Question: Do I annul myself only against my group or against any situation in life?

Answer: Annulling occurs only against my group through which I view any situation in my life. After all, since I entered the spiritual work, I have only one goal in front of me: I have to cling to my friends in the group.

I perceive and evaluate all situations in my life through the group: How much my problems help me by preventing my becoming included in the group and annulling myself before the group! I look only at this thing. Any situations in my life, any problems in the family, at work, or with my health I perceive as obstacles along my way of connecting with others in the perfect form and revealing the Creator between us. This is our ultimate goal.

I evaluate everything only from this perspective. Then I can consider this picture of life as correct. I understand that everything comes from the Creator who paints my entire world for me in such a form.
[127519]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2.16.14

Related Material:
Working With Disturbances
Integrating In The Work Up To The Point Of Self-Cancellation
A Gift From The Creator In The Form Of Obstacles

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: How do we establish the state of the embryo and the womb it needs by the connection between us?

Answer: It is a new phase in our development that has begun as a result of our progress. The stronger the connection between us, the more that can be revealed to you. After all, what I reveal to you is only for the sake of our future work.

We see that the world is made of two forces, two halves: the internal part, which is me, and the external part, which is the group. Then the group becomes the internal part and the whole world becomes the external part. These waves spread and draw further and further away from the center. Thus you can establish more and more advanced forms of the spiritual embryo and the spiritual womb each time.

First I was an embryo and the group was my womb. Then I and the group connect into one whole and become the embryo while everything that is around us becomes a womb, which is the greater group, which is all of humanity.

The terms internal and external constantly expand. First I was considered the internal part and the group was the external part, then both the group and I became the internal part and all of humanity became the external part. It’s like levels that fold into one another. The whole world is divided into two parts: an internal part and an external part. The internal part is called Israel and the external part is called the nations of the world.

We have to constantly think about how to establish these concepts. We have to even establish the concept of humanity since now it has no form. If we reach a state in which we become a group, we become an embryo with regard to humanity that is supposed to be our womb, and we start to work with it.

The spiritual embryo builds the womb by itself! After all, we ascend from the bottom up and establish the upper level by ourselves. Therefore, the Creator is called Bore, is called “come and see” (Bo-Re). We have to establish both the form of humanity and the Creator by our work from the bottom up.

We must constantly keep this picture of the world. It has to become our constant perception of reality, the image of life, our philosophy, the glasses through which we see the world. When I am in the group, I perceive myself with regard to the group. However, when I go out to disseminate, I perceive myself together with the group with regard to all of humanity.
[127414]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2.13.14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Anyone Who Reads This Letter Is Also Chosen
Awaiting The Wedding With The Creator
Sandpaper On Egoism – Balm On The Heart

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Perception, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Question: What is the benefit of discovering the Creator?

Answer: If we were not to feel a desire to live, to receive pleasure, understanding, knowledge, and to improve our condition, then even this question would not exist. I require the Creator for my own good.

Question: But this cannot be the ultimate goal.

Answer: Why not? I am a desire to receive; I have nothing more than this. Therefore, I am not ready to wish for anything besides good and plenty. And so by searching for the most good, I discover that there exists a source for the good, the Creator or the Light. Apparently I am built such that the best state for me is when He fills me. Here is where the game begins, why am I filled? Am I filled so it will be good for me or so that it will be good for the Creator?

Suppose that I am doing this for my own sake. In that case my fulfillment will be very small. I will be just like an infant that is satisfied and full, lying down without moving, full of pleasure. This is because all movement is a search for pleasure and in this state he lacks nothing. Even the still is above this; it protects itself, and here even protection is superfluous.

The Creator doesn’t want us to be in this state, for this is a very small level. Therefore, He arranges everything so that we will not be satisfied with fulfillment of the self; rather, it is so that we can fulfill Him, as if He needed it. More precisely, we can be fulfilled for His sake. This adds more and more endless new fulfillments to us all the time, and as a result of this, we feel alive.

You feel a little hunger and a little satiation, and again hunger and satiation, and so on, again and again. That is the way life flows all the time and you don’t freeze, you don’t stop on the primitive level of self-satisfaction that fills you up to the end without leaving any deficiency. On the other hand, if the Malchut of Infinity had not made a restriction (Tzimtzum) and had filled all of the vessels to the end, it would disappear and return to the beginning point of something from nothing (Yesh mi Ain).

For this reason, the Creator created everything in such a form that we must be like Him, become someone who bestows. While we are a desire to receive, at the same time, we want to bestow and we “oscillate” between reception and bestowal, constantly increasing the range. This gives us the opportunity for limitless development and with it we feel an adventure, true pleasure. We enjoy both hunger and filling, for from the start even our hunger is directed towards the good of the other. Therefore, I enjoy love from two sides, both from the side of Din (judgment) and from the side of Rachamim (mercy).

Question: How can one truly want this?

Answer: These distinctions arrive with the help of the Light. It illuminates us to the degree of our accommodation to it, to the degree that we resemble it. And we begin to resemble it with the help of work with the friends in a group.

Try to help them and you will feel the resistance. Don’t agree with this resistance in order to bestow to them, and then to the degree of your effort, you will awaken the Light that Reforms.
[127368]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/13/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
“The Reason For The Difficulty Of Annulling Oneself For The Creator”
Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart
Let’s Reveal The Path For The Light!

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 203: …Since fear is a Mitzva that contains all the Mitzvot in the Torah, as it is the gate of the faith in the Creator.

And according to the awakening of one’s fear, the faith in the Creator’s guidance is in him. Hence, the fear must not be forgotten in each and every Mitzva. It is especially so with the Mitzva of love, meaning that fear must be evoked along with it, since the fear is actually united in the Mitzva of love.

This is why he explains that the fear must adhere to love. And how does it adhere to it? Should fear also be evoked at that time as one evokes the complete love?

Must we even awaken fear at that time when complete love is awakened? Here he repeats the two sides of love, whether in Din or Hesed, and the success of his ways. He says that one must evoke fear on both sides of love, that during the Hesed and success of one’s ways, fear of the Creator should be evoked, lest the sin will cause his love of the Creator to chill. By that, he includes fear in love.

The Mitzva of fear is not terror and fear of the Creator; rather, it is fear that I don’t love Him strongly enough. In other words, I am not afraid of Him; we are not talking about this. Fear like this exists only below the Machsom, below the spiritual world. And only levels of love are found above the Machsom.

I am not afraid of the Creator and I am going towards Him. But I am afraid that my love for Him will not be great enough because I might become confused and make a mistake. That is, this is fear of judgment, of punishment. Fear like this doesn’t exist in spirituality because I have already risen above beastly fear. Rather I am afraid of giving him less satisfaction than what is possible. This is the only fear.

I am always afraid that I will not love the Creator with complete love; perhaps it’s possible to give Him something further and I will not do this, I will not notice an opportunity, I will not be sensitive enough. Fear like this is a mechanism for increasing the love and for ascent on the entire ladder of levels. We go half of the way acquiring fear to the level of Bina. And after that, there are levels of love, and in this second half of the way, we feel twice the fear.

But as is understood, this fear will never be egoistic as it is under the Machsom, for their own welfare. Fear will always be in regard to the one who is loved.

Also, on the other side of love, during the harsh Din, he should evoke fear of the Creator and not harden his heart or stray his mind from the Din. By that, he includes the fear in love, as well. If he does so, he is always in complete love, as it should be.

In regard to the integration of fear in love on the side of Hesed he brings the verse, “Happy is he who is always fearful.” He explains the word “always” to mean that even when the Creator treats him favorably, he should fear Him lest he will cause the sin.

This raises the question, how is it possible to be in fear all the time? Of course, this fear is not egoistic, but is above the ego. It’s necessary to be afraid all the time, meaning to search for what else I can add to my love so as not to detract from it. If we were to behave this way in our world, in relationships between people, in the family, then our lives would be wonderful!
[127269]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/11/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Long Path To Fear
Anatomy Of Fear And Love
The Fear Of God Is His Treasure

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

When a person begs for mercy for himself, he is in a desire to receive and thinks only about himself. And the more that he prays for himself and tries to influence the Creator to improve his personal situation, not only does he not come close to the Creator, but also he moves away from Him, through awakening greater and greater egoism.

All of our thoughts in every circumstance go to the Creator, for we are found in a single system; we are embedded in it. It’s impossible to think about something, to decide something, and to do something without influencing the entire system, for from the start we are found in it with every cell in our body and with our heart, with all our thoughts and desires. Before we even begin to understand what we are thinking about and what we want, this has already gone into the system! We are already within it! And that is how it is for every person, all people in the world, all the still, vegetative, and animate nature, everything!

It’s only with the human that a completely different account is made, for we have been given the possibility of influencing the system through choice. Therefore, when a person’s thoughts are directed towards himself, then the system is influenced negatively. And if he continues to pray for himself, with this he invites a terrible negative awakening from the entire creation. The clearest discovery of ego is in this, when a person wants the Creator to do something for him according to his personal understanding and desire without realizing that the Creator gives him the best possibilities for correction at every moment.

So it’s not just that he has an effect on the entire system, rather he arouses immense upheavals in it, causing it to move backwards against the tendency towards the goal of creation that was activated in the form of the evolution of all of humanity. The moment that a person revives and begins to think: “Me, world, creature, Creator, my condition,” he must direct himself first towards a connection with the Creator through the group. Otherwise, all of his influence on the system of creation will be negative, and first and foremost, he will cause his personal movement to be backward.

So the best starting point for everyone is the constant transmission of bestowal through the group on all that is around us. This is called the “prayer of the many” because we are asking on behalf of the many. Such a prayer doesn’t indicate that many must be gathered together, there is no importance in this. One person is enough, only he should ask for many in such a way that he can ask for them as he would for himself. And “many” is at least ten. And then the influence of the person on the system will be positive and with it the Creator will be revealed. This is a very simple general rule.
[127257]
From the World Zohar Week “Integral Education Convention” Day Three 2/4/14, Workshop 5

Related Material:
Private And Common Salvation
I Cannot Pray For Myself
A Prayer Just For Oneself Harms

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work, Unity - No Comments →

The Torah, “Exodus,” Ki Tisa, 32:25 – 32:27 And Moses saw the people, that they were exposed, for Aaron had exposed them to be disgraced before their adversaries.

So Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said: “Whoever is for the Lord, [let him come] to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

He said to them: “So said the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Let every man place his sword upon his thigh and pass back and forth from one gate to the other in the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his friend, every man his kinsman.'”

“…every man kill his brother, every man his friend, every man his kinsman” stands for ridding oneself of the properties, habits, desires, hopes, and memories that one cherishes the most, i.e. letting go of the core of one’s entire life and universe. One has to part with these notions forever, “shut them down,” internally restrict them, and then gradually correct other qualities.

An appeal “Whoever is for the Lord, [let him come] to me!” stands for “Whoever is for the pure bestowal…”

“And all the sons of Levi gathered around him” refers to people or to certain human qualities that have to “stand out” (become obvious) from the point of view of the internal part of the Torah.

Question: Then, why did the sons of Levi take part in the creation of the golden calf?

Answer: It happened because there was no Moses, no illumination of the Upper Light on Malchut. When the Light influences Malchut, the properties that are ingrained in it rise. In other words, the Levites approach Moses; whereas, if the Light doesn’t descend to Malchut, the Levites stay under the influence of Malchut’s power of egoism. The Levites have no choice of their own.

It applies solely to Mose’s governance that descends through every part of the system to the people. That’s why Aaron, the Cohens, and the Levites are only “adapters” that connect Moses with the people.
[127192]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 9/11/13

Related Material:
The Beautiful Outbursts Of The Soul
The Creation Of The Golden Calf
The Opposite Side Of The Characteristic Of Bestowal

Filed under: Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Workshop

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 9, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 6

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”  

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

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
[audio:http://files.kabbalahmedia.info/audio/eng_o_rav_2014-02-20_declamation_blog-rav_full.mp3 title=’20.2.14′]

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

Opinion (from vz.ru): “Negative selection exists in all capitalist countries because capitalism is based on the principle, ‘man is a wolf to [his fellow] man.’ And in order to survive in the pack of wolves, one has to be a wolf himself.

“Capitalists claim that the market will put everything into place and the invisible hand of competition will regulate everything; most important is not to interfere with markets.

“There is some truth to it: If you are a capitalist, you need to compete, and in order to compete, you need to be effective. That is, you need to get more profit than your competitors since those with higher profits have more competitive opportunities.

“But the more profit a capitalist makes, the worse it is for an ordinary worker. An example: Three capitalists want to produce the exact same product of the same quality under the same conditions and they sell it in the same market. To compete, they have to make production more effective, that is, to lower the production costs, preserving its previous volume. Eventually, they will transfer production to the Third World country, where the labor force is cheaper; start buying low quality raw materials, supplementing them with taste enhancers; lengthen the workday, and manage to pay less tax.

“But competition is perpetual and in order to survive, each one will have to do everything that they each did before.

“This is the system of negative selection. The fittest survive or, more precisely, the most cunning and mean ones, who are ready to disregard any moral values only to profit more. Life is a war, and at war, everything is fair.

“A capitalist couldn’t care less about the life of a worker, his family and children. Through exploitation, he acquired new equipment and now he can fire half of the staff to lower labor costs. If you don’t devour someone, they will devour you. Such system leads to monopoly in the industry, market, authority, truth, and the world. Hence, the most ruthless person gets monopoly. Then, something worse comes instead—fascism, and those who disagree are sent away to camps.”

My Comment: The law of nature doesn’t consider our desires, but rather changes them. Capitalism is replaced by its crisis. The crisis is external, in all spheres of our life, and also internal, manifesting as the change of purposefulness of man. A soft transition is possible provided the integral upbringing of the masses is successful, which is possible by disseminating the method of integral education. If not, the transition towards integral society will indeed happen through fascism, as Baal HaSulam wrote nearly a hundred years ago.
[127430]

Related Material:
Necessity And Competitiveness
“Why Socialism?”
What Comes After Capitalism?

Filed under: Crisis, Economy - No Comments →

Question: When I am in a group, I feel some kind of sense of shame and try to understand what my ego wants to tell me with this. But this is not shame with regard to the Creator, but in regard to the physical world?

Answer: Tell me, what should I be ashamed of in this world? Is it because I am a regular normal beast? Even if abnormal beastly defects exist within me, this is also not me. What is there to be ashamed of?! I want to steal? Yes. I want to sin? Yes. Yet this is no reason to be ashamed! These are normal human characteristics, and it’s not even necessary to think about them.

Shame can be only from this, I could approach the Creator and I belittle those possibilities that He gives to me. A feeling like this appears only with regard to a host who honors a guest and the guest begins to feel ashamed. But this happens on the highest levels. And so it is also said that shame is only for high souls. Therefore, shame must only be because I don’t utilize the opportunities that are given to me from Above.
[127583]

Related Material:
There Is Nothing To Be Ashamed Of
The Long-Awaited Guest
A Purely Human Quality

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →