In the News(from DailyMail): “A strong friendship is the secret to a long-lasting romantic relationship, new research suggests.

“Researchers found that valuing your friendship with your partner helps create relationships with more commitment, more love and greater sexual satisfaction.

“People who put more emphasis on trying to satisfy their personal needs or desires through their relationship are less likely to sustain the bond in the longer term. …

The psychologists wrote that relationship failures can lead to negative emotions, feelings of insecurity and reduced physical health. But they added that friendship is a ‘defining characteristic of love’ and suggested that understanding the causes of break ups could help couples avoid that fate. …

“The results indicate that valuing the friendship aspect of a romantic relationship is important to relationship quality. It seems likely that placing greater importance on the friendship component of the relationship relative to other components (e.g. sex) may promote lasting relationships. …

“People who had scored highly for investing in the friendship aspect of their relationship were also more likely to score highly on romantic commitment, love and sexual satisfaction.”

My Comment: Kabbalah defines love not as contentment in itself, but the fulfillment of the other by me, as a mother feeding the baby receives joy from the baby’s fulfillment. Such an attitude toward a partner is called love. And other relationships are explicit or implicit use of the partner.
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We live in times when nature finally has obligated us to pay attention to integrality. Everything closes in, becomes global, and, whether we want it or not, we already are moving toward it, and if a person were given a little theory in addition to the practice that he needs to carry out against his will, he would have a very easy inner linking.

Unfortunately, for now, we only see the negative aspect of integrality since it shows us very well its full interdependence. Be it school, work, or different government institutions, no matter where we turn, we are rejected, pushed away, and so on. The same happens with television in constant soap operas about murder, police, and courts. We see that all these things are a single common integral world, but it is a negative world. Unfortunately, this is the way we must learn about this essential quality.

We must show people that, as soon as we replace a negative with a positive, things can become completely opposite because nature is properly interconnected, and if we, on our behalf, propose a positive connection instead of a negative one, we easily would achieve the manifestation of positive integrality in all areas.
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From a “Talk On Integral Upbringing” 1/20/13

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Question: During the process of online integral learning, can people participate in “roundtables” they are watching? In other words, is it possible to equate a live “roundtable” to a recorded “roundtable?”

Answer: Of course. I am convinced that this really works to transform people in an integral way. You must engage the virtual audience in the discussion circle that you are showing him and make him a participant. If there are nine people, make him the tenth. For example, there are nine people in a circle, where each expresses his opinion regarding the question at hand. And your audience member joins in.

You must give him an opportunity to become acquainted with the others, to express himself, etc.

They make recordings for musicians with only the orchestral part recorded, and then I add my solo to the recording; they left in the necessary pauses for me to play. For example, I have a two-minute solo, the recording plays, then stops, giving me the time to play. This is how to make time to allow viewers to participate in the discussion.

Comment: But no one is listening to him and he knows it.

Answer: What is the difference? It doesn’t matter. He is still involved in the conversation, the discussion.

Is it really different when I play to a recording of an orchestra? I play the CD, hear loud music, and suddenly silence, and then I come in with my violin. Does it make me feel less or not a part of the performance?

Right now the performances of singers and musicians have become like a theater. Before this, they used to stand like a statue, but now they need to move, dance, and participate in the common action.

Therefore, virtual viewers must be actively involved in the common discussion because it is very easy to tune into the field of spiritual, integral energy.
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From a “Talk On Integral Upbringing” 1/20/13

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Question: How do we show the world that a transition to an integral society is not a utopia, but a real project?

Answer: An integral society cannot be a utopia for two reasons.

First of all, the worldwide crisis is directing us toward it, and there is nowhere we can hide from it. It will continue to pressure us. Millions will be left without work. See what is happening in southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Greece, and is already approaching Germany and France.

And what will happen to the people? How will they react to everything? We are looking at civil wars and revolutions; without integral upbringing, anything could happen! Horrible nationalistic problems will arise. We see fascists coming to power in Greece. This is protectionism, which will manifest in a horrible way if integral upbringing is not introduced in time.

For this reason, a multifaceted horrible crisis will continue to push us from every angle.

How can the population be calmed down? Who will feed the unemployed? No one will! No social work will be able to keep them from explosions of protests and mass disturbances. When people are hungry, death does not scare them, they can climb barricades, nothing matters to them.

And those on top do not know what to do; they are lost. The only thing they can do is escape to an island in the Pacific until they are found there.

In other words, anarchy, terrible absurdity, and chaos are coming over us. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, we face nature, which is showing us the negative side of our inaction and lack of understanding.

For this reason, it is necessary to introduce integral upbringing at least as an experiment in a single region. Let us try! What do we have to lose? Everything is dying anyway.

Two months ago in Italy, I spoke with a representative of the European Community about education. He sat in front of me like a student sits in front of a teacher, writing down every word, he literally had pages and pages of notes. And this is a serious official, who spent the last eighteen years working for the governing body of the European Community in Brussels. He said: “It is a perfect system, but I have no one to tell about it to because we have twenty-seven countries and each wants things done their own way, nobody will want to listen to anyone else.”

He reached out: “Who can I turn to, what can I do?” In his opinion, for this experiment we need a small town with a dying economy from the closing of a huge enterprise that was responsible for the economy of the entire town.

But huge cities will soon be in this same situation. These are not small towns where people can still feed themselves by growing their own food on the land. Countries are in debt, and tomorrow they will not be able to feed their population. What is next? We are facing a huge mess.

The only thing that can save the world from civil wars and fascist regimes is integral upbringing. If we continue following the egoistic path contrary to the integral, “round” development of the world, then the next stage of egoistic development will be Nazism, fascism, and protectionism when countries realize that they are not able to do anything with the common market and they will close their borders and eventually come to the state of war.

Even if they do not want it, they still must break the economic, financial, and other connections they have created between them that are suffocating them. This is what is leading them towards a world war.

Global dependence is natural; there is nowhere to hide from it. This is why if things continue this way, we might even have to go through two wars. According to Kabbalah, there is a possibility of a third and even a fourth nuclear war. And after that, whatever is left of mankind still will be implementing integral upbringing and the integral lifestyle according to nature.

That is the harsh way of realizing the need for integration instead of doing it the reasonable way.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/28/12

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Question: How is it possible to integrate nullification of yourself towards the group and the desire to understand the meaning of the text being studied?

Answer: One feeling does not cancel the other. I have to yearn together with everyone to connect in one common point. In this point of connection where we are together, we feel some phenomenon that is called Malchut.

First of all, everyone’s yearning to integrate together with everyone else is required. For this, the following components are needed: self-nullification, greatness of the goal, and importance of the friends and of the group. I have to focus all of this together and yearn for that point of general connection.

Other people participate together with me in this yearning. We act together, each one nullifies what he has. We leave this whole world at the bottom and all of us strive forward. Through our connection, we want to form the vessel of bestowal from which our relation to the Creator, the desire to bestow, will be born.

Then, in this yearning to bestow to the Creator, we will begin to feel Him, the upper Light that lands on us and fills us. The more this yearning is clarified, growing according to the thickness of the desire: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, the more developed it will become. And to the same extent, the force of bestowal, adhesion with the Creator will be revealed in us. This is in fact all of our work.

The question is: How can this yearning to self-annulment and understanding the material be combined? To understand means to know, meaning to reveal or connect. The Sefira Daat (Knowledge) symbolizes connection, as it is said, “And Adam knew Hava (Eve), his wife”.

When I nullify myself at the bottom, I help myself prepare for connection. Without this, I won’t be able to connect with others. In order to rise to the point of connection, I must nullify myself.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Igrot,” Letter 21

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The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Shlah Leha,” Lesson 22

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol 3, Part 9, Lesson 33

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“A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar,” Lesson 7

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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, “HaShavuah” Selected Excerpts

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati #53 “The Matter of Limitation”: And this is the meaning of, “any sorrow will be surplus,” meaning that sadness comes to a person because he wants luxuries. This is what it means that when Israel came to receive the Torah, Moses brought forth the people to the bottom of the mountain, as it is written, “and they stood at the nether part of the mount.”

(A mount [Hebrew: Har] means thoughts [Hebrew: Hirhurim]). Moses led them to the end of the thought and the understanding and the reason, the lowest degree there is. Only then, when they agreed to such a state, to walk in it without any wavering and motion, but to remain in that state as if they had the greatest Gadlut, and to be happy for it, this is the meaning of, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” This is so because during the Gadlut it is irrelevant to say that He gives them work to be in gladness, since during the Gadlut gladness comes by itself. Instead, the work of gladness is given to them for the time of Katnut, so that they will have joy although they feel Katnut. And this is a great work.

This is called the main part of the degree, which is a discernment of Katnut. This discernment must be permanent, and the Gadlut is only an addition. Also, one should yearn for the main part, not for the additions.

A person reduces his usual requirements, gradually descending to the “small state” (Katnut) in which he does not require anything for himself. And what is necessary for his existence, he considers even lower because he cares about these needs unwillingly, out of duty.

From this point he starts entering the spiritual world. An indication of this state is joy. First of all, one needs to reach the first restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), the screen and the Reflected Light, the intention to bestow, and advance as far as possible forward. And then, everything that a person needs is not considered consumption. That is why the sign of this state is a constant joy because he does not need to worry about anything; he is bathed in the Light of the Creator, in the sea of bestowal.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/13

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Question: The exercises and games that we use in the course of integral education, in general, are nothing new. Many training companies use games in similar combinations, organize roundtables, and do so in a much more sophisticated way.

Answer: We do not need to learn from others. This can only confuse us because we are not interested in the level where the other companies are.

That is why it is desirable, as in everything else, to use only our own Kabbalistic sources, to follow only them. And then, as they say, we will see.

When you follow the primary sources, you develop naturally, and based on what is revealed to you on the spiritual path, you transfer this to the students. I never take anything from the external sources: philosophy, psychology, new age, etc. I always felt some rejection towards them and think that we do not have anything to learn from that.
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From a Talk on Integral Education 1/20/13

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