Question: How is it possible not to flee from the spiritual work when you feel emptiness? On the one hand, the feeling is unpleasant, and on the other hand, it is understood that this is the right direction.

Answer: The only action that the person can do is to strengthen himself in the right environment. This is what is given to us. I do this in whatever way I can through all kinds of activities, be it in a physical, mechanical, intellectual, moral, or emotional form. It doesn’t make a difference how. And if not, then scream to the Creator; this is good.

Now, they will show you that you can be found among friends, to sit among them, to sing together with them. Then comes disappointment. After that, you will begin to carry out some other activities, perhaps not to sing, but to study together with them or not, but to disseminate together. You will be disappointed all the time. All the time, you will feel that this is not enough in order to be mixed with them, and so it is until you have apparently done everything and, in spite of it all, you feel empty. Then, you will begin to cry and scream, and with this as well, you gradually will reach a need to mix with them, but you are not ready to do this by yourself, for only the Creator does this. This is to say, there is you, them, and the Creator between you. That’s it, a marriage. That is how this works, but gradually.

You see that in every distinction there is the gradual gathering of negative potential, until it explodes, and every time that it explodes, then the last state is the feeling of absolute exhaustion when nothing can help except turning to the Creator. If you already have prior experience, then according to states of this type, you already can determine that these are moments appropriate for realization.
[114429]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: What is that blind alley from which a true desire is born?

Answer: This is the egoistic “blind alley” that we pass through all the time when our powers are completely disappointed and suddenly the discovery comes that there is help from the Creator here. This is a small transition.

This is not yet a crossing of the egoistic “barrier” but the understanding that only the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) must act here. Nothing else can be here. You are passing through cycles like these where you are disappointed completely and find yourself understanding that the Creator must be here and then get disappointed again and again.

These cycles gradually accumulate in every form of disappointment, reaching a general state where you pass over all the required possibilities, and their summation takes place.

When this integral develops, there comes one general disappointment in all of its capabilities, and a true demand is created that only the Creator can tear through all of this, and this happens. Then, apparently, He has no choice because you already have understood that only He must be present here, and in truth you have a precise and clear demand for this, which is to say: the Kli is ready!

Until then, these disappointments and recognitions that the Creator must act here must repeat themselves as much as possible.

If a person sits with his hands folded and eats himself up, this means that he is not found under the influence of the teacher, the group, and the method, and therefore, cannot quickly realize that all this is intentionally arranged for him from above so he will be disappointed in his possibilities and will understand that the higher power is required here.

In our world, this is not happening because people have no yearning for connection and unity, and therefore, there is no exit toward the higher power. For them, the connection is considered to be a physical gathering, “Ah, connection! So, we gathered and dispersed,” whereas for us, when we desire unity, this awareness takes place because, without the higher power, we cannot attain unity.
[114426]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: Is it worthwhile to understand that, essentially, there is no free choice now?

Answer: Indeed, in our times, there is no free choice. The world is deteriorating while we are standing on the side watching. This is not good. Humanity is apparently sliding downward and we need to try to hold them, to stop them.

I say this seriously. I feel as though I have gigantic hands or I have a gigantic net in my hands, and I must stop everyone because they are being drawn downward, and if left unchecked, they will pull us after them. This is not desirable. The program of nature, the program of the Creator, cannot be changed.

He is like a loving and strict father Who takes His belt in hand and begins to teach His rebellious son.
[114419]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: Must we yearn for the joy that we speak about all the time or will it come naturally?

Answer: We constantly should feel joy. This means that I am filled with the spirit of life that comes through the group that constantly keeps me focused on the importance of the goal, that we are special, that we were chosen for this mission, for this great work in order to serve others.

Since it pleases the Creator when we serve others, it is the greatest and most important work for us, and it must be done with joy. Otherwise, you probably are headed in the wrong direction and are not connected to the Light, to the Creator.

You cannot weep and perform the spiritual work simultaneously. You need to focus yourself.

See what King David says in the book of Psalms. He describes great problems that one encounters along the spiritual path, but it all is done with joy. Therefore, these are not just prayers, but a song!
[114417]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: Why is the Creator revealed to us through despair?

Answer: Despair is a very good state, but only when it won’t be the final state. After despair it’s necessary for a solution to come.

Despair is when I look at my desires and see that I am not prepared to do anything. This is wonderful! Baal HaSulam writes that there is no happier state in the life of a person than when he feels that there is nobody who can help him, not even himself: In general, everything is breaking down and in crisis.

Baal HaSulam, Letter 57: There is no happier situation in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy.

At this moment he begins to understand that only the Creator will help him and then a true demand to the Creator appears within him. Therefore despair is a wonderful feeling, only that it needs to be properly formed.

There is nothing like this, that we go through something and it’s incorrect or it’s unnecessary in the direction of the goal. Our efforts give us the right intention as to how to relate to what we are going through. In any case we need to pass through those states; only that the right relationship regarding them hastens the way, softens it, and transforms it. But in every circumstance this is according to the same pattern, these are the same states, and you cannot do anything about it.

You were some fragment in the corrected Malchut of the world of infinity (Ein Sof). This Malchut was shattered into fragments, and as in the case of any uncorrected part, you must grasp the location of your corrected fragment. There is no place to escape from this! You must again be gathered and grasp that part in the shattered circle. This circle will already be in consciousness, 620 times more perceptible than before, but this will be the identical circle completely, the same desires (they don’t grow, you see), but they simply become recognized.
[114347]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: You said that our desire is not fully formatted yet and that there is still another component or a step we have to take that is missing. How can we attack and in what direction exactly?

Answer: In what direction should we advance in order to draw a greater Light upon ourselves? In the direction of connection, so that it will bring the Creator contentment.

Forget about all the nice words and start using emotional human language and then you will feel what you lack. This will be your attack.

What should this attack be? Who are we attacking? We are attacking only ourselves in order to systematically shatter and soften our internality.

I don’t want to calm you down, but you have been through many states during this convention. Today is the third day of the convention and at this point we usually end everything and everything gradually fades and people begin to think about leaving. It isn’t the case now and it shouldn’t be; no one is thinking about that; everything is focused only on the last blow, the last effort that will be revealed as the place where the Creator is revealed.

The place where the Creator is revealed is when a person joins the general connection. After all, each of us envies the fact that the others are more strongly connected than I am: I hear one friend, a second, and a third one and I feel how connected they are and think to myself, “Dear God, how can that be? What about me?” I don’t feel that way; I am really not there yet.

Should the strong desire to join the friends and to lose myself among them be the main desire and should I think about what I am doing this for only later?

We can, of course, clarify our intention before we act, but here and now we must first act.
[114299]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: We have learned a very powerful thing in this convention; it is to look at each other more. Then you discover that you can find great joy in the friends while there is great emptiness inside you.

Answer: This is wonderful! You discover new emptiness. There is nothing old. It isn’t the same as it was before and I’m back gnawing at myself again and feeling like I did a couple of months ago, or a couple of years ago, or 20 years ago. Wait, you have more experience, and you say: This is what we went through 15 years ago, and that we went through 20 years ago.”

Every level is ten Sefirot. They revolve in us, and you feel as if nothing happens; everything is the same! Even when we reach the end of correction, we discover that everything is the same as it was. Only a person’s attitude towards everything changes, and so he sees a new world. He rises above life and death, above the speed of light.

The emptiness that is discovered is a wonderful thing. I don’t understand why you should weep about that. What powers can be revealed in me when I begin to feel that I am smaller than everyone else, when I get closer to the friends! At what speed do I run to them just to be part of and lost among them! What can be better than this gift? How else can you be spurred?

Question: Nothing is more wonderful than that, but the problem is that the veil that covers the heart doesn’t come off…

Answer: What you feel now is growing estrangement from others, and to the extent the friends are connected, loyal, and close to one another, you are not; this means that the veil has already been lowered, or at least a certain layer of it.

There is a saying: “After seven layers of skin.” This isn’t just a saying; it refers to the seven layers of the seven lower Sefirot of the Partzuf (the seven Sefirot that receive).

The layers come off gradually, one after the other, and thanks to that, the emptiness that you are beginning to feel inside you compared to the great general intention, the pleasure, the desire, the yearning that your friends have, is revealed. You feel that there is life there, that something is boiling there, whereas inside, you feel cold, dark emptiness. This is the opening of the heart. Gradually your heart is opened and the veil comes off. You should be glad about that.
[114334]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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The group needs to convince each and every one that they are directed by the Creator and that there is nothing that appears by itself, i.e., that only He controls everything, “There is none else besides Him.” And thus I need to see the Creator in each one of the friends.

Together with that, I don’t nullify or show distaste to the friend by claiming that he is like a puppet that is controlled by a foreign hand. No! On the contrary, I compare and identify him with the Creator. Think about that!

When I said that someone is operated by the Creator, I can think that he is like a puppet on a string, and I can also say the opposite, “No, whoever is before me is a revelation of the Creator.” We learn in the system of the perception of reality that everything around us is a revelation of the Creator. When a person reaches such a state and works clearly in this manner, not just philosophizing, then he really enters the correct feeling of the reality.

We need to talk about the greatness of the Creator, but not philosophize and utter slogans. And it is possible also not to talk about it, but the importance of this force that holds all the creation and directs everything by becoming adhered to Divinity, needs to be with every one of us like the soul of the world. And everything that happens, happens as a result of the presence of this force.

Thus the greatness isn’t expressed through all kinds of cosmological activities, but by this being directed to each one of us so that we, through this picture, will attain Him, the plan of creation, and not by becoming parts but wise rulers of this plan. Unification means that we become Him.
[113920]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” 7/13/13, Lesson 4

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Question: What should interactions between relatives of the opposite sex be like in spiritual work, let’s say between father and daughter or brother and sister, if they both are studying Kabbalah?

Answer: They should be normal, (regular, usual) since these people are related to each other only on this material plane, whereas in the spiritual dimension there are other types of associations between them.

Question: What are the ways for a women’s group to make it easier for them to accept fulfillment from a men’s group for the sake of pleasing the Creator?

Answer: They can achieve it through extending their help and support.

Question: What is a “unified women’s desire?”

Answer: It’s an accumulation of all the women’s desires into one whole that has an image of one woman. Women’s unity is similar to men’s. And yet, it is purely women’s, since this is their nature. As to its implementation, it is the same as men’s.
[113015]

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The Maggid from Kozintz, “The Work of Israel”: Our sages said “dispersion is good for the wicked and convention is good for the righteous,” and this is according to what the Ari said about the round worlds in which no circle touches the other, and it is there that the shattering occurred until the world is honestly corrected. This means that the mind of the circles is like someone who turns himself and rounds up and becomes separated from his Creator and believes that he manages himself by his own desire and is arrogant in saying “I will rule,” which is the shattering. And thus the wicked each feels arrogant saying in his heart “I will rule” and so they are in a world of separation and cannot connect like circles, since they feel that they cannot dwell together, and thus the dispersion is good for them.

If people cannot control their ego, they will be better off staying away from one another. Thus, they become compatible with the upper system.

The upper system is made of round and straight vessels. A straight desire means that a person can be direct and connect “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator.” He can control his desire to enjoy, and to the extent that he controls it, he can use it for the benefit of others. He begins to feel that these people are not strangers but actually are him.

What I used to think was “me” was only my animal body, while my human essence was external to me. All of humanity is actually my spiritual “self, “although they all seem to be external to me now and although it seems I would like to move away from them or use them to harm them.

It turns out that I use my spiritual body for the benefit of corporeality until I begin to understand that my real body, my soul, is actually external to me. However, if I am still in my ego, then the further away we are from one another, the better. If we connect, it only becomes worse.

So, in order to hasten the evolution of humanity within my egoistic desire to enjoy, a new program suddenly is activated, a new direction. Suddenly, we decide to connect. We connected in a common market and everything collapsed, especially in order to hasten the recognition of evil. In fact, only dispersion is good for the wicked, which means for those who use their ego.

After all, it is like the round vessels in the upper worlds. If a vessel doesn’t have a Masach (screen) yet, it is totally round and doesn’t touch the other. If there is a Masach, the whole vessel becomes straight, and these straight channels connect and begin to influence one another mutually. Therefore, connection is good for the righteous.

If all the desires have Masachim and they use it for mutual benefit, they all connect and are nourished by one common pipe that provides the Light for everyone. It turns out that using the society is for the better only when we are under the Masach and receive everything as one vessel.

So, different corporations and commercial and cultural ties only hasten the recognition of evil. After all, the wicked connect only to discover as quickly as possible the need to move on to a different form of life.

We must look at the world like the spiritual world. The spiritual world is made totally of straight vessels, and the circles are made by us from the desires that we cannot use for the time being. So, we restrict them like Malchut of Ein Sof (Infinity) that restricted itself and remained round, and then creates a straight line to the extent that it is in its power.

We must take an example from it, although it is very difficult to build a straight line. After the first restriction, only a thin line is created in the center of the great empty circle, but it is that straight line that we need! After all, it is what determines the level of our adhesion to the Creator.

When we complete the formation of this line, we add it to everything that we can, and only the “heart of stone,” the part that we cannot correct, remains outside. Then, a special action called Rav Paalim uMekabtziel takes place, which completes the correction.

We shouldn’t look at the history of mankind as at the life of animate bodies but as at the evolutions of parts of the desire whose suffering constantly grows. As a result, the suffering accumulates to such an extent that we suddenly understand that we are living under the leadership of the “angel of death,” of our ego.

The more the world develops, the more connected and the more global it becomes. The wicked connect and discover the ego and our powerlessness, and help us reach the recognition of evil as quickly as possible. Let’s hope that our group will serve as a role model for humanity and will help it understand what needs to be done. On the other hand, everyone will have to recognize the evil in him by himself as a result of the blows that the current crisis brings.
[106503]
From the Men’s Convention “The Next Step” 4/26/13, Lesson 1

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