Question: What is the difference between an old man who is bent over searching for shortcomings and a fool who sits with his hands folded and eats himself up?

Answer: A fool who eats himself up doesn’t advance. Rather, he simply sits and is sorry that his own ego is eating him up.

A sage who walks bent over and searches for his shortcomings, with whose help he can ascend further, works and rises further and further upward all the time. The difference is vast.
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Question: What is the state of the unending internal workshop?

Answer: The state of the unending internal workshop is constant internal contact with the friends where I seemingly am found in connection with them, in controversy, in conversation, and this is the inner connection between us. This is what we must reach. We can do this; everything depends upon us.

In principle, we need to be connected a billion times more than the best moment in a convention, and we will attain this. It is just necessary to yearn for the goal all the time. This certainly doesn’t depend on any convention, not on distances, nor on anything else. We are trying to do this.
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Question: During the congress, we learned to feel each other better, to sense the desires of the friends. At the same time, our sensitivity to all other people that we come across in everyday life became sharper too.

Answer: It is simply becoming clear who they are. After all, when we look at small children, we understand them. Likewise, right now, when we look at the masses, we understand what they actually are: nothing—essentially children.

Question: What should be happening inside of us at the moment we go among them to disseminate?

Answer: Nothing. Love, forgive, and understand them. They are ordinary people with all their weaknesses, thoughts, and desires—everything that is instilled into them through the program of nature. How else could you relate to them? Nature is operating in them and they, like wind-up dolls, are executing their program.

Thus, your work is to treat them calmly and steadfastly, the same way that they treat each other, except in a benevolent way.

Question: All the while maintaining a connection with the group and the Creator?

Answer: The group and the Creator, this is something completely different. It pertains to the upper world, whereas 99% of the population belong to the animal world. So, interact with them on that level.

Question: However, when you see that the majority of the people are suffering, it creates a feeling of guilt and responsibility for them.

Answer: The feeling of responsibility arises because we, through our spiritual degree, can improve their condition, and if there is a feeling of guilt, it means that we are blaming the Creator.
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A workshop is a Partzuf that we build in a connection between us, and, specifically in it, we feel the spiritual world. If we don’t build it then we don’t feel anything. This is our common Partzuf about which the wisdom of Kabbalah speaks: Rosh, Toch, Sof, ten Sefirot, and so on.

When ten people are nullified toward each other and begin to discuss some subject, they create a connection between them. When they insert the problem into this connection, they are lifted above it, and in this form, they find the solution but on a spiritual level. Specifically, the connection and not the attempt to be clever should give the correct decision.

In fact, we haven’t reached this yet because in the groups, the communication between people is still not right. I ask some question and you begin to go into it deeply instead of connecting above it. You see the connection is more important than the question itself.

You want to find the answer by way of your intellect. Yet, in fact, it is necessary to find it from the connection. Therefore, don’t pay attention to the question itself. If you connect correctly, you will receive an answer without lengthy searches and philosophy.
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Question: How does love change from stage to stage? What are the types of love?

Answer: What is considered to be love in our world is not considered to be love in Kabbalah.

Earthly love is narcissism. All of our emotions enter into it, and the love spoken of in the wisdom of Kabbalah is already love in itself, for regardless of whatever negativity that we feel within our ego toward the source of love, we love it in spite of this feeling.

This is not masochism. Rather, it is suppression of the ego in opposition to which it is possible to love, and if not “in opposition,” then this says that we love ourselves, our ego.

Therefore, all the types of earthly love—toward a child, toward a husband, toward a wife, no matter toward whom or what—all this is narcissism.

In this manner, detachment from earthly love takes place throughout the length of all 125 levels, and only to the degree that we reject our ego is it possible in this degree to reach a neutral characteristic, after that to the characteristic of bestowal, and after that, to the characteristic of love, which is to receive in order to bestow, and that is how it is on every level.

In other words, we first make a restriction (Tzimtzum) on each level by closing our ego, and after that, we reach the stages of impregnation (Ibur), breastfeeding (Yenika) and a large state (Mochin).
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Question: How do I nullify myself toward the group?

Answer: It is very difficult to do this, it is just about impossible. It is necessary to close your eyes and put yourself under the influence of the group and try physically, morally, psychologically, and spiritually to be nullified within the environment. It is only like this! Submit and lower yourself and accept them as they are. If this is the group to which they brought me and I nullify myself toward it, then I attain my restriction.

Therefore, it is most important at every given moment to organize yourself internally, and clarify: “Toward where are my thoughts, powers, and desires directed—everything that is in a person?”

Constantly carrying out a scan of the internal self-image, I describe to myself who I am at this moment, a beast or something close to the image of man. Unfortunately, I always discover that I am a beast. However, after that, movement happens, even a small one, in the direction of the human in me.
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Question: How can a person be sure that he has really attained the first spiritual level of Nefesh De Kedusha (non-living saint) and that his mind is not deceiving him?

Answer: When you reach this state you will immediately understand it. You won’t confuse it with anything.

This means that you will see how detached you are from all the thoughts about yourself. It’s an amazing attribute when your “I,” which in the past has been so troublesome and sticky, suddenly disappears and ceases to exist.

You ascend above the field of gravity like a rocket or a missile and that’s it, quiet. There is no up or down, nothing. There is no force of gravity. But this is only at this stage and then you have to move on.
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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.
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From the World Zohar Week “Integral Education Convention” Day Three 2/4/14, Workshop 5

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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.
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Question: Why do health problems appear with us all the time, in the family, etc.?

Answer: We don’t know why we are sick because we don’t see the entire system of creation. Someone does something in one place and for that someone in another place “takes it on the head” because we are a single integral system. So I cannot tell you how to act when someone is sick.

We need only to advance towards an inclusive unity. Only this alone! As Baal HaSulam writes, love of friends is ready to cover all of our problems.
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