Question: How can we best prepare ourselves for the period of conventions so as to create a feeling of a unified group?

Answer: We will work on this at the time of the conventions as well. To do this, we need to re-read the article “The Freedom” and Rabash’s articles about unification. We need to study again the shattering of the spiritual Kli (vessel), how it shaped our earthly perception of ourselves: We now see that we are distant from one another, existing in opposition to one another, in a growing egoism, hatred, and various egoistic desires.

We have to understand that our nature is made to be so opposite to the Creator on purpose, in order for us to rise above it specifically from contradiction, starting from the opposite state, and thus be able to sense Him, since otherwise we would be incapable of it. We begin to feel and build ourselves in similarity to Him specifically based on the contrast between our nature and His.

Hence the most important preparation is to repeat the material that we study all the time: a little bit from Kabbalah itself—about the shattering of the vessel and its correction, as well as the topic of the development of egoism from Adam till our days covered in one of the “Talks about a New Life.” In general, we have lots of materials on this subject.

But most important is to simply know why you come to the convention. You come there to participate in the general Kli, in the general desire, which we all created and in which we will sense the Creator.
[76232] 
From a Lecture on Unity Day Around the World, “Preparation for the Congress” 4/22/2012  

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It’s said: “Those who love the Creator, hate evil.” `That is, we are given a reference point: If you are in the state of love for the Creator, then you hate evil, hate egoism, and this should be felt simultaneously; otherwise, you are straying from the direction. You will think that you love the Creator, but if you don’t feel the hate for egoism at the same time, then, you have no direction, it vanishes. In order to align it, to make it a straight line, on the one hand, you have to strengthen it in the hatred for evil, and then the second point will be precisely aimed at the love for the Creator. We don’t know what the Creator and the love for Him is. But if we start with the hatred for egoism, this is already a direction.

It’s said in this case: “Those who love the Creator, hate evil,” and they are whom the Creator saves from this evil. Therefore, our work is to reject and repel egoism and to attract good, bestowal, and love.
[76120]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/12, Lesson 5

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What is the connection between the hatred of evil and the salvation from evil? On one hand, simply by being human, we understand that when I hate something I distance myself from it. This guards and protects me, helps me to be safe from evil. But this does not work in the spiritual. There it must evoke the upper Light in order to correct me.

There is another instruction for understanding this, which states the world is only created for two states, either the state, perception, and comprehension of absolute evil or the state of absolute goodness. There is no other option. In other words, the world is created either for absolute sinners or the absolute righteous; it is one or the other, there is no third option. This is why it is worse to be an incomplete righteous than an absolute sinner. How can this be? This is what is written. So what are the teachers showing us?

The fact is, they write, that from the Creator’s perspective there is nothing in the world that might have dual meaning, a little bit of goodness and a bit of evil. From the Creator’s perspective there is only absoluteness—either absolute goodness or absolute evil, either absolute bestowal or absolute reception.

And for this reason, when a person wishes to advance toward the goal, he has no right to accept that there is a bit of this and a bit of that in him! This is the worst quality, the worst state!

Accepting it is a bad quality. Being in this and consoling yourself that there is nothing horrible about this is a bad state: There is a bit of this and a bit of that in me, I am no worse or better than others, there are these and those. When I console myself with these kinds of thoughts I will neither be able to reach the state of absolute sinner or absolute righteous. When I fail to reach these states, I stay suspended somewhere and I lack the point of reference for advancement.

From the Creator’s perspective, there is no difference between good and evil. There is no double meaning from His point of view: absolutely everything is good.

In our state, in our world, when a person begins to perceive that everything comes from the Creator, then he is already analyzing his attitude towards the world. If everything comes from the Creator, I either perceive that the world comes from a good, eternal, perfect source or that the world is full of suffering, contradictions, and meaninglessness. And if so then I do not believe, feel, and acknowledge that the world is really eternal, perfect, and good as the One Who created it and fills it.

Why do we need this? When, from the beginning, we perceive the world as perfect, good, eternal, and full of Light, then the problem is in us, in our perception of the world, in our sensations. When I feel that it is opposite to this absoluteness that I am able to imagine, then I evaluate myself, my qualities, as opposite and egoistic. However, when I do not see anything good in the world, then I am a sinner—I am not justifying the Creator, I accuse Him of creating this. And if I do not feel either thing, then I do not even acknowledge the fact that He exists and that He has created and maintains all of this; in other words, I deny the presence of the upper force.

A person must clearly understand his attitude toward the world from which he comes, and what it is like in relation to the Creator.
[76117]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/12, Lesson 5

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The world around us is in absolute calm, all filled with the upper Light. We must correct our feelings, our organ of perception. There is none else besides Him. What else do you want?! Here He is—in front of you, around you, within you.

Remove your “I,” and you begin to feel what kind of world is around us, in the form of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), and what kind of the world is within us, in the form of the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi). Just remove the partition, and everything will be fine.

The separation is cancelled by restriction and then by the screen. In the beginning, egoism is annulled, and the Light passes through you freely. This state is called “Ibur” (conception), the state of being inside the mother’s vessel, when you are completely surrounded and exist inside Mother Nature, the Creator.

And then you start to grow like an embryo inside your mother, are born, and develop further. When you begin to convert your egoism into bestowal, in the likeness of the Creator, then something that exists independently, in the likeness to the Light, comes out from you. You don’t obstruct the Light that passes through you, but amplify it.

Only from the initial setting to “There is none else besides Him” do we continue to tune ourselves to the fact that the world is filled with absolute good. If I don’t feel this in the heart, desires, and don’t fully understand it in the mind, I am not corrected. Then, I find out how much I am not corrected.

These states are typically intermediate and require further development. It takes place in the group. When I make an effort and explicitly go establish harmonious relations with the friends, then I immediately see how much I don’t want that! My egoism is manifested instantly, pushing me away from the friends. This occurs naturally. And I reveal that I am a sinner, and a serious one. Then, I have an opportunity to go further to request correction. This is the next stumbling block and the next reference point.

The first reference point is “There is none else besides Him.”

The second reference point is to see that everything is absolute good through this focus, like through a telescope.

The third reference point is the group, through which I must see everything, in order to come to a clear understanding whether I am a sinner or a righteous one.

There are no in-between states. We should avoid them. This is appeasement that will lead us nowhere. We just lose time!
[76111]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/2012, Lesson 5

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Question: There are a lot of new people who are used to studying virtually. How can we describe to or give them a taste of the sensation of conventions so that they would come to the convention?

Answer: First of all, whoever can come should necessarily do so. If a person is given such an opportunity and he doesn’t utilize it, it harms him since he as if disregards an opportunity to connect. And he shouldn’t try to convince himself that it will be better for him to stay at home or with his group. If he can come to the convention, even if he is the only one from his entire group that doesn’t stay behind to participate in a mirror convention, he should still come, whoever can come should come.

Second, it is necessary to create certain conditions the way we did in the past, both during the convention in the Arava desert and the European Congress in Vilnius, meaning we should hold big mirror conventions.

Besides, we will broadcast from Bogota, Santiago, and other cities. There will be lectures for the 99%. So we will be in touch anyway, and you will feel this connection.

Question: How advanced should we be in order to come to the convention?

Answer: Not at all. You simply have to wish to be there, and then—you are invited.
[76229] 
From a Lecture on Unity Day Around the World, “Preparation for the Congress” 4/22/2012  

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Question: How can we make the convention in the U.S. unique so that it will connect the groups in America into one?

Answer: I don’t know whether we’ll succeed, but I have great hopes because the time has come.

Unfortunately, our friends in the U.S., even those who finished their studies at the Education Center and live in different places, still don’t understand or don’t see a need to unite. Quite possibly, at some point we need to organize a separate convention for them. The management of our Education Center in St Louis should take care of it.

Perhaps people didn’t study enough material on the importance of unification, about the fact that they can discover what they have learned about the upper world—how it manifests, becomes revealed, and is sensed in a person—only in unity, that is, not in a single person, but in a connection between us.

Where is this connection? Do they aspire to it? If they don’t yearn for it, they will not sense it. So they finished some theoretical course, and it all ended there.

Most important is practice, a practical revelation of the upper world for oneself. They are not doing it. Meanwhile, life is getting worse all the time. It pushes us towards unification, but not through the wisdom of Kabbalah, the good path, but through the path of suffering. I think that they should understand that after having a theoretical basis, it is best to realize it in practice, and so come to the convention.

I invite you all. Those of you who finished courses at the Education Center and live in the U.S., I would very much like to see you at the convention. Let’s make the most of it!
[76226] 
From a Lecture on Unity Day Around the World, “Preparation for the Congress” 4/22/2012 

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Question: What is a convention for you?

Answer: For me, it is a desperate, serious work, tension, and great joy—everything together. It’s because I see how every second this huge general desire is boiling in a “pot.” And this desire works, even if people don’t realize it yet, and reaches the boiling point inside. I feel this, and all of it fills me and gives me strength.

Imagine, after a convention my hair gets darker. That is, there is an influx of energy there, and it actives all sources of life. So come to rejuvenate!
[76223] 
From a Lecture on Unity Day Around the World, “Preparation for the Congress” 4/22/2012 

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The need for each of the friends is a very unpleasant necessity. We always divide people: These are more agreeable, these are less; we can better understand these, those ones less; these ones can be ignored; we can become closer with these, but should stay away from those, etc. We constantly differentiate the surrounding society, and this is very bad.

The concept “There is none else besides Him” means that you treat everyone equally. It’s very hard! Here we must constantly monitor our egoism, which always puts everyone in his place: This one is closer, that one is farther, I walk past this one, have to smile to that one, to greet this one, to hold that one’s hand, etc. Thus, we always position ourselves relative to others because these are animal feelings.

But all the points in the heart are exactly the same. That is why equal treatment and absolute leveling of our natural, earthly properties in order to remove them and not to see them at all are the main thing.

In spiritual work, there are no pleasant or unpleasant, near or far; there is none whom you understand or don’t understand. I mean it as spiritual work, not dissemination actions or daily work on the physical level. In the group, one cannot be less or more: Everyone is equal; otherwise, they are not friends.

Thus, removing all the animal earthly signs and placing all the points in the heart on the same level, constantly working so they are equal, equivalent for me, higher or lower than me, but equally important, I build myself so as not to see the friends’ bodies. This is very important and extremely difficult because egoism constantly automatically focuses on someone and ignores the other, etc.

There are dozens of people whom we don’t notice. And there are people who attract us. This must be cleaned, deleted. Everyone is equal. The soul is one, and there are no differences in the spiritual realm, the upper Light levels everything.

That is why the group is such a training place, such a laboratory aimed at the goal that is necessary for aligning oneself according to the goal in all respects. One person cannot achieve this. He needs the sights, through which he will look and align the axes to hit the target accurately.

This is one of the most important axes. A person removes everything earthly and sees only the point burning in his friend and aimed at the goal. He appreciates him only for this, only in this is he his friend, he wants to be his equal only in this, he wants to unite only with this. All the rest, the earthly, will die anyway, will be corrected in some way, it doesn’t matter; the most important is the point.

After all, the mother loves her child regardless of his character, properties, etc.; he is like that by nature, what can you do? She loves him because he has her point. Of course, this is egoistic animal love. And initially, it must be as the egoistic animal in us because we all come from one soul.

And then we’ll see how everyone “gives birth” to each other in the spiritual world. If we are equal, then each of us is greater and smaller than the other. Our AHPs are combined with the Galgalta ve Eynaim of the friends, and their AHPs are included in me and give birth to me. Working in this way, the whole system becomes integral. I become included in someone; he becomes included into me, and thus everyone in everyone else: all the billions of particles.

Therefore, we must understand that thus we are fathers/mothers and their children for everyone. The mutual inclusion of Galgalta ve Eynaim in AHP in a sphere creates this integral drop.

There are a lot of settings. There are, in general, a few of them, but we interpret them in this way because it’s very difficult to withstand the truth; we have to divide it into components, the sum of which will give us the exact sight to the target, to unity. In our properties, this unity is composed in all kinds of paths towards it. Altogether, they help us act: by suffering from behind, by striving forward, with enthusiasm for the goal, by seeing oneself higher or lower than others, etc.
[76022]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/2012, Lesson 5

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The world is the picture, the hologram that the Creator displays for us today, and we are in it. We are involved in this illusion, and it is the reflection of our inner qualities.

Looking at the world, I see my reflection and can tell from what inner qualities I am made up. I like this person and that one not so much; this is like this and another like that, etc. Hence, all these qualities are inside me. Each of my little qualities draws a certain image for me: each of us, everything in the world from the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

That is why if I see something negative around me, I see this deficiency in me; otherwise, I would have seen only the absolute even upper Light.

Of course, we are very far from this degree. But we can approach this state and reveal it only if we are seriously engaged in self-assessment of what we see.

Therefore it is said that the world was created only for the absolute righteous or absolute sinners. When a person admits that he’s a sinner, he understands that he’s opposite to the Creator. When he sees and justifies everything—only if he doesn’t lie to himself, but really sees the world full of everything good, kind, perfect—then he’s directed to the Creator and is called an “absolute righteous.” If he has a mixed assessment, a mixed view of the world, then his state isn’t fully conscious. He’s missing the realization of evil and should continue to work on himself.

It turns out that everything depends on our clear perceptions: if I feel good in the world, or if I feel bad.

By the way, I hear from many of our friends that they were expecting something greater from the convention. They thought that now they would “grow wings” and would be raptured away.

That is, people who have been studying for several years don’t understand yet the essence of our correction. And this is natural that they don’t understand! In no way I am laughing at them or blaming them. I know what school I went through, and how difficult it was, very difficult! People don’t realize that they have to correct, no matter how paradoxically it sounds, their attitude towards the world.
[76114]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/2012, Lesson 5

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Question: During our work at the workshop, I had a feeling as though I was a guard for my friend. Is such a state justifiable? Or is everyone equal in a circle and has a right to make sure their friend is not diverting from the goal and from the topic of the workshop?

Answer: I have to perceive the group as something absolutely perfect: an eternal, infinite, and perfect system. I enter it as a small one into something huge that is forming me.

If being in the group I see or hear something unpleasant from my friends, something that seems to be bad or imperfect, I have to understand that this is because I am this way. In other words, the Creator sets me up so that I would perceive everything precisely in this way. He is playing with me since, as it is written, “there is none else besides Him.” I have to justify Him and say that I perceive everything in the negative way because of my incorrect properties.

If I exist in connection with my friends, I cannot see anything negative in them, but only perfection! Everything else is either my or the Creator’s fault.
[75945]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/2012, Workshop 1 

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