Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: Therefore, the Creator did not find a nation or a tongue qualified to receive the Torah, except for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose ancestral merit reflected upon them, as our Sages said, “The Patriarchs observed the whole Torah even before it was given.”

The “Forefathers” are the first, most pure level where the desire to receive is still very small. Therefore, they didn’t need to overcome the evil inclination because true evil had not been fully revealed.

At that time, the work amounted to a separation, a rejection of evil, but not discovery and clarification of evil. This was easy: On one side, there was Abraham, and on the other side, there was Ishmael; on one side, there was Jacob, and on the other, Esau. All these states were simple, “transparent”—they were small Lights, Aviut of level zero. Therefore, the forefathers acted according to the entire Torah, meaning they realized the principle of “and you shall love your friend as yourself,” and from this they discovered “and you shall love the Lord your God.” The work was easy because it was done on the highest “strata” of desire, with refined density, in which all serious problems had not yet been discovered.

Then this corrected network helped to correct Aviut of the first degree, deeper “layers.” Of this it is said that the merit of the patriarchs stood with them, even for their descendants. So the process is as follows: We always stand and rely upon corrections that our spiritual predecessors performed.

Further, as Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” the Talmudic sages made new and additional corrections. With this they inserted the Light that Reforms into the method for us. Then, we advanced forward specifically through the Light, whereas previously penances had been more or less sufficient, as it is written: “Eat bread with salt, drink little water, sleep on the ground, lead a sorrowful life, and labor in the Torah.” Which is to say, in spite of all this we needed a method, the Torah, but this was along with physical torments since they are connected to Aviut of zero, first, and parts of the second levels.

And finally, from the time of the exile and on, the sons of Israel, who became the GE, began to mix with the nations of the world, meaning the AHP, and then we required the Light that Reforms in order to carry out corrections. The Talmudic sages supplied us with this possibility, removing the need for penances and giving us the Light that Reforms along with the merit of the corrections that they made in the common network. Its help is sufficient now and we can correct ourselves.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/7/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”: Death is necessarily an absence and negation of the existence of a certain object. But only while there is a spark that wishes to exist for its own pleasure is it possible to say about it that that spark does not exist because it has become absent and died.

However, if there is no such spark in man, but all the sparks of his essence clothe in bestowal of contentment upon their Maker, then it is neither absent nor dead. For even when the body is annulled, it is only annulled with respect to self-gratification, in which the will to receive is dressed and can only exist in it.

However, when he achieves the aim of Creation and the Creator receives pleasure from him, since His will is done, man’s essence, which clothes in His contentment, is granted complete eternity, like Him. Thus, he has been rewarded with freedom from the angel of death.

We have to provide the deficiency, the vessel, the need to bring the Creator contentment. From our place, from our nature, there is only one way we can express such a desire: In an aspiration to connect to others, to be incorporated in the desires of others, and to help these desires to be filled with the Creator.

This is the level of Bina, the level of faith, of bestowal, which works this way with its upper and lower parts: GAR (the first three) and ZAT (the seven lower). The lower part, ZAT, is incorporated in the desires of the lower one, and the upper part, GAR, can reach the Creator. This is how we have to receive: Malchut must receive its form from Bina.

So, if we connect in groups of, let’s say, ten people, in which we are now working, each one loses his egoistic self and is incorporated in others, then through that, he exits himself and becomes part of our connection. Thus, he already has a new point of birth, freedom from his ego.

However, on what account can he be born? After all, he doesn’t have a deficiency of his own. Everyone thinks: “When will I finally reach the state of spiritual embryo and then that of suckling, when I will feed on the Light? How will I advance a bit more?” However, this is only possible if we receive deficiencies from others, from AHP.

By annulling myself before the group, I annul only my ego and become like GAR of Bina that doesn’t need anything. We are in mutual bestowal, but how can we bring the Creator contentment? We can discover His Light only in the vessels of reception, and these vessels must be foreign to us. It turns out that we have to turn to the external world and contact the general public, as it is written: “I dwell among my people.” This is how we discover the right vessel for the revelation of the Creator.

We have to accept this, live with this thought, and understand that we will reach a special state precisely in this way. It is special since we totally leave ourselves, when our desires to receive are completely empty of all the material acquisitions, and we merge with the Creator by our equivalence of form. Thus, there are no thoughts left about one’s own existence, but we have only the thought of bringing contentment to the Maker.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/7/13

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Question: There are people with a very strong desire to control, to manage others. How should one cooperate with them during the process of integral upbringing?

Answer: I think that if they get a correct understanding of the laws of nature, the proper education in the right environment, they will not be able to use this to the detriment of society. Along with this, if they are wonderful organizers, if they gather people into integral groups where they complement each other as parts of one society, then we certainly need people like this.

Look, how many people can actually be managers? There are very few, at most 5%.

I would like it very much if 5% were managers in our collective, but there is a total of only 0.5%. Wherever you look, it’s always the same people because everyone else can only carry things out; very few can create.

So, it’s necessary to educate these people correctly. If we can form a common collective team and constantly work with them, giving them the right guidance and ideology, then after a while, they will finally become directors for the entire greater collective.

Comment: During the process of integral interaction, it’s necessary to be as open as possible, to rise above our ego, to detach from it, and to connect with others. A model of behavior like this is contrary to the spirit of leadership. Leaders can’t enter a group like this; they are on the sidelines all the time.

Answer: And they don’t need it! They look at a group from a different level. They organize it, have concern for it, and relate to the group as to their children.

In this there is a difference between traditional education with which they are familiar and integral education. If they treat their group, the society that they organize, as their children, they must be separated from them and look at them “from on high,” with a caring and organizing eye. Then, this is good.

This is completely a distinct and separate group of people who are being educated as organizers.
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From a Talk on Integral Education 4/4/13

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Question: According to the method of integral upbringing, men and women should have a warm, good, and kind relationship. But in experience we see that the woman is never satisfied and is always pressuring the man. What is the right way to work with this state?

Answer: During workshops, it’s necessary to discuss how men and women properly complement one another on different levels. I think that as a consequence of integral upbringing, they will reach a level of mutual understanding when they will no longer separate things into “this is your responsibility and this is mine.” Gradually, people will mutually begin to combine and redistribute responsibilities and mutual help, and then everyone will clearly see how easy it is to do it.

There is no place here for demands. Demands appear when one of the sides lacks understanding of what its part is and what it ought to do.

Personally, even though I, in general, understand human nature, I had problems with my wife until we started doing 40 minute morning walks, during which we calmly discussed all our issues. Talking during walks helped us better understand one another. In addition, we have an agreement not to argue and not to demand anything from one another. We are constantly moving above our natural qualities and, in this way we reach the proper understanding of any circumstances.

However, the problem is that people do not have time for this. I think that, during the workshops, we need to teach people how to find time for this type of communication. Let us hope that people will have enough free time for this in the near future. But we will still need to organize them.

Even my teacher compelled all of his students to spend at least fifteen minutes a day calmly discussing the method and the conditions of their mutual development with their wives. This is very serious, social work. If we also did this with children, if we were to hold round tables in our families, the world would be a different place.
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From a Talk About Integral Upbringing 4/4/13

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Question: During the process of integral education for married couples, very interesting processes happen. In the beginning, a new feeling of closeness, euphoria develops between the husband and wife. But after two to three months, they feel anger or even hatred for one another.

Answer: They need to discuss this problem. After all, mutual repulsion is the most natural subject because our egoism grows. Through our attempts to connect we develop our ego, and it begins to grow specifically against the unity. This is a new ego, which didn’t exist previously—it hadn’t manifested in people in any form. And it’s being revealed now.

Today, each couple needs to learn how to work with their shared ego. Each one needs to understand his partner since in each of them manifests the ego and the anger towards the spouse, and they need to help each other through their mutual connection.

When a couple dances, the right side of one of the partners is facing the left side of the other partner and vice versa. This is how we need to help, to complement each other, and then we will have a harmonic dance. And if you annoy me, then all right, let’s both of us rise above that. If from my side comes rigidness, then from the other side needs to come tenderness. This is how it happens: The right hand against the left, and in this way we complement each other. After all, embracing is also similar to this.

A person is built in such a way that he constantly interacts with others not by the same but rather opposite attributes. Then the “convex” part fits into the “concave” part and contact is made; that is, the male and female parts as if connect with each other. The contact can be only between the plus and minus since the pluses and minuses repel one another. This is something that has to be learned.
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From a Talk on Integral Education 4/4/13

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Convention in New Jersey, Day 3, Lesson 6

Convention in New Jersey, Day 3, Workshop 4

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We gather in order to unite and help one another overcome self-love. Everyone has to think about canceling their egoism, stop worrying about their own fulfillment, and strive only toward loving their neighbor when it is possible. In other words, throughout the entire convention, from this moment forward, we need to think about rising above ourselves and exiting our egoism. This is the only way for a person to feel the need and the desire to acquire the new quality called the desire to bestow.

When egoists like us connect and I look at others, I begin to realize that my egoism is very wisely made. Essentially, it is made in a way that helps me come out of it. In reality, nothing in my personal life interferes with spirituality. With the right attitude toward my nature, I will reveal qualities in it that help me attain the spiritual world.

The rejection I feel for others is given to me to show me how far I am from having spiritual qualities. Moreover, there is envy in me. When I see how others connect, and how every person tries to come out of himself and become closer to others, I envy them. Envy is a huge, egoistic force but essentially, it begins to work to my benefit, helping me to rise above my egoism.

Also, ambition—my desire to be higher and more successful than others—works to my benefit. I see the success of others and feel ashamed. I want to have what they have, at least not to fall behind, but to surpass them. It turns out that there is not a single quality in our egoism that we could not use to liberate ourselves from our egoism. This inner work is called “help against him.”

We need to delve into this work with our friends, but in reality we discover that there is nothing in our lives that we need to fight. Overcoming is spending every moment trying to be sensible toward heading in the right direction. Then, we will see how all our natural qualities help us attain the goal in a direct or an indirect manner.

There is no need to fight any of our inclinations. Instead, we need to study how nature plays us. If we use all our impulses wisely, we will be able to break through into the spiritual world.
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From a Talk on The Importance of Gathering 5/10/2013

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Question: I really would like the world to be a better place after the convention, a place where no one takes advantage of others, where there is no more pain, my bank account is fine, and life is good. Is that possible?

Answer: I think that it is in our power. Just imagine that many of our friends all over the world unite around this convention. These are the people who have the spiritual sparks, the particles from the upper world. If we connect them all, we can do anything!

Since our entire world is still, it doesn’t have the power to change anything. Now, when this becomes so clear, we see that no one can manage the world, and no one knows how to manage it either.

A century or two ago, we could do so since our ego was not so developed yet, and we could change the way we used it. However, now it is impossible. The ego has become closed, it has become round, and so no one in our world knows what to do with it.

Only we can take advantage of the fact that it has become round, which means connected and tied with others, while the egoists cannot since they are all separated. So, when the world becomes global, strongly connected, and mutually interdependent, everyone throws up their hands in despair, and no one knows what is going on. We see that they cannot manage even financial systems, not because they aren’t knowledgeable enough but because the rules in the world have changed.

The integral connection, the analog system that is now taking over, won’t let an individual or an egoistic group manage things. Only if you establish an analog system between several people can you change the world somehow, by using it like a management panel. The egoists cannot do that. Only we can, and this also includes your bank account.

So, everything is in your hands. If you ask us to connect to you, you will see how this happens. It isn’t mysticism or magic but real spiritual laws, which means that they are above our world. If you positively change the way the system works, you will see to what extent things change in the corporeal world since our world is an outcome of the spiritual forces. Nothing happens on its own. Everything is managed by an inner force to which you will have access.

Thus, you will understand why we need suffering in this world, including an overdraft in your bank account and everything else that is happening in the world. All this is meant to awaken us to rise to the upper force, even if it is in order to manage our corporeal life. From the height of this force, we really can do something; but as long as we don’t do that, the problems and troubles in our world will only grow. Therefore, the ball is in your hands.
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From a Talk On Preparation for the Congress in New Jersey, 5/10/2013

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Question: People who are seriously involved in the integral method feel a need for a similar society because they cannot manage these things individually. They want to communicate with others more. Is it possible to do this virtually?

Answer: In order to solve integral problems, we need to feel, hear, and as if “smell” the person. We are similar to animals and perceive a person in his physical dimension. Thus virtual communication is not enough.

It’s certainly possible that one day there will be virtual connection that will create the illusion of everyone’s presence but, until then, it’s not possible. We need to ensure that people will feel complete communication. This is the way we have to create even an interior space and all that helps people, until it doesn’t matter to them where and how. And afterwards they will also feel this at a distance, just like a mother feels her child.
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From a Talk on Integral Education 4/4/13

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