starting

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Prayer and Intention, Unity, Workshops - No Comments →

Question: Conventions where we actively were using the workshops as a way to unite produced the astonishing results.

Some friends, who in the past couldn’t find the common language, suddenly, by rising above personality differences, were able to unite. However, at the same time there were people who could not enter this process, they could not force themselves to sit in the circle.

Answer: The reaction of rejection is taking place. These people have a good and healthy egoism. They will too go forward, but we have to be patient for a little while and not push them! Gradually it will happen in them as a result of the influence of the common field. I know these problems many of which I experienced myself in different ways. Generally this is all legitimate.

In any condition, in any combination, in any possible form these friends should participate in common events; they can do it purely in the mechanical way, they can help do some work, sit at the computers, help with the general connection between the groups during that time. It doesn’t matter what they do. Gradually it will come.

There are such types of egoism, which have a very hard time establishing a contact. Even sitting together in a circle and talking about something only in the mechanical way is not so easy. In this regard we have to always raise another person and try to justify him.
[78792]
From the Virtual Lesson 5/20/12, “Fundamentals of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
What Is More Important: Common Consent Or Common Impression?
A Discussion In A Circle
My Friend Is A Representative Of The Creator!

Filed under: Egoism, Group Work, Q&A, Unity, Workshops - No Comments →

Question: How is it possible to hold on to the same feeling of unity that was born among us during the workshop?

Answer: We should always look for what the term “center of the group” means, whether it is a kind of feeling, an understanding, a vessel, or the revelation of the Creator. This question shouldn’t wane; it is as if this tempting and attractive point is playing with us, hiding and then revealing itself to us. In response to this courting, you are constantly burning with desire and chasing this point, like a person in love.

We should constantly clarify the feeling of unity that was born by penetrating into it deeper and deeper, investing into more mind and feeling, the forces of connection, and revealing different details. The connection that we attain is varied and includes many particularities, elements, and parameters. Therefore, it constantly disappears and reveals itself.

The type of exertion the friends invest in this is crucial, no matter if they succeed or not. Thus we influence one another, and this is all our work.

But it isn’t just an aimless search in total darkness. We have to clarify in advance what we are looking for. If we cannot imagine what the center of the group is, it means that for the time being “Israel, the Creator, and the Torah” are not perceived as one point by us. This indicates that we don’t understand what the goal, the connection, and the mutual guarantee are—it is still impossible to perceive this on the part of the Light and on the part of the vessel. All these discernments do not intersect at one point for us yet. But that’s fine since we’ve nevertheless started the real work.

If the feeling of unity is attained, we should try not to lose it after the workshop is over. If everyone constantly thinks about it, no one will lose this feeling. Everyone will be under the influence of the general field that we have created, and they will not be able to free themselves of this thought even if they want to. Even if the external conditions around a person pull him aside, it won’t happen.
[78497]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/2012, Talk about the Seminar

Related Material:
The Center Of The Group Is The Place Of The Correction
Breakthrough Via The Shared Center Of The Circle
Details About The Creator’s Portrait

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Workshops - No Comments →

Question: You are saying that the center of the group is Malchut of the world of Atzilut. Does it exist now, when we only study these things theoretically?

Answer: These things exist only when you attain them. Up until then, they stay in potential.

For example, you have a newborn son, and the potential for all the following generations that will come from him exists within him. They don’t exist yet, even in the drop of his semen, but they still are provided for by the program of a higher order. That is the “potential existence”: There is a program above us, a cause and effect order, and we can change nothing in it. Gradually, this potential is being realized.

Everything that happened with everyone up until now was transformed from potential into reality. Thus, good and evil are similarly conditioned by the upper program; it couldn’t be any other way. With regard to the past, we are all fatalists.

When it comes to the future, we can change it. We should not have faith in fate here. It is true that Reshimot (the informational genes) will certainly realize, and the Lights will certainly be opposite them, but I define their relationship through my efforts. If my desires are equivalent to the Lights, to that extent I change my sensation on this path, up to the opposite one, and then I move forward comfortably at a good rate. This is what is meant by “changing fate.”

Everything is determined by the rate of advancement. If you slow down the realization of the Reshimot, they cause very unpleasant sensations in you, as compared to the accelerated option. Even the most joyful tune sung slowly sounds like a mourning march and vice versa. By accelerating time, it is as if you convert your sensations from negative to positive.

The world today is going through the crisis for the same reason. It is as if people are shocked by what is happening and unable to make the necessary decisions. This is because the rate of development suddenly increased, but man has not adjusted yet.

I am not “round,” not integral. I cannot take into account numerous parameters simultaneously. Everywhere, something is happening, everything is interconnected, but I am still trying to go along the line laid out by my egoism. We cannot get along with the modern world because our rhythms do not coincide with each other.

Thus, the end of correction is predetermined; however, how I realize my development depends on me: whether it is through the path of suffering or the path of sensible, conscious advancement. The rate determines everything.

That is why it is said that Israel accelerates time. Realization of the same Reshimot could be accompanied by positive sensations or fatalities, wars, epidemics, and other misfortunes that will force us toward the next step. Everything depends on preparation, for lessons as well as for life.

As it is written, “I awaken the dawn, and the dawn does not awaken me.” We must desire the realization of new Reshimot since each of them is an opportunity to rise toward greater bestowal.
[78500]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/2012, “Introduction to TES“

Related Material:
The Purpose Of Creation, In Brief
Reshimot: Memories About The Future
Untwist The Chain of Reshimot

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Workshops - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Shamati #61 “Round About Him It Stormeth Mightily“

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpts “Beresheet (Genesis),” And the Lord God Commanded the Man,” Item 432, Lesson 108

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 1, Chapter 2, Item 4, Lesson 2

“The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)“

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog - No Comments →