To actually achieve the desired result in spiritual advancement, we need to use all of the allotted time.

This is not a couple of hours a week, a few hours of dissemination or any other activities. We have to continue the same work that we did during the workshops; it continues in everyone internally during the breaks, during the meals, while travelling—no matter what! This is the most important thing!

After all, a morning lesson or a meeting like a workshop is like recharging, like connecting to the power source. When you connect to the group, you attract the upper Light to yourself; you charged yourself and can go safely in your life for 20 hours. Then come back again.

This is required once a day! Otherwise the spiritual connection is cut off. At least an hour a day, but there must be a connection to a physical or virtual group, to the Light; you recharge yourself and continue the rest of the time to work on this charge.

Now, we are gradually switching to a different kind of work, which is much more difficult than sitting in circles with each other. In this work, there are thousands of various disturbances. But we understand that these are not a hindrance, that we are surrounded by the Creator Who wants us to be connected to Him all the time through these disturbances. And then we will see that these are not disturbances, but opportunities to connect, to amplify the signal. Let’s try!
[86750]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/19/12, Workshop 7

Related Material:
My Gratitude To All The Participants Of The Congress!
Close Your Eyes And Stay Connected!
The Convention Is Never Over

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Kabbalah Study, Workshops - No Comments →

It is known from the science of Kabbalah that we are in a constant state. Only our sensitivity, our perception of this state, changes.

How can we improve this sensitivity? If I were to add the sensitivity of my friends to the sensitivity that I received today—that is, to the point in the heart, if I connect my heart with their hearts—this will be enough for me to begin to feel the true state I am in.

How do we connect our hearts? Our attempts unfortunately lead nowhere. We address this request to the Creator, to the Light. I try repeatedly, but little works.

Why? It is because our attitude toward this is egoistic. We want to receive all the time, to increase our sensitivity of this world we are in, but we can see from it only a small, faint fragment. We want to expand our egoistic properties and absorb the upper world.

We should come out with a different attitude. This is correct attitude to the connection between us, to the feeling of the upper world, based on the property of gratitude.

Gratitude! Any human action, no matter what, should start with it. It is said that, even if a sharp sword were to be raised over your head, you still have to give thanks and firmly hope that this is only for the better, and thus the Light works on you so that precisely such critical conditions put you in the right attitude toward the upper governance.
[86608]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/19/12, Workshop 7

Related Material:
Gratitude For The Past Prepares For The Future
Appeal And Gratitude
The Prayer Of Many

Filed under: Conventions, Perception, Prayer and Intention, Workshops - No Comments →

When a person looks at his history, at the several decades that he has lived, he sees how the Creator has led him to his current state by gradually bringing the person closer to Him, by putting him through so many states that seemed unnecessary, ridiculous, and utterly pointless situations, periods of life that seemed absolutely unnecessary.

Actually when a person accepts everything, even if he doesn’t understand why he had to go through all that yet, the gratitude for the fact that the Creator has brought him to his current state along this path and for the fact that he is beginning to reveal the Creator now, in his gratitude by justifying the past, he comes to the right intention, to the correct state in the present.

“Article 26” in the book Shamati, “One’s Future Depends On and Is Tied to His Gratitude for the Past,” also speaks about how impossible it is to relate to the future correctly if you don’t justify your past states by totally accepting the fact that it all comes from “There is none else besides Him.” If this happens, it is a sign that everything had to happen the way it did until the present, and a person must not regret anything that happened one way or the other.

Only starting from the current state, when all the previous accounts are over, can a person be thankful in advance for the future and be in a state of free bestowal, free movement towards the Creator, when there is nothing negative in their past relations. By the correction of a person’s attitude regarding the past he prepares himself for the future.

The Creator puts us through all sorts of different twists and turns and metamorphoses intentionally, and retains a negative memory of these events in us. We actually don’t remember the positive moments; we only remember the negative ones because the ego remembers the moments when it didn’t receive, where it was cheated, where it could have won but lost, etc. If I justify the Creator’s Providence in the past, it doesn’t count as the past, but rather is transferred to the future. Thus I build a vessel, the correct attitude to the future, and so I am ready to move forward.

So it is impossible to start from the current moment simply by erasing the past. It was given to us so that now, at this moment, we will be able to look at the future correctly and to relate to the Creator correctly.

If I am totally reconciled and gratefully accept everything that I felt as negative with regard to myself, the world, my relatives, and more distant people, to the Creator and everything that He did to me, if I understand that by that I went through my path, and now thanks to rising above it, despite my ego, despite my egoistic criticism, I can transform all my previous feelings to gratitude, to adhesion to the Creator. It isn’t that I simply forgive Him, but rather understand, perceive, and feel that I am given the chance now to start a connection with Him, so I am ready to reveal Him.

Therefore, a person’s future depends and is tied to his gratitude for the past. If we correct our attitude regarding the past from criticism to gratitude, from sorrow and disappointment to joy, we create the correct vessel for the revelation of the Creator.
[86605]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/19/12, Workshop 7

Related Material:
It All Starts With Gratitude
Appeal And Gratitude
The Prayer Of Many

Filed under: Conventions, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Suffering, Workshops - No Comments →

Question: If I suddenly feel the desires of everyone else, what should I do with them? Should I fill them?

Answer: If you don’t just feel extraneous desires but the yearnings of your friends, their desires for the goal, then you identify with these desires and don’t divide them into “theirs” and “yours” anymore.

If you are yearning for the right thing, you turn into “there is none else besides Him,” into an integral part, so there is no division anymore. It should be like a test, a control for the right yearning.

You feel your friends’ desires as your own. You simply connect with them and so there is no “you” and “them.”

A person is a desire; each of us is a desire. If we want to feel others we perceive them as ours.

If a mother is filled with her child’s desires, her desires and his desires are still separate, but if we want to attain the revelation of the Creator by yearning for Him for “there is none else besides Him,” we feel our desires as absolutely identical; I don’t feel a difference between my desires and the desires of others.

Imagine that you have just connected with someone, that you spoke to him, felt that you think alike, and that you want the same thing, you become as one man. The external division of the bodies disappears, and there is only one, internal—not two connected but one.
[86492]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 5

Related Material:
The Prayer Of Many – A Single Demand
Each Friend A Treasure
Introspection

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

Question: If I don’t know who to appeal to before a prayer, then why do I experience a sense of trepidation before the Creator, a fear of appealing to the Creator?

Answer: I envy you. This means that you know Who you’re addressing.

It is a very exalted state when a person addresses the quality of bestowal, the Light, or something higher and feels a sense of trepidation. This means that he feels the extent to which his state, his life, each cell and each moment, all of his relationships and encounters, all depend only on the Light. That is, he feels that he is not the one in control of himself, that he isn’t in charge of the next moment, and that everything exist outside of him. He doesn’t yet sense whose hands he is in and because of that he feels a sense of trepidation. For the time being this is an animal trepidation, but it propels us forward.

Then at some point, an opposite sensation of confidence will come, making me feel good, as if I don’t depend on myself. Nothing could be worse than actually being in charge of myself and my destiny!

I’m glad that there is Light that determines everything, forms everything, and guides me. The only thing that remains for me to do is to feel and work in unison with the Light, which is the only way for me to realize all of this.
[86430]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 5

Related Material:
The Prayer Of Many
Together We Shall Turn The Night Into Day!
Turning Fear Into Advancement

Filed under: Conventions, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Prayer and Intention, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: There is a spiritual committee in our group. Three men are elected to raise the importance of the goal in the group throughout the week. You say that the presence of women is always additional help. Can the spiritual committee also have three women participating on this committee from the women’s part?

Answer: No, you cannot. When men are talking about their spiritual problems, they must clarify them separately. You must find another place to solve some problems together, but not during the time the men designate as their strictly male meeting time. You can’t do that! This will not work!

We, meaning humanity, are purposely separated into two very sharp parts: male and female. This dissection and separation comes from above to below, as the Creator to creation. These are two worlds. It’s impossible to connect and compare them in any way.

Unity between man and woman happens only through the Creator; otherwise, this unity doesn’t exist. Therefore, we see where this is leading in our world. With everything that is happening around us, we can only balance it through the Creator. In the same manner we can also balance our families, but only if we accept the necessary condition that the Creator has to be between us, as between me and my friend, also between me and my spouse. If He’s not there, then there won’t be any connection between us. In the end, this is what we are coming to.

However, joint meetings of men and women must really be held and also men’s and women’s meetings separately. And women need to be thinking about how they can unite among themselves and how to help the men.
[86362]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 4

Related Material:
Contact Points
Women Are The Key To Success
“Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Q&A, Unity, Women - No Comments →

Question: In the Ukraine, there is a high rate of unemployment. Employment centers were set up where conversations with psychologists take place. Would it be possible to give integral education classes in these centers?

Answer: That would be very good. Those kinds of listeners would better grasp the information. You only need the correct preparation and to express the information correctly, saying only what is essential. If the opportunity exists, then you need to prepare for it. In my blog, I write a lot about the unemployed needing not only retraining courses, but also entire universities.

We need to keep these people busy with something. If they sit at home, then violence and other undesirable things will begin to flourish. I am not even talking about divorces and other things. You cannot have both a husband and wife together at home. We must do something. A man shouldn’t sit at home; it ruins him. A woman can, but a man cannot.

Thus, it is essential to organize entire universities for the people so that they will study all the subjects that we learn: free choice, psychology, the ego as the source of evil, and the development of the ego. We have books about these subjects; there are all kinds of games, connection games. And suddenly we will feel that it’s possible.

Besides that, now we are trying, with the cooperation of various organizations that work with this population, to open a connection program, a project for recovery in areas where there are lots of unemployed people who are in a very difficult economic situation. This is to reach this kind of area and propose: “Come, let’s get organized.” We can create together warehouses for excess clothing, household tools, toys, bicycles, and bulk purchased food warehouses, etc. We will be able to buy at wholesale price, which will be much cheaper.

We can come together as consumers of electricity to sign a separate agreement with the company that supplies electricity. We can do everything, if we connect.

We can unite in this area and act. We can dictate our conditions to all of those who gain from us, and in this way everyone can benefit from it.

We can organize extracurricular activities for our children since among us will be volunteers who presently don’t work. They can work as organizers of these activities for the children, etc.

If we connect, then we can find virtually unlimited resources in order to make life easier for ourselves. No one will take care of us; we need to go out to the people with this.

Of course, we need to think about this since in the future it will be necessary. The Creator will put us in such a state that everyone will begin to understand that there is no way out, only through connection will we reach success.
[86266]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 4

Related Material:
The Method Of Recovery
Lessons About A New World: Free Time At The Desk
A Course On Harmonious Education

Filed under: Conventions, Education, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

We must include all of creation inside us because it is one whole. The still, vegetative, and animate nature and all the humans on earth, all those who lived in the past, the Kabbalists who paved this path for us and who have already fulfilled their correction within the general desire, all this should turn into one whole.

Today we are in a very special situation as the world is demanding this, and so we have been given this special opportunity.

We already know that the Light is the only pre-existing force in the world. The Light created our general desire and can do whatever is necessary with it in order to bring it to the goal.

This immense desire includes billions of stars and other things that fill our universe and everything that is on the face of the earth, the special particle of the universe in which we exist, the unique creatures, and among them even more unique ones, you, those who were given the desire to discover this whole system, this whole greatness, and to rise even higher. It is you who were given the opportunity of freewill.

The Light creates everything; it gives birth and changes things. Everything stems from the Light. All the descents and ascents, everything that we experience, and everything that was and will be is all created by the Light. So, as our teachers tell us, our freewill is to study how to manage with the help of this Light. The Light itself wants it and is ready to fulfill our desires if they are aimed in the right direction.

Thus, of all the options we have, we have to choose only one correct direction. In order for this direction to be true, we were given different conditions that on the whole make up “this world,” a special state in which we can prepare for that, in order to continue changing all of creation with the help of the Light.

A prayer is needed here, a request. It can be a plea of gratitude, a demand, a request, an expression of fear, of respect or of joy; It is important that this plea be correct.

In order for it to be correct, we were given a group: many people who gather together. Why? Because a prayer should be whole, complete, which means to stem from all the different possible feelings, from different relations and attitudes towards the Light, from different states: descents, ascents, detachment, indifference, and an emotional attitude.

It is different for every individual and we all add our states to one another in order to get a whole prayer. Some of the people are above in their feelings and some are below. Some cry, others laugh, and some are indifferent. The prayers can be quite different, of different types, on different levels, and from different people: for themselves, for society, for family, for friends, for the Creator.

But when people yearn to advance, their prayers connect into one whole and then even the requests a person expresses childishly, egoistically, without any understanding also operate. A person cannot perceive himself fully yet: what his request means, for what, for whom, and for what purpose—if he begins to say phrases he learned by heart, it will not be his own plea, but if he speaks from his heart, even if it is an egoistic prayer, but he has suffered until he expresses it, it will work.

So we have to pay attention to our general collective desire that is called a “prayer of many.” It is this prayer that collects all the options and forms of our feelings and attitudes; each of us can be in different states. When everyone comes together, our states connect. We also have to think about nature and all of humanity, and then everything really accumulates inside and concentrates within our group. It is the center of the group that makes the point where all our desires and yearning come together. This point is where the contact with the Creator occurs. From it, everything spreads back to our collective group and then to all of humanity and then to all of nature.

If we thus try to collect all our yearnings for the Creator we receive the right answer from Him.

Yesterday we tried it ourselves and I want to read to you some of these pleas:

• “Let me feel the fear of a lack of desire to connect in order to feel You.”
• “Give us the power to reveal the lack of desire to unite for Your sake, that this becomes our greatest sorrow, our desire.”

We said that it is very hard to reach such a desire because it summons suffering, and we escape suffering and automatically, immediately extinguish them.

• “Give us a desire to connect that is so intense that it will be the same for all.”

Which means that the desire to connect will include everyone.

There are prayers for our construction, our connection, and our yearning. These are preliminary requests, and only then comes the request from the true desire, the one that stabilizes us and directs us towards the Light, so that it can correct us, so that it will reveal itself among us.

• “Connect us into one whole, so that Your Light will bring everyone to connection and unity through the Light.”
• “Please help us keep the right intention that behind everything there is the Creator.”
• “Teach us to pray so that we can see You in others.”
• “Accept the prayer of my friends and give me the power to pray for them.”
• “Give us a desire in which we will discover Your love.”
• “Help us be worthy of discovering You.”
• “Give us the strength to act as if we already love one another.”
• “Give me the strength to understand who I am, so that my life will be turned into a relationship with You.”
• “Allow me to pray for the friends. Everything else we can do.”

These are our prayers.
[86380]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 5

Related Material:
Let’s Ask All Together!
How Do We Oblige The Creator To Help Us?
Where Do We Find The Key To The Gate Of Tears?

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Prayer and Intention - No Comments →

Question: We have women’s meetings in the group but sometimes it seems that the women are dealing more with questions of their own. The men say openly that they don’t feel a necessity and a need from us. We tried to have meetings together, but they weren’t really successful. On what basis should we gather with the men’s group? How should it be carried out?

Answer: You should gather mainly in order to discuss general matters, like in a family: What should we do with our center, with our lessons, with the kids, etc. We have to discuss that. There have to be joint meetings.

Everything else is internal work. It should be separate for men and for women. Women need to create within themselves a vector, a direction for their aspiration through the men to the Creator. That’s the best way.

Then women will begin to see how the men are changing and are becoming more serious. You have to treat them both as those who are leading and as those who are being led. Just like our kids: On the one hand, they are younger than us, but they draw us forward. It is the same here. The women’s group grows to the extent of its assistance to the men, and through the men, they receive the Light, or to be more accurate, they receive the Light in the connection between the two groups. All the work is generally done internally.
[86360]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 4

Related Material:
Women Are The Key To Success
The Role Of Women’s Groups
The Influence Of The Women’s Group On The Men’s Group

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Women - No Comments →

Question: Actions that are intended to unite us are dictated by the fact that we enjoy them. This kind of delight is bigger than the one we get from any other activity. Does it mean that we are like robots that have only a plus or a minus?

Answer: It doesn’t matter. By no means should we refuse pleasures! Kabbalah prohibits it. A person who deliberately refuses pleasure is called “Nazir,” meaning someone who engages in self-restriction. Someone who chooses this goes against the plan of nature since the goal of nature is to bring us to absolute delight.

By transcending the framework of our egoism, by desiring to rise above it, against it, we open tremendous opportunities to receive pleasure. Our egoism restricts the ability to receive delight. How much can you eat or drink? How long can you dance? Everything has its limitations.

By ascending above the egoistic field into the external one, we reveal the world of Infinity. What does the world of Infinity mean? It’s a desire that is not limited by anything at all. It’s exactly what we should discover.

Why is the science that we study called Kabbalah? It teaches us how to reach maximum unlimited eternal delight and how to attain a sensation of everlasting existence within all coordinates and directions. So, when we study and stay with the group, we by no means should pursue self-restriction. Not at all!

One should only think of how to connect with others. At the same time, if you want to eat ten dinners or thrill yourself any other way, please do so. Nobody prohibits you from indulging into pleasures. What really matters is where your head is. That’s the most important thing.

There are ascetics who limit themselves as dieting women, sometimes even worse than that. So what? They don’t “kill” themselves by acting so, but rather feel even bigger pride and self-importance: “See, how good I am!”
[85840]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/16/12, Preliminary Lesson

Related Material:
A Person Is Born In Joy
The Lack Of Joy
Tears Of Joy

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →