Question: With us, it is customary that the men’s group works separately on love toward friends, and the women’s group conducts its own work. If love of friends relates both to women and men, in what way do we do this work?

Must there be separate circles for men and women or can they be mixed and these subjects be discussed?

Answer: What exactly do you want to talk about? Is it about unity, about love of friends?

If I love a friend, I don’t pay attention to his outer appearance. His yearning for the goal is what is important to me, his connection with the Creator. In this case, some kind of unisex appears before me, not a man and not a woman, but something yearning for the Creator, and that’s it!

I understand that the physical appearance of a woman before a man disturbs him a lot. For a woman, it is less; for a man, it is more. In this case, it is necessary to separate the circles. There is nothing else to be done. We still have not reached the desired correction or the required power of yearning forward. The Creator, in the meantime, is less important for me than this physiological being that is shining in front of me. I cannot elevate it higher within me than her physiological body.

What is there to do? In a case like this, the women need to be distant from the men to help them so that nothing will distract them from work between them. However, in the future, we will look at each other as follows: a physiology, we need children, so we mate with each other (excuse me for talking this way), whereas, in love for the Creator, we are emotionally connected. This means that we separate the beastly level from the human level and exist on two levels.

Question: Which subjects are better to discuss in separate circles and which in mixed circles?

Answer: About love for friends and everything that is related to mutual closeness, it is better, in the meantime, to discuss separately, and all the rest that touches upon work with the external public—the understanding of particular articles, various subjects that don’t belong to love, to unification, and to mutual closeness—it is possible to discuss together.

It is even possible to discuss the greatness of the goal together. For men, it might be seen that it is not serious to talk with a woman about the greatness of the goal. However, it is necessary to get used to it gradually. This is because, ultimately, as we move forward, you will see how much a woman can stimulate and inspire a man to attain the Creator, to give an undetectable push, to remind, or even to show him how much she is faithful to this in comparison to men so that he would be ashamed.

I know this for myself. Very often, I have gotten from my wife, seemingly offhandly, very valuable advice. I don’t know if she understands exactly what she is saying, but the Creator speaks with me through her.
[141193]
From lesson 5 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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At the upcoming convention in Saint Petersburg, every nation must show and demonstrate what it has attained rapprochement within it, between its groups, and its members.

This is required to stimulate and inspire each other, to show an example to each other, to consult with each other, to share their capabilities and attainments and to push each other towards even greater inner unity in every nation, in every region. It could be that we will even begin with some kind of shared unification between us, even though this is not yet seen clearly inside. It could be in another year or perhaps two years.

In the meantime we don’t feel a need for unification. And if there is no pressing need for this, then nothing can be done. When you will more or less find your regional capabilities, suddenly the feeling will appear with you: “For the puzzle I am assembling, I need the European group, but it doesn’t exist! Where is it?! I cannot do without it.”

When you feel that you require this, then you will begin to pressure them and they will feel this from you. Today, in the meantime, all of the activities are realized artificially.

The Europeans have not reached the European convention because they don’t feel the necessity in this.

The discovery of the Creator through unity must be a permanently close distant goal for everyone. You cannot place other goals before you. You will become confused! After all, your attempts and efforts will not be a realistic solution.
[141188]
From lesson 5 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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Question: What is the role of the Americans in the general correction, and how is it possible to realize this role in this present series of conventions?

Answer: The role of the Americans in the general correction is very great. According to the higher plan, America grew and became a nation that has become most influential in the world, even negatively, and we hope that someday it will be positive.

Hence we need to understand that there is an opportunity from above in the hands of all of our American friends. It is the invitation to give a good example of unification to the world.

After all, our world is deteriorating rapidly into a dangerous stage, in fact, toward all-out war. So, our American groups should carefully think about what is happening and try to prevent the threat.

It is no coincidence that America is opposite to the state of unification. It has attained great success in elevating private interests and cultivating individualism. So, now, on the contrary, the Americans must stand against this, rising to a level of unification.

As a result of this, all of our American groups must unite within each of them and between them. They must become a unified American group, and, even within it, they must continue the dynamics of the various parts between them, sometimes creating tense relationships with all that is derived from this, and even when the power of separation flares up between them. However, above it, they will be ready to activate the power of unity.

Together with their opposition to unity—to friendship, to the good force, to love—America must give an example of connection. Very important work has been imposed on the part of the American world Kli. All of us hope that our friends in America, and, first of all, in the United States, understand this. They must understand that our whole world Kli requires this of them.

If they will act in the right way, then they will influence all of the American people and, through it, the entire world, by giving it the right direction.

So, our convention in America is so important. It truly can change the fate of the world if only our American groups will understand that it depends upon them.
[140975]
From lesson 2 of the Convention In Toronto “Day Two” 8/06/14

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Question: You gave a task that the women shouldn’t gossip or slander. There was half a day of excellent relationships between us, and after that, various kinds of interpretations and evaluations began, and ultimately, everything was broken. How do we rise above this?

Answer: You must understand that the Creator wants to raise you to the next level and arranges situations like this for you so that you will work on it.

Question: What exactly can I do when I see that everything is falling apart, both inside and out?

Answer: Show an example of the opposite, which works on you positively, for everyone around you are ideal, and, in your ego, they only seem to you as imperfect. However, don’t let it turn and manage you. Rather, in spite of it all relate to them with absolute love.

Speak about this amongst you. In what way does the Creator work with you? How does He plays with you, and you are fools dragged around by the Creator. He shows you how weak you are in your unity in order to oppose participation in His exercises.

This is nothing more than an exercise. Unfortunately, you don’t perceive that everything comes from Him. What is the connection here to some woman who said something hostile about her friend? All of us are puppets on strings, robots. That is how you must perceive everything.

I must look at the group as an ideal collection of “gears” that the Creator manages ideally and I see that everything is imperfect so that I will be able to make this situation into an ideal one in my thoughts and feelings, and the next exercise also will be directed toward an even more ideal state.

That is how I constantly raise myself from this level. If you were to react correctly, then the changes in states would not happen after half a day, but in another hour, and afterward, every minute, and after that, every second. You would quickly complete the work of this system.

If a person doesn’t feel he is in front of the Creator and between them is this world—like a semi-transparent screen through which he constantly wants to see the Creator—if he doesn’t direct himself in this way, then he has no correct reaction to reality. He is immersed in a game with this screen on which are stuck all kinds of decorations, our entire lives, and everything that we imagine to ourselves, and we participate in this illusion.

However, if, through this falsehood, he constantly tries to see the Creator, who is deliberately arranging all of this for him, this already becomes a proposal to direct himself permanently toward the Upper Light.
[140707]
From the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14, Lesson 3

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Question: How is it possible to overcome the sensation of the lack of equality between new students and great and experienced friends?

Answer: I don’t understand where the sensation of a lack of equality appears. The person does all that he can exactly like everyone else. He tries to work on himself all the time so that through nullification of the self he will be connected with the others.

What is the difference if he is great, small, a beginner, or experienced with some special characteristics? It doesn’t matter. If everyone around me is greater, then it is better for me because from them I get good examples and am eager to advance. When I think about my spiritual realization, I help the entire world, for each one of us is not like the others!

In my time, I was like a baby in the hands of five or six Kabbalists who had studied with Baal HaSulam. What was I then? Who was I for them? Nothing, but they treated me supportively and kindly.

I saw that they didn’t tell me everything. They were quiet about many things. However, gradually it became more and more clear to me what was happening, and I had no complaints about them. When I was in a spiritual descent and went into a low mood, they encouraged me by promising me that, in a number of weeks, everything would be revealed to me, and, even though this was a lie, an impression remained with me that they were like loving caregivers.
This is how a group must relate to each of its members.
[140901]
From lesson 4 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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Question: How can one consistently be in inner work, in inner prayer, to pass toward unity?

Answer: It is impossible to be consistently in inner prayer. Even the greatest Kabbalists went through great descents and ascents, and the higher that a person is, the greater his descents. So, it is necessary to understand that this work continues until the completion of correction.

We correct the general shattering of the Kli, and it is natural that the greatest shattered states are the strongest. In fact, the more complex shattered states are microscopic. First, we simply don’t pay attention to these contradictions, and, after that we reach a state such that our sensitivity rises all the time. We begin to be involved with our states in that we receive them with great sensitivity.

With great Kabbalists, all kinds of changes are made with great regularity because they are correcting themselves all the time, and the imprecision seems immense, great, to them, and this is the work of correction! This is life.

Every time you feel that you are working on the next level and, after that, on the next level, and so forth. The problem is not that as if you have come to work, have obtained a position, for example, that of a clerk, and begin to rise on the organizational ladder higher and higher. Here, internal work is done in your spiritual collective with the Creator. Indeed, the work on this connection gives lots of different discernments, but it is the same.

The great Kabbalists describe this in their writings. At first glance, it seems that very extensive material is found in their writings, but if we sort them, then there is nothing unique here. It is always talking about desire, about Light, and  the connections between them.

So, what is required of us is only the right intention.
[141004]
From lesson 4 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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Question: We are shaping a unified field between us. However, one way or another, each one invests his own thoughts. How does one determine the right choice toward the group, toward the unified field?

Answer: A person within himself cannot determine anything, only if the influence of the friends directs him can anything be determined. Otherwise, he will be only in continuous contradictions and oppositions.

He must constantly be under the influence of the group, in other words, participating in all of its events. We must methodically renew and increase our influence on each one of the members of the group.

We must place a goal before ourselves: create the right field around us so that it will get to the friends, will arouse them with the right work, and they will feel the kindness, the serenity and tranquility, and confidence in our work.

If one falls, the others help him up. The Creator constantly makes adjustments so that each one of us will come to his place and carry out his work. The concern about this must hang in the air.

Once, in the conventions in Israel, we threw big balloons into the air, and each one made an`effort to let no balloon fall to the floor. Specifically in this way, the unity, the Arvut, the mutual support, is revealed when you are not only not “drilling a hole in the boat,” but also are concerned all the time that the others won’t do this.

The main thing is to support the elevation of spirit and the excitement of the friends. The Creator gave us work, “Friend, this is your part, and, as long as you have not glued all of the pieces together, you will not get a soul, for it is one. It is because none of us has a soul, rather only its shattered parts.”

It is necessary to understand that the Creator gives us a place for work. So, be involved with it. Yearn to attain connection with the fragments of the soul of the friends and make it so that they will love you.
[141000]
From lesson 4 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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We must build a system of active connection between all people in the world. However, this is not the Internet, virtual or physical system, rather it’s an internal system. We must yearn to create a feeling between us like a mother regarding her infant whom she can feel, even across great distances.

They say that with animals, this instinct is even stronger. This is demonstrated in the movie about the little dinosaur that was taken far from its parents by humans. The adult dinosaurs went wild looking for the baby, crossed an ocean, and found him through instinct.

Specifically, a connection like this has to be among us. At a distance of thousands of kilometers from each other, despite the distance, we have to feel ourselves as existing in a single spiritual force field. All kinds of changes in each must necessarily be felt by all the rest. We must try to attain contact like this and feel inner changes at every moment, which then becomes our inner life.
[140904]
From lesson 4 of the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14

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Question: Suppose that I understand that in order to add the feeling of the importance of unity in a group, it is necessary to make additional efforts, but I don’t have the strength for this. Where can I find it?

Answer: It’s only with the friends! It is possible to receive strength only if you bow your head before your friends, see them as more important, stronger, and more understanding, as connected more strongly with each other than you with them. Then you can receive something from them.

The group has to help a person so that he will feel its sympathetic and good attitude toward him, the love.

It only seems to us that it is impossible to get strength from the group. So from their side, there has to be methodical work directed toward this, only it shouldn’t become routine for routine eats all emotions. In the spiritual world, there is no habit. It disappears because there, only changes are considered, only consequences and not speed. Therefore, one has to be in constant movement.

Question: But can a person take the first step? He understands that now the group is in such a state that he can exert effort. However, he has no strength to do something to elevate the group, to integrate himself into it, and rise. The understanding is there, but not the strength.

Answer: There is no energy. This means that there is no true need. Some kind of detachment, apathy, is holding us: I could help, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

How should one act in a case like this? I would conduct a workshop, sit everyone in a circle, give a subject, and gradually try to introduce special questions that bring people back to their senses a little bit, awaken them.
[140949]
From the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14, Lesson 4

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Question: When differences of opinion appear in a group, this extends over everyone all at once. To resolve the problem of confrontation, representatives of both sides gather into a small group and reach agreement and unification. How is it possible to extend this unity to everyone?

Answer: I think that it is necessary to organize a shared circle in which everyone sits together, and the initiator group appears as the force of peace that tries to unite them all.

Even with different people, among large family clans, it is customary to gather together with former foes who understand that it is necessary to unite. They reconcile, reach agreement, and after that, invite everyone to a large circle, where they discuss all of this and prove the necessity to rise above all the previous differences in opinion. This is the right position.

We said that the Creator wants to establish connection with us. He places between us and Him this whole world and portrays in our emotions and thoughts all kinds of symbols and images so that we begin to understand His language. We shouldn’t forget this!

The group has to perceive everything that is outside the framework of the common connection, the shared love, the common agreement, the unity, all that from the side of the Light could be called spirituality, we can relate to all of that, to all lack of focus that He gives us, as to the signs of the Creator given to us so that we will come again to the single whole in which we dissolve completely: emotionally, mentally, and intellectually, complementing each other all the time.

In this manner, ultimately, we will find a common language with Him, and impressions and understandings will constantly accumulate in us.

Imagine how a child perceives the world that is totally unfamiliar to him: without knowing anything, without understanding, without having any feelings and emotions! He grasps it, grasps it, and gradually the world accumulates within him: ground, mixed, and constantly renewed all the time, and the child begins to understand it. This means that his mind formats itself in the right way.

The heart and the mind begin to understand how to work with the reality in which he finds himself. After all, he can find himself in a reality that was two or three thousand years ago, or the reality of today, or it can be the reality that will exist in another one or two hundred years.

So, the child only has to yearn to perceive the real world in a form like this: with an open mouth! We also need to do the same thing in regard to the spiritual world, according to the laws that the Kabbalists described for us. In other words, we discover ourselves in it, and that’s it!

I have to be in unity and mutual love all the time. This means that I discover my spiritual senses. However, if my senses are not like these, this means that they are not spiritual. I don’t perceive this world. I have to change myself so that I relate creatively to all the problems that arise.
[140945]
From the Convention In Sochi “Day Two” 7/14/14, Lesson 4

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