Convention in St. Petersburg, “Conveying the Value of Connections and Unity Between All People,” Day 3, Lesson 5

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Conveying the Value of Connections and Unity Between All People,” Day 3, Workshop 4

Convention in St. Petersburg, Day 3, Lesson 6 

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Method of Creating the Right Relationships in the Group,” Day 2, Lesson 3

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Method of Creating the Right Relationships in the Group,” Day 2, Workshop 3

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Harmony at Work,” Day 2, Practical Workshop 

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Good Environment as the Means of Achieving the Goal of Every Person,” Day 2, Lesson 4

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It is clear that we can only advance above the corrupt egoistic desire that is revealed to a greater extent day by day. Only by overcoming it and yearning for the spiritual goal with the right inclination do we gradually advance toward the end of correction.

The main thing is to start anew each day, which means every moment. You must feel the new egoistic desires, thoughts, doubts, and disagreements with the goal, and urges awaken in you from one moment to the next. You become critical with regard to the spiritual path, the environment, the teacher, the books, and the sources, and are drawn to other goals.

It is also important how deeply you delve into inner self-searching since they can bury you under their heavy load. You mustn’t spend more time on them than necessary, but only feel where you are and immediately aim at coming out of the darkness. We need the right attitude to begin with.

If you understand that your advancement is based only on negative clarifications, then you can be grateful for them and advance. You will not be afraid to discover increasingly more unpleasant clarifications every minute. On the contrary, the more “entrances” and “exits” that you make with regard to the goal, the spiritual attributes, bestowal, love, and connection, the happier you will be that your life is full of corrections.

Even if you prepare yourself in advance and come to some big event, to a big convention, and go through very serious, honest, inner clarifications there, the very next day, you should be happy that you begin everything anew from the same corrections and the same problems that you seemingly already have been in.

Nothing repeats itself, although it may seem that way. However, a person must get used to starting anew each time, until the clarifications add up to a full measure and provide a person with a new level to work on. There, too, the work begins anew each day, although it is a totally new kind of work.
[111654]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13

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Rabash, Letter 42:  And when everyone has annulled himself and everyone worries only about the Creator’s sake, then they have no private judgment, since there are no more private opinions, and all the individuals annul themselves and all enter the domain of the unique.

Incorporation is the main thing; incorporation brings the general vessel back to the corrected state and what is more it adds to the vessel an intensity that is 620 greater. What used to be simply connected in the system of Adam HaRishon (first man) before the sin, has become something that is much greater. It isn’t the same matter and not the same initial “earth” anymore but actually becomes similar to the Creator in every sense.

In terms of intensity that is 620 times greater, it is about a qualitative ascent that cannot be described in words. We go through a kind of enhancement and move from the created being to the Creator, thus raising ourselves to the level of the Giver.

This doesn’t mean that from now on I surround the whole world by my perception; it isn’t about this world at all, but about totally different levels. The size of the first spiritual level cannot be measured in our world, neither in height nor in intensity.

Everything is attained only by incorporation when I fill the friends and the friends fill me. No one can fill himself, only others can and it is only from them that he will receive a filling.
[111918]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself,” Lesson 3

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A Collection of Laws, “the Breastplate of Judgment,” The Laws of the Guarantor, Law 3-30: The main thing about observing the Torah is the desire and it is attained by unity. Therefore, everyone should be incorporated in the community of Israel in great unity. And therefore during the receiving of the Torah, they must immediately become responsible for one another. It is because when they want to receive the Torah, they should immediately be incorporated as one, in order to be incorporated in the desire, then everyone is certainly responsible for his friend since they are considered one.”

What is unity, what is mutual guarantee?

It is a state in which I “is replaced” by every member in the group; I receive his reward and punishment, and everything that belongs to him. It is as if you have done whatever he has done. You deserve whatever he deserves. There are no investigations and no examinations; I am fully responsible. This is called connection or ultimate incorporation.

Of course, we don’t reach that immediately but step by step. On the whole, the general vessel must return to its whole state. Now the ego separates us, all the parts of this vessel, and we have to reconnect into something that is totally homogeneous and unified. In order to do that we “absorb,” cover the borders between us with love, go outside and connect between us, as if the borders do not exist. Thus we increase the intensity of the connection between us by 620 times, which is the sum of 613 commandments of the Torah and seven more commandments of our sages. Thus we are incorporated into one desire by mutual guarantee.
[111916]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself,” Lesson 3

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Rabash, “Shlavei Sulam,” 1985/86, Article 21, “Above Reason”: The envy that he feels toward the friends when he sees that they have better qualities than his own, it motivates him to acquire their good qualities, which he doesn’t have and of which he is jealous.

Thus, through the society, he gains new qualities that he adopts by seeing that they are at a higher degree than his, and he is envious of them. This is the reason why now he can be greater than when he didn’t have a society, since he acquires new powers through the society.

I envy my friends in a good way. I do not want them to be worse than me; I want to rise to their degree myself. And to do this, I need to be integrated into them.

I do not compete with them in studies on the basis of envy. We are talking about a property of bestowal, getting closer to the Creator, and that is why I have to learn from the friends how to become more giving. I will not manage without being integrated into them.

Thus, spiritual envy is opposite to the material one. Material envy places a person in the “black list” of those without whom my life would have been calmer, but spiritual envy prompts me to join him in spite of my nature, my desire. I need to “embrace” him internally, so he helps me rise to the same degree. Thus, spiritual envy awakens a greater internal effort due to which I break my egoism and turn it into a “lever” for advancement.

It turns out that envy in a group is a great force that comes from the friend whom I envy; the force that helps me rise above my egoism and connect with the friend.

But apart from that, I also need the power of the group that will help turn the destructive potential of envy into creative.

After all, at the beginning, my envy of the friend is so terrible that it is similar to hatred. He causes a negative, bad feeling in me because I feel that he is higher than me. Thus, he reveals a new “hollow,” an emptiness, a lack, a need for something in my desire. And as a result, I envy him; I hate him because he is better; he has an addition that I don’t have.

Thus, the friend forms a desire in me and pushes me to advance only if I use my new need correctly. How can I turn it into bestowal, into correct fulfillment, the same as he has?

First of all, we need some closeness, some relationship, unity. Otherwise, I will not be able to see anything in him and will have nothing to envy. That is why we are called friends because we are linked.

Besides that, I need to recognize that addition in him, which I lack myself. A strong need is formed within me, and I treasure it. It is very important not to erase his addition and my new desire against the inner background of perception, but on the contrary to start working on it, so that it becomes the same that my friend has.

So, all this is done by means of the group’s opinion. You will not manage without it; neither will you manage without a friend. Both these factors affect me and play a crucial role in advancement.

As a rule, I feel envious of individual friends, not of the group as a whole because it is “blurred” in my perception and not directed exactly against my egoism so I could aim at a particular property.

Well, next I make the actions possible for me, and then the Light, the Creator, completes what has been started… The Light always “finalizes” our endeavors.
[111856]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Lesson 1

Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Workshop1

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Round Tables,” Day 1, Practical  Workshop 

Convention in St. Petersburg, “The Collective Influence of the Single Force of Nature Manifests Inside the Circle,” Day 1, Lesson 2

Convention in St. Petersburg, “The Collective Influence of the Single Force of Nature Manifests Inside the Circle,” Day 1, Workshop 2

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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. It is then that he is fit for wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.

It says here about the decisive factor without which we will not succeed. Before I come to the group and, being integrated in the friends, through whom I will draw the Light that Reforms, I need preliminary correction that is also realized by the Light.

Thus, its influence on me is divided into several stages:

• At the beginning with its help, I apply efforts to be included in the group.
• Then, having been included, I work in it as much as the Light lets me do this. Now, it works not on me personally, but on the relationship between us.
• When we achieve the correct connection, it gives us a common screen and teaches us how to form the head of the Partzuf by means of which we create the format of the collective soul.

Question: How can we attract the Light that Reforms?

Answer: It comes in response to the efforts that you make in order to enter a spiritual state. And this is already a solution: You are required to perform actions, which you are capable of, and the Light will bring you back to the source.

Even if you do not feel much for unity; however, you still follow the advice of Kabbalists and work in the group although your heart tends to something else. Moreover, even if you are in descent and the friends seem repulsive to you, if you nonetheless remain among them, the Light affects you. This force “works” in any of your states, no matter how they are manifested: “mechanically,” physically or internally—no matter what they affect—spirit, nerves, etc. The main thing is that you, at least a bit, strive for bestowal, unity, and self-nullification, despite your own resistance.

Some come to the group, as they say “on autopilot,” some fall asleep in class, and the Light that Reforms still acts. Even if a person dragged himself almost on all fours, but he apply efforts, the Light responds.

Question: How can I know that it responds?

Answer: So far, you can only believe the Kabbalists. In the same way, a kid believes his mother who tells him what to do. In life, you first need to listen to the adults and then the results are seen. We learn from schoolteachers and university professors, initially believing their words. So, I also believe people who are wiser than me and I gain their wisdom in order to verify its truth later.

Otherwise, it is impossible: We need guidance, instructions, on every stage of development. The wisdom of Kabbalah is no exception. It turns out that you come to study in its standard format, the same as at college or anywhere else. There is nothing “supernatural” here. The tips that you get are achievable. They can be realized; all you need is a spark, an inner urge—and everything is open before you.

We are always seeking where to extract the maximum benefit with minimum investment. Here we act egoistically; you are not required to be better than you are. So, it is possible, and everyone is capable of this.
[111860]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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Question: Is it necessary in the remaining days before the convention to focus on the thought that it is forbidden to ask for oneself because then you damage your soul or to come there to raise our collective prayer?.

Answer: Before the convention it is necessary to focus on the thought that a prayer can be only collective, as well as on the simple principle that we will eat there what we have prepared for the convention. As it is said, “One who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat (the Sabbath), what will he eat on Shabbat?”

You should not place your hopes on me—not a single percent! It all depends only on your vessel, your desire.

Question: Do I have to imagine now how I am connected with the friends there?

Answer: Start doing it right now, why wait for the beginning of the convention! Preparation does not mean that you are ready to cry out there, but that you are crying right now and that during this cry you are better discerning your desires. If you leave this for tomorrow, what will happen to you today? We should aspire to unity right now!

Preparation for the convention means that you are already now with all your strength striving to unite all our desires, vessels. Then, you will arrive at the convention more consciously and will ascertain the desires. And if so, then why do we need to start thinking about this today, a month in advance? We would have thought it over in advance, and that is enough.

The task is not to wait for the desired moment, counting down the remaining days on the calendar. Preparation is that at every moment, the entire time before the convention, every day, to advance in unification, understanding, feeling, care, inspiring the friends more and be inspired by them. Tension is building and building inside you with each day so you will come to the convention and explode there! Or maybe we will achieve everything what we desire on the way.
[111792]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/13, The Zohar

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Preparatory Lesson”

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