Question: In the beginning our work is tiring, and after that it keeps us busy and overtakes us….

Answer: This depends upon your skill. If you become an expert in your occupation, then work is a pleasure for you. When you enjoy what you are doing and your work is not felt as a burden but as pleasure, as self-expression,and then you don’t feel tired, like true artists who fall asleep at the easel from physical exhaustion and not because they detached themselves from the work.

Question: Sometimes I am so tired that without connection to the spiritual uplift and the group activity I feel that I am like a servant who doesn’t need anything. How is it possible to pass to a state of mutual cooperation?

Answer: We need to work together with everyone, and this is all. I know that there is no other way, and it seems to me that I cannot agree with this, it’s difficult for me, I would do everything differently, but there is no choice, it’s necessary; a higher goal exists.

It cannot be that I will advance towards truth because I gain some benefit from it. Truth and benefit don’t exist together. Benefit is only for my ego.

The higher goal forces us to advance. We give contentment to the Creator with this; we raise ourselves to His level.

Look for obligations with regard to the group, with regard to the friends, responsibility for everyone; rise to this level, don’t lower yourself. The Creator will give you all kinds of side-effects. Suppose that you are doing something good together now, He will push you towards a better job, better pay, better conditions, and so forth.

It’s impossible to accept this as charity or pay. There is only one payoff: I want to discover the characteristic of bestowal and love as a result of my work. Therefore, try to pull yourself closer and closer to the property of bestowal all the time.
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Question: I have heard that the love and the hatred that we feel should develop qualitatively and that in an ideal state we should reach unfounded hatred and from it advance to unconditional love.

Answer: The terms unconditional love and unfounded hatred need to be better and more accurately clarified.

Unconditional love is love that is above all reasons. I want you to listen to this carefully! This means that I have been over all the reasons against this love and I feel love that is above all these reasons.

It is the same when it comes to unfounded hatred. I have many reasons to love, and still despite all these reasons, I hate everyone for no reason. This is the state we should reach.

In fact, the reason that I hate a friend is meaningless since it is given to me on purpose from Above each time. I have to build up love above this hatred, despite the hate! Even if I don’t like the friend, I try to serve him in some way, to give him something, to support him somehow. If I invest in him, I will discover a positive attitude towards him since I invest myself in him.

Besides, we also have to clarify the friend’s actions: Perhaps he performs great actions, perhaps he does great things, and I hate him because he picks his nose. We have to penetrate into one another and then the hatred we feel towards a friend will transform into liking and even love.

Then you will suddenly see yourself in him, and him in you, and that you are actually one whole general vessel.

Question: In the last couple of days I have felt shame, love, mutual guarantee, the Divinity, and, at the same time, that I hate the friends. I can’t understand, is it momentary hatred or real hatred?

Answer: Hatred is certainly revealed on every level. It becomes more real on the upper levels, like we are told about Rabbi Shimon and his students. In the states that we now feel it is very small. It isn’t the hatred we read about in The Book of Zohar, but rather disrespect, some kind of indifference. In short, it isn’t serious yet. So don’t worry, everything is still ahead of you.
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Question: When we work together a “collective head” is created,which helps us clarify things and quickly leave bad states. But on the other hand, I hear friends say: “This state must simply be.”

Is “must simply be” always possible or is it only with the close connection with friends, or can you train yourself psychologically?

Answer: You can train yourself so that the distance or the circumstances will not come between you. It is possible since everything depends only on our state.

A mother, for example, can feel her child and constantly think about him, even if she is at work or far away from him.

Question: So why should we work so closely on mutual guarantee? What is the benefit in that?

Answer: Mutual guarantee provides us with the place where we receive the revelation of the Creator. Everyone has to be incorporated in mutual guarantee. Nothing can be fulfilled without mutual guarantee. An individual is not a soldier in the battlefield.

Notice how ignorant we are when it comes to fully understanding what the place is where we reveal the Creator. So we have to keep on working and clarifying all the concepts and states much more.
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Question: When a disaster happens to someone, the first thought is that “There is none else besides Him,” but the second thought is, “It’s good this didn’t happen to me.” And this smallness shows you that if you dig a bit deeper, you will see that there is nothing there.

Answer: No, this is not showing smallness, rather the Creator is showing you that you are an egoist and that in your relationship towards others there is nothing besides ego.

Question: So what is there to do?

Answer: Ask to be corrected to a state where you will be concerned for another to such a degree that it would be preferable that you would be sick instead. When the person wants to be sick instead of another, he becomes absolutely healthy. But this is only if he asks for the sake of correction.
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Question: What is the spiritual source of the daily Kabbalah lesson that is held from three until six in the morning?

Answer: It is in order to get up with the thought about the Creator and immediately create a connection with Him because He further determines all of your workday during which you need to maintain the same connection that you built in the morning lesson for all of the realities of this life.

Question: Why do we begin to study specifically at three o’clock and not at 2:40 or some other time?

Answer: In principle it is necessary to begin to study at midnight, but midnight is not 12 o’clock at night as we usually think it is. It is necessary to divide the night into two halves, and this is also a time that varies. So it is necessary to begin studying at midnight.

Question: Why don’t we use the lesson form that was organized as customary in the time of Abraham? He would invite people to a table, give them food and drink, and give a lesson.

Answer: It is said that he had a tent and he would call everyone there. The tent stood along the road and merchants would pass by, all sorts of passing traders, and they would come to him to rest and drink tea. At the same time, he would tell them about his teaching.
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Question: We need to nullify ourselves towards the friends. Is there anything that we don’t need to cancel?

Answer: We need to nullify ourselves towards everything, except for those urges and awakenings that direct us towards the center of the group and the Creator.

In other words, there is nothing I don’t need to nullify myself to. So what is in me?! You want to ask: “Is there some beneficial ego in me that I cannot contact and live in agreement with it?” No.

Question: When they asked you: “What is there to do, if someone isn’t liked by the group?” You answered: “It is necessary to change internally and externally.” What did you mean?

Answer: We need to attain such a state where we like everything and in spite of everything that happens we love our friends anyway.

You must change yourself. Indeed you love your children even though they have many negative characteristics. Why? It is because they are yours. So the group must also become yours.
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Question: How is it possible to attain equivalence of form with the Creator if everything is already determined by Him from the start?

Answer: Certainly everything is painted by the Creator in advance! How you will reach this state is not painted: will it be from receiving blows or voluntary? And this is very important.

Sometimes we think: “What difference does this make?! Maybe they will give me blows; in any case sooner or later, I will be in the completion of correction and everything will be okay.” No.

Advancement by blows is like being a disobedient son; this doesn’t bring contentment to the Creator. You neglect this opportunity. With this you think, “It doesn’t matter to me, I got tired”;  in fact, you are saying with this, “I don’t want to bestow pleasure to you.” Turn this question correctly; turn it over to the Creator. In this case you will be able to direct yourself correctly.

In truth, every state is determined from the start, all 125 levels. But how you rise from level to level, this is determined by you.

So I want to emphasize that people who simply want to rise from level to level are egoists! They think only about to what level they must rise. Whereas, people who want to give contentment to the Creator say: “The ascent to the coming level itself is not important to me. What is important to me is how I behave between the stages so I will give Him contentment. I don’t have any need for the levels; take them. I want to give You contentment, and nothing more.”

And it is called “complete bestowal” when a person doesn’t think about and doesn’t ask for a payoff. So the question here is crucial: Do you want to enjoy what you are doing or do you want to give pleasure to the Creator?
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Question: In recent days we have passed through an immense number of states. The rate of changes and advancement has become more and more rapid. We have lots of new students, among whom there are those who truly have a strong desire, but they don’t succeed in following the rapid changes in any way. What can we do in order to help the group that has a very great desire, but simply can’t keep up?

Answer: When I plan to go somewhere far away with a small child, I put him in a stroller and go with him. That is also how we must behave with the new students.

We must create conditions like these so that it will be easier for them to advance. It is possible to arrange additional lessons for them so that they will feel that we are helping them to overcome the obstacles. Or they won’t even feel it that they overcame these obstacles. I don’t have other suggestions.

We have lots of different levels: evening groups, young groups, beginners groups, etc. for studying Kabbalah. So we must be concerned about everyone. They need to hear many times what we have gone through in these conventions and even in the previous conventions.

I looked at the previous conventions material again and this was very interesting for me also. After feeling your past and current congress presence, I felt a difference between the old and the new vessel, how all this has been poured from that vessel to this vessel.

Listen to a convention from two or three years ago and you will hear many new things. You have a mass of supporting material. Don’t be lazy.

You can’t imagine what kind of a charge this will give you. You will get the impression that you are participating in conventions every day. Try to do this and you will be under their impression all the time. A completely different cushion of air will appear for you and you will begin to sail on it, like on a flying carpet.
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Question: After we conducted such a gigantic event as the convention, with great help and power, we could feel and understand its real results. What is the influence of this convention on regular people?

Answer: The problem is not how much the convention influences society. On this level the Creator doesn’t influence the world the way that we influence it.

The idea is that the influence of the Light on our world exists through the higher power, the control of the Creator and the influence of the Light through us, through our control, through our agreement, through that amplifier, that system that we ourselves create. This is a completely different influence on the world that the Creator cannot carry out by Himself. It is not in His ability! We can because we are on the level of this world and within it.

Suppose that my child is going to kindergarten. At home I cannot influence his behavior at all, so I ask his friends to influence him on their level and under their influence he will easily begin to change. But I, with my abilities, cannot do anything.

This is to say, what we did in this convention had a big influence. But again, there is a hidden part of this influence and there is a part which is revealed: a part which is revealed in the upper worlds and a part that gradually begins to be revealed in our world already.

First, we hasten the movement of the world; we shorten the time of its ripening.

Secondly, an understanding of the movement is beginning to be awakened among many people: where we are going, where this world is moving.

Besides this, individuals who are close to this are beginning to wake up, the point in the heart is awakening in them, just as it once was with you. And now under the influence of this powerful convention that we held and on the level of our world, a more intense influence of the Light is being revealed to them, and under the influence of the external surrounding field their point in the heart, their personal potential, is beginning to be awakened.

And the most important thing is that we have passed from the way of suffering to the way of Light in our world. We have truly added a lot of Light into it.
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Question: What are thoughts and how do they influence the general system?

Answer: Thoughts appear where there are some desires that are found in opposition and in conflict with each other, and a need is created to balance them in some form.

If, due to a lack of difference in desires, no thought appears, then only instinct operates.
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