Convention in Guadalajara “Preparatory Lesson”
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Convention in Guadalajara “Day One” Workshop 1
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Convention in Guadalajara “Day One,” “The Spiritual Ladder,” Lesson 1
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Lesson No. 1: The Spiritual Ladder
The Spiritual Process That One Must Undergo
1. This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
2. The thought of creation is to delight His creatures and no pleasure is perceived by the creature while he must be separated from the Creator. Moreover, we learn that the Creator craves to dwell in the lower ones.
Zohar La’am – Two Points #121
3. It is written in The Book of Zohar, “There is no place vacant of Him.” The fact that we are unable to feel him is because we lack the vessels of sensation. Just like we know that the radio receives sounds that are present in the world, since the receiver does not make the sounds, but rather, the sounds are already present in the world, though before we had the receiver we were unable to feel (hear) the sounds even though they were already in the world. Similarly, we understand that “There is no place vacant of Him”; all we need is a receiver to feel it. The receiver is called adhesion and equivalence of form, which is “the will to bestow.” When we acquire this receiver we will immediately be able to feel that indeed “there is no place vacant of him” and that “the whole earth is filled with his glory.”
Writings of Rabash, “From Your Actions We Know You,” Vol. 3
4. It is said that there are 600,000 souls, and each soul divides into several sparks. We must understand how it is possible for the spiritual to divide, since initially, only one soul was created, the soul of Adam HaRishon.
In my opinion, there is indeed only one soul in the world. … The same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam HaRishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut. …
Yet, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person. In other words, first, the body divides and completely denies him of the radiance of the soul, and by the force of the Torah and the Mitzva, the body is cleansed, and to the extent of its cleansing, the common soul shines upon him.
For this reason, two discernments were made in the corporeal body: In the first discernment, one feels one’s soul as a unique organ, and does not understand that this is the whole of Israel. And this is truly a flaw; hence, it causes along with the above-mentioned.
In the second discernment, the true Light of the soul of Israel does not shine on him in all its illumination force, but only partially, by the measure he has purified himself by returning to the collective.
The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam HaRishon.
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”
5. “If you shall walk in my laws and keep my commandments to do them.” Here the Holy Zohar asks: “Since it already said walk and keep, why also ‘to do’ them.” And it answers: Whoever does the commandments of Torah and walk in His paths; it is as if he made Him above, and the Creator said: It is as if he made Me. And this is the meaning of “And you shall do them” – as if you ‘made’ Me.” And it is important to understand the meaning of ‘whoever walks in the ways of the Lord, he makes the Lord.’ How could such a thought even enter into one’s mind?
Behold, it is known that “the whole earth is filled with His glory.” […] However, the Creator concealed it to make it impossible to see, in order to allow for choice, and this makes room for faith—to believe that the Creator fills the whole world (universe) and surrounds the whole world. And only after one engages in Torah and Mitzvot and keeps the commandment of choice, then the Creator reveals Himself to him, and then one is able to see that the Creator rules the world.
It follows that, then one is able to “make” the King to rule over him, which means that he feels that the Creator is the one that rules over the whole world, and this means that one “makes” the Creator to be King over him. But as long as he does not attain this feeling, the Kingship of the Creator remains in concealment. And this is what we say: “On this day the Creator will be One and His Name One,” meaning that the glory of His Kingdom will be revealed upon us.
And this is the complete correction that we must reach in this world, and by this we draw all the goodness in the world, meaning that all the abundance from above is drawn from our engagement in Torah and Mitzvot, with the intention to draw His blessed Kingdom upon us.
The Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Article 76
6. We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man, and not remain as a beast, …
Each of us follows the spirit of bestowing upon the Creator. And to achieve bestowal upon the Creator, we must begin with bestowal upon man, which is called “love of others.”
And love of others can only be with revoking one’s self. Thus, on the one hand, each person should feel lowly, and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for Divinity to be among us.
And although we have not yet achieved this goal, we have the desire to achieve it. And this, too, should be appreciated by us, for even though we are at the beginning of the way, we do hope to achieve the exalted goal.
The Writings of Rabash, “The Purpose of Society – 1”
7. It is hopeless to wait for a time when a solution is found for allowing one to begin the work of the Creator in Lishma. As in the past, so in the future—every servant of the Creator must begin the work in Lo Lishma, and from that achieve Lishma.
And the way to achieving this degree is not limited by time, but by its qualifiers, and by the measure of one’s control over one’s heart. Hence, many have fallen, and will fall, in the field of working Lo Lishma. […]Yet, their reward is nevertheless great, since one’s mind cannot appreciate the true merit and value of bringing contentment to one’s Maker. Even if one works not under this condition, since one is not worthy of another way, one still brings contentment to one’s Maker.
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “One Commandment”
Question: If I don’t feel the Creator, can I tune in to you as the goal, since you and your goal are clear to me?
Answer: If that suits you, then you can tune in to me. Actually, I devote all my life, all my time, to studying and teaching, and aspiring for the Creator and helping others do the same. Basically, each one of us needs to do that.
But in the wisdom of Kabbalah, the teacher cannot be the standard because his inner life, his inner development, is not known to anyone. What we see is only his external movements that function on the physical level, the animal level.
For example, the religious Hassids imitate their teacher, “Oh, our Rabbi loves to eat that, and dress like that, and we do the same.”
Of course, this is not a basis for imitation. You don’t receive anything through that because in everyday life I live and exist according to my physical (animal) body. I operate according to what my body demands and according to what doctors advise. I listen to doctors and listen to my body.
There is absolutely nothing here that is connected to the spiritual world. All of spirituality exists deep within and is inaccessible to the eye and to imitation. Thus, there is no reason to look at me.
Think about each one of us reaching the goal. If each one will begin wanting his friends to reach the goal, then that will be the “prayer of many.”
[129887]
From the Lesson in Russian 2/7/14
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Integral Education Convention, Lecture # 1:
Question: Is it easier for the Israeli nation to understand or to feel that “there is none else besides Him” because of the uniqueness of this country and its education?
Answer: Everyone says that the Jews are a special nation; this isn’t new. The question is what this uniqueness is.
The Jews are special because they were on a spiritual height in the past. This is the group that came out of Babylon together with Abraham. All the Babylonians are called Yehudi (Jews), which stems from the Hebrew word “Yichud” – “unity.” The word “עברים – Hebrews” stems from the word “עבר – moved,” which refers to those who have crossed to the other side, to the altruistic side. Israel are those who have an intention Yashar-El, straight to the Creator. This means that all the names that relate to this nation stem from its spiritual ascent.
When the nation was on a spiritual height it overcame its ego and then according to the thought of creation underwent two breakings—the destruction of the First and Second Temples and accordingly the shattering of the vessels, of HGT and NHYM. After the final shattering, the nation was exiled for the last time, and now it has to ascend.
Because the Jews were on a spiritual level their ego naturally grew even more after the fall. They were so even before the fall, as it says in the Torah, that back in the time of the exile in Egypt this nation was as stubborn as a donkey. When they fell from their spiritual height they became even worse.
Of course they have changed greatly during the last two thousand years and have undergone terrible sufferings and accordingly underwent many changes, but they still have no idea whatsoever what the wisdom of Kabbalah is and what the method which is their spiritual legacy means. They are totally indifferent to it.
This is the nation that is in the worst state of all the other nations because it carries the Reshimo (reminiscences) of its spiritual fall.
Accordingly there is a special atmosphere in Israel. How will a correction take place here? It is up to us. The correction will naturally take place here and partially in other nations, but only partially because people who have inherited the spiritual roots have to return to them and together with all those who awaken spiritually for different reasons to set an example for the whole world.
But I don’t want to get into why someone in South America or from Siberia, for example, begins to feel an attraction towards the spiritual ascent. There are good reasons for that. It either happens as a result of the mutual incorporation of the spiritual genes, the Reshimot, that occurred during the last two thousand years or because it turns out that a certain person belongs to the nation that used to be on a spiritual height.
Those who aspire for the Creator are called Israel. All our groups around the world belong to this group, but we also have to work with the local public. This isn’t easy, but we have to do it.
I wouldn’t say that it is easier for the Israeli nation to feel that “There is none else besides Him,” because their ego is much bigger than the others. It is much more difficult for the local population to come to this than any other public.
On the one hand, it is easier to lead any other nation up the spiritual levels, but on the other hand, the two opposite sides of the Jews nation are very prominent. It isn’t by chance that the Jews took an active part in every movement and every revolution that brought about changes in society, although only egoistic changes for the time being. Now the time has come for the spiritual changes.
I hope that we will see how all the differences between peoples and nations, cultures and civilizations gradually disappear and they all become the one nation of the Creator. This is what should happen.
[130296]
From the World Zohar Week “Integral Education Convention” Day Three 2/4/14, Lesson 1
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We can explain the concepts of the wisdom of Kabbalah, the “Kabbalistic mechanism,” using the language of desires that everyone understands.
Let’s imagine the vessel of the desire to receive in the form of a glass. The general desire is made of different things, desires for food, sex, family, money, honor, and knowledge.
When we study them, we see that each one by itself and all of them together, are divided into five parts, five layers, from zero to four.
Thus, I only can receive what can enter my desire. If it is a small desire, I will receive very little, and the more the desire grows, the more I will be able to contain inside me until I reach the maximum desire and will be ready to swallow the entire world. This is how my ego works.
So, how can I change myself? How do I cease to receive on a regular basis? After all, it really limits me. How much can I receive, and who will give it to me? Because we operate according to an egoistic plan, we have reached a general crisis. So, could there be another method?
What if I restrict my desire, building a partition above it, and use it not in order to fill myself but in order to fill the desires of others? I want to bestow unto them, which is called the Returning Light (Ohr Hozer).
Thus, I can connect myself to more and more new glasses and receive pleasure for the entire world. The Creator is above me, and the entire world is with me, all the people, and so I receive all the pleasure in the world.
Eventually, we operate according to simple psychological calculations, but the only difference is that we don’t draw for ourselves. In fact, we cannot do that today because we are in a global crisis and we have no choice.
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Question: In March of 2014, there was a connection convention called, “Transmitting Light to the World!”. In what way was this convention different from all other conventions?
Answer: This convention was most practical, in that we actively learned how to transmit the dissemination of the method of connection through which a spiritual Kli is built. The Kabbalists write that there is no more useful activity for our spiritual advancement. If we want to grow, we must expand.
So we had to bow our heads and actually participate in this work. It had to be explained to each and every person, heart to heart and to a greater and greater degree, that the progress of the people of Israel is possible only through connection, “As one person with one heart” (Rashi on Exodus 19:2), with mutual Arvut (guarantee) and reciprocity until “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Through the connection between us we can solve all of our problems.
Question: What approach to this convention was needed in order to derive the most benefit?
Answer: It was necessary to learn from people who have a great deal experience and understanding of how to disseminate. I am very happy that there was a convention like this because specifically it is work such as this that advances us toward discovery of the Creator. Otherwise we will not merit discovering Him. Whoever participated in preparation for the convention was a winner. Whoever didn’t participate or was there passively, did not feel anything. Even now there are people sitting in the lesson who already have a particular spiritual feeling and there are those who don’t feel anything. Everything depends on the exertion and effort that each one invests.
The convention was held simultaneously in four cities that became our four dissemination centers. Every one of them has their own independent management and group responsibility, which is the mind or the head that organized the dissemination efforts in that area and acts completely independently. The main thing is that they knew precisely what they had to do and they organized everything independently like an independent nation.
We want to develop people who will act independently, with the main thing being that they will work correctly. We want to transmit the entire method together and to summarize, consolidate, and teach everyone so that everyone can go out and disseminate in their area.
Everyone must manage dissemination in their area, on their own and be connected to the local center because it’s their own place. It doesn’t seem to me that all dissemination must go out from one center as this limits and makes work very difficult.
Question: How did every friend go out after this convention?
Answer: It was up to each one to know how to go out to the community, explain why the people of Israel needed to connect as “one person with one heart,” and why we are in such a unique situation with all of humanity in crisis. It was up to each person to have received a simple, short, and clear explanation and understanding of how it is better to speak with the person standing in front of him. We must continue to give everyone the practical tools for working.
[131013]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam
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The life of the group is first of all the study. But why do we have to study so much? Why do we study for so many years? The point is that it isn’t an ordinary study in order to acquire knowledge. People don’t come to the lesson in order to know more but in order to receive a portion of Light, the influence of the Upper Light that comes through the teacher.
A ladder made of 125 levels descends into our world from the world of Infinity. We are in this world and the teacher is above since otherwise he wouldn’t be a teacher. A teacher is a spiritual leader who leads us upward to the Creator. He doesn’t have to be in the world of Infinity, but he must have spiritual understanding and comprehension, having attained at least the first stages of the path and is on some spiritual height.
Moreover, in the spiritual world I not only don’t know how to make a step forward, but I also don’t have the power to do so. After all, this advancement is in bestowal, in giving, and how can I advance in bestowal if I don’t have this attribute at all and only have the force of receiving?
I have to receive the force of bestowal from above first, in order to bestow and to advance. I can receive this force from above only through the teacher who is the channel through which the Light from above, from the world of Infinity, flows into this world to me if I am connected to the teacher. In that case I receive the power, the knowledge, the right direction, and the support from him and can advance.
I have to advance with the friends by engaging in the study and in dissemination, but this cannot work without a teacher. Therefore, the daily lesson in which we all sit together and study is not in order to study another part of TES, or the “Introduction to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” The Book of Zohar, or articles and letters by Baal HaSulam, but in order to connect and to receive a force through the teacher, which gradually becomes the force of advancement for the students.
If you don’t participate in the daily lesson for at least an hour every day, you won’t advance. You can do it in a different time according to the time zone of the country you live in, but it must be during the specific day the lesson took place. If you don’t have enough time to see the whole lesson, then do it for at least an hour. Without that you can forget about advancing in spirituality.
If you cannot dedicate an hour a day for the wisdom of Kabbalah, then there is no point engaging in it at all since you will only have false hopes that you are gradually advancing, but in fact you don’t advance. You should listen to the daily lesson at least an hour a day no matter how much you understand.
It cannot be that a day goes by and that you have missed a lesson. It is as if you don’t eat for a whole day. It is clearly very difficult and a person will not hold on for long that way.
[134983]
From the Convention In France “One For All And All For One,” Day One 5/9/14, Lesson 1
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Question: How do I need to prepare myself for the workshops and how should I behave during them?
Answer: How do we organize ourselves to speak with the Creator when this is possible only through the center of the group? If I want to make a connection with someone by telephone, I need a telephone line, a device, and the right frequency.
I need to speak with the person on the second line in one language, communicate with him exactly at a pre-determined time, and he must specifically be the person that I need. This means that everything must be adjusted.
So how do we arrange the line of communication that extends from the center of the group to the Creator to be sure that this line is working, more or less?
That is how we construct the telephone apparatus for connection with the Creator. Everyone knows that this device is complex even in our world, and even more so in the spiritual world in which the connection is realized at a completely different frequency.
This wave is not allowed to go out from me, for after all, I am the opposite of the Creator. I am entirely a big minus, an egoist. And the Creator is entirely a big plus. We are not ready to understand each other! So how will I be able to construct a device that works on His frequency and connects me to Him?
Each one of us must make a Tzimtzum (restriction) on the ego, meaning he must freeze himself inside and not think about himself. This is called “Tzimtzum Aleph.” In this way I stop being concerned about my “self.” After all, in the spiritual world, in that place with which I want to make a connection, I don’t exist.
So I am compelled to carry out a Tzimtzum on my desire, a Masach (screen). Besides this, I need to bring something out of myself, so from within me I think about the group. Through this I create a single component that is ready to connect with others.
It is desirable that ten people will create components like these from themselves. And then all of us together connect in the center of the group, and our common component (we) is called the sense of bestowal, that resembles the Creator. Between them a connection can be created.
As in telephone communication where the bandwidth can be different, it is the same here. It depends on the greatness of the desire that the person overcomes, great or small, how much he is included with the others, how much they understand each other, to what degree the goal is clear to each and everyone together, and so on. These conditions determine the strength of the connection.
But without constructing a device like this we cannot create a connection with the Creator. So it is up to us to create a force like this, our common connection with the Creator, which is our voice, our mouths. And there can be many voices and mouths like these: it is possible to divide the seven billion people into groups of ten. Less than ten is not enough power. It is possible to try five or three people, but by no means less. Ten is the optimal number.
And more than ten we are not ready to grasp, for we are constructed with a perception of reality like this suchthat we are not ready to see more than our ten fingers.
[134759]
From the Convention In France “One For All And All For One,” Day Two 5/10/14, Lesson 2
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If a person doesn’t feel that everything that happens inside him and in all of reality comes from the Creator, who is the only source of life, it is called punishment. And the feeling of detachment itself also comes from the Creator and isn’t the person’s will. There is no greater punishment than being detached from the Creator, that is, to forget that everything comes from above, from Him.
A person should continuously renew his contact with the Creator, consider His thoughts, and decide how to answer every appeal that comes from Him. What happens to me makes no difference. What’s important is that everything comes from Him: both the negative and positive thoughts. At one time I bless Him and another time I curse Him; once I want to remember that He is everywhere and another time I don’t want to remember that He exists and yearn for physical corporeal pleasures.
But all of that is sent by Him, and we should examine all these situations that are mostly unpleasant. It is because the Creator shows me to what extent I am immersed in my shallow, lowly ego, while I have to find the right answer and understand why the Creator sends me such desires and thoughts and why I want to respond the way I do and not the way I should.
If I work that way, I begin to feel that I need support and that it is impossible to manage by myself. I can escape the group and manage by myself only in my corporeal life by hiding from the Creator and without feeling guilty in any way, but if I really want to advance, I immediately feel that I must clarify my relations with Him.
There is no one in the world I settle my accounts with but Him, since He is the only source. Therefore, I feel that I have to be in a group, connected to the teacher, and that I need support.
In this case I already tighten the connection with the friends and with the teacher and begin to listen. It is because I need advice as to what to do in order to be connected to the Creator constantly and not forget about Him, to properly see that every moment in my life comes from Him. I must remember that even my trivial thoughts and my corporeal desires come from Him. Everything comes from Him in order to push me to even greater adhesion to Him, to closeness.
This is what my response should be. It means that we speak the same language. He sends me different signals and I respond to them: “I understand and I tune myself more and more to You.”
Thus, I get closer to the Creator and perceive Him in greater and more accurate resolution. I begin to learn His language. There are many languages in the world that don’t allow us to understand one another. Here I learn the Creator’s language: how he turns to me and how I should answer Him.
If a person and the group focus themselves that way they succeed very quickly and attain contact with the Creator because He begins to teach us every moment of our life.
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Question: What does it mean to look at all problems through the “center of the group?”
Answer: Anyone can say that everything comes from the Creator. This is not a problem. The question is how does this obligate me and how do I react from my side?
We don’t need a group to humbly accept blows. And we don’t need a group just to ask about the Creator. But to be directed towards Him, we require a group.
So, as soon as we begin to ask ourselves about the meaning of life, we are brought to the group somehow. All of our work is done in a group. And this is not done in order to receive bestowal from the Creator. I get it this way from the outside world also. But the group makes it possible for me to react to this bestowal. For the problem is not about how to receive His bestowal; rather, it is how to respond to it, how to create contact with the Creator from my side.
I need to correct myself from within in order to be connected with the Creator. This is because the levels of ascent on the spiritual ladder are my gradual changes, levels of integration into the attainment of greater and greater resemblance and equivalence. I need to speak His language, to carry out the same actions, to approach His understanding, to be more and more congruent to Him.
If I want to transform into being like the Creator, then I can do this by adhering to the group more and more. I need to create His image, and for this I need to connect the group with me until I ultimately transform to be like Him. It is necessary to pass through all the stages, 125 levels, in order to resemble the Creator. And all of this happens through the group.
[135661]
From the Convention In France “One For All And All For One” 5/11/14, Lesson 5
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