Try to constantly see two states: the real state that you see and the desired state. Most of the time we are in a rather latent state, and the way a person sets himself depends upon him. If you are given positive or negative awakenings from Above, you begin to act. But if you are not pushed from behind, you are half asleep, like in a dream. It’s here that the major work is concentrated, the search for how to spur yourself on. This is in order to see your state in the true Light and to imagine the desired state, so that the gap between them will show you how wrong you are and how much more there is to do. Then you begin to look for the means to change your state.

It all depends on the awakening from below, but you get the energy for that from the outside because there is nothing in us except for a machine that wakes up under the influence of an external force. Just like an engine that operates only if it continuously receives fuel or electricity. The moment the energy supply is cut off, it immediately stops. This operating energy can come from the actual source, from the Creator, and oblige our engine to run, or it can come when a person summons it by himself. This is the human part of the engine, when a person connects himself to the electricity network and operates himself.

You can operate yourself only by the group, by the equivalence of form. The more adaptable you are to the upper energy source, the electricity supplier, in bestowal and in a desire to do good to others and the Creator, the more easily you’re able to connect to the source of electricity, to the Light. And then the Light will influence you and operate your engine.

The energy of life always comes from the outside, from the Light. We constantly receive a tiny spark of vitality that revives us and enables us to exist. In addition to this spark, we receive an awakening from Above, according to time, to different periods, and to individual and global changes that one must go through.

Everything always depends on our awakening below which is the main part. All our advancement is by the awakening from below, all the 125 steps we have to go through, as we perceive a deficiency on our part. We have to operate our machine ourselves, by yearning for bestowal. By operating this way we advance step-by-step and each time our actions become more qualitative.
[76044]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/12, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Going Towards Each Other
Awaken The Dawn
The Only One Who Will Help Me

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

Question: In the conventions, especially in America, there are people who stand on the side and don’t connect easily. What is more, since they know in advance that they will spend three days leaning on the wall, it sometimes deters them from coming to the convention. What would you suggest that they do? How can we help them?

Answer: I definitely suggest that they come and be included in the crowd as much as they can. As it is written: “Educate a child according to his way.” People who find it difficult to connect in a circle will find one another. They may form their own circle, and within it, there may be someone who will shake them up a little.

Don’t object to the convention and don’t force yourselves. Everyone has a place there. After all, we are all different, and there are people who cannot connect with others. They sit on the side and listen, absorbed in their own thoughts. Or on the contrary, there are those who make too much noise. These people still don’t feel where they are and in what they are included. Their inner pace isn’t synchronized with everyone else yet, and either the euphoria or their introversion is controlling them.

Most of our friends already know and understand the method. They are working on advancement in a more or less methodical manner and are experiencing ups and downs. If a person really understands that he is detached from the general flow aimed at the goal of creation, it is especially important for him to come because it is a sign that in the meantime, he is going through special preparatory states. The influence of the environment will help him through it. I strongly recommend that you register.

On the whole, there are special people with special sparks. This is how they were created, and it isn’t a matter of heroism or weakness. The main thing is to realize what is within you. Just carry out the role that nature has given you, and eventually, if everyone makes his special and unique efforts, we will all become truly equal, with no traces of the previous differences.

Ultimately, everyone does equivalent work. We simply don’t understand yet how perfect the general system is.

But on the way, there are differences among us. Some people have special jobs; it is as if they have their own history, their own development. Accordingly, they should be treated differently. They look different from others, and their ups and downs are different. They act differently externally and go through different internal states—in contrast to any logic of our world.

Similarly, in the scientific and philosophic community, there are exceptional geniuses. Quite a few clever people have demonstrated exceptional attributes. In our case, it is even more prominent. However, for such people in particular it is very important to be with the community because in relation to them, we are like humanity in relation to us.

The sparks in the heart are divided into two parts: GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim) and AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh). Those of us who belong to GE are special. Sometimes, they feel a strong aversion toward society, but it is very important for them to come to conventions even though they feel no need to mingle with the friends, regarding them as humanity. It is still essential.
[75970]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2012, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
America: From South To North
An Egoistic Knockout
Find Your World In The Blink Of An Eye

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

The most important thing in spiritual work is to direct yourself towards the goal using many parameters while taking into account the various surrounding conditions that guide you directly to the target. 

It is the same in our world. Let’s say I’m an artilleryman shooting at a distant target. I cannot see this target since it’s 15 miles away from me. I have to calculate how much TNT I need to use relative to the mass of the cartridge so that it would reach its target. In addition, I need to take into account the humidity of the air, wind, temperature, and thousands of other parameters. Previously, we used tables, but today all these numerous conditions are programmed into a computer. This isn’t simple.

In our world, we first fire a few test rounds, use them to determine the deviation, and only afterward do we take a shot at the target.

But there is no such thing in spirituality; we cannot “shoot” and calculate our error, checking whether we “hit” the Creator or not. We need to account for all conditions. The group is created for that purpose, and all the necessary components are there for making the calculations to reach the goal. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is a science about how to come to the possibility of revealing a new property within us: the property of the revelation of the Creator.

Moving forward isn’t sufficient for us because I cannot see anything in front of me. I am in such a state where I don’t know what “forward” means. I don’t see it! Perhaps I’m moving in a completely opposite direction? A big question mark hangs over all of this. What can be done?

This is why our egoism exists, so that by pushing off it we could determine “What exactly is that something that’s “not it,” not our egoism? And in this “not it” is precisely where the Creator would be. That is, egoism operates in everything except for just one direction, the one opposite to it.  

In order to find the one and only goal, the property of bestowal and love, which is called “Creator,” we start from its opposite. We don’t know it because all of our desires, including the love and bestowal in our world, are all egoistic and don’t have anything to do with spirituality, with the true and genuine property of bestowal and love. We can forget about that, we’re not in it at all; nobody is, in any manner whatsoever!

In order to lead us into the spiritual world and to orient us correctly, we were given egoism, the group, the study, and finally, the upper Light, which ultimately performs this spiritual surgical operation. It “operates” on us with its ray and liberates the soul, “releasing it outward.”
[76019]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/12, Lesson 5

Related Material:
Thoughts About Bestowal
Refuse To Pay The Debts Of Egoism
We Don’t Understand Him

Filed under: Body and Soul, Conventions, My Similarity to the Creator - No Comments →

Question: Why is it so difficult to imagine the next level?

Answer: It’s not a lack of imagination, but a lack of interaction between people. If we were playing in the yard with friends, we would imagine everything clearly since there is mutual interaction between us. One person says something, another adds something, and in this way, a game is created.

Whereas here, we can’t get together yet; we can’t imagine the next degree. We are missing the mutual help. I still don’t feel the support of the friends in this. It isn’t your fault or mine. For this, we need training sessions that will gradually give rise to the next degree.

This level doesn’t exist within us yet. We are not to blame for this. We simply need to put in effort, and the upper Light will begin to form it within us. It already is building it within us, but this takes time.

We constantly yearn for the next level like children; we don’t understand, play, and make mistakes—but we want it! It doesn’t matter what we want because it just might not be what we need. However, these efforts invite the upper Light that gradually forms the next level within us: At first, it does it in our imagination and then in cloudy sensations. Afterward, the upper Light forms together both the sensations and thoughts, certain understanding of what should happen. And then what we learn, feel, and hear from other friends adds together. We suddenly begin to receive their thoughts and desires, and all this connects together.

If it’s difficult for us to imagine the next level, it’s a sign that we haven’t attracted enough of the upper Light so that it can give us as least some kind of impression, some format of the next degree. However, I am sure that we will overcome this.
[75793]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/2012, Workshop 1

Related Material:
Striving Toward The Force Of Ascent
A New Game
Play Everywhere And Always

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

We cannot imagine how much the distance between me and the Creator and the distance between me and my neighbor are the same. We call one who is close to us “neighbor,” while he is the same distance away as the Creator. At the same distance!

Try to reach the neighbor not physically but internally, and you will discover the same abyss. That is why we underestimate what has been given to us. “Well, why do we need the neighbor? All sorts of figures are walking around here. …” We cannot imagine that this is the absolutely accurate indication of our attitude towards the hidden in nature. Just as the Creator is concealed from me, so is my friend hidden from me.

Imagine, how much of this chasm we have not yet revealed between us. All the time we gloss over it, fill it with something superficial, but we don’t even see this huge black abyss.

However, if you seriously work in the group, then to the extent of your work, you begin to understand that you have to strike precisely at this point; here you’ll reveal everything. Just don’t forget that by working out the relationship with the friends, you work out the relationship with the Creator. The end of the action must be in Him; then we will get the upper Light.

This is the difference between the method of Kabbalah and any other method, because when we reach the end of the action, pointing at the upper force, we receive the upper Light that changes us. The main thing is not to forget that all our actions are aimed at getting closer to Him, to this upper force, at becoming similar to it, dissolving into it, acting like It, attaining at Its level, understanding, and connecting so that my entire inner part is absolutely equal to it.
[76025]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/25/2012, Lesson 5

Related Material:
Do Not Catch The Snake By The Head
Who Is My “Neighbor”?
We Work With The Friends, But We Mean The Creator

Filed under: Conventions, Inner Work, Mutual Guarantee Movement - 1 Comment →

Question: You said that we have to imagine ourselves in a corrected state. How can I be sure that I imagine it correctly?

Answer: It’s impossible to imagine a correct state. The Light will gradually create this picture for us. This can only be done by the Light!

Our attempts resemble those of a child who does something with persistence, and even though he’s unable to accomplish a task, he still continues trying. You’ve seen the persistence of a  child who is playing or trying to do something. As a result, he acquires sensations, thoughts, and experience and thereby becomes an experienced adult. This is the only way it can happen.

We don’t reveal anything new here. We utilize the same Light as we did when we were children when we were trying to become adults. We are utilizing the same principles that are instilled in nature. This is the same exact law and there isn’t anything else.

You make attempts, you play with building blocks, but they fall down. You try to assemble a construction set, but you can’t. You do something, jump, and run around like a little monkey. However, these efforts evoke the upper Light, the concealed force of nature, which is responsible for your development.

This force developed us on the animate level and we became adults. Right now we’re consciously playing the next degree so that the same force will develop us and elevate us to that degree. Whatever it is you play, that’s what you will become. This is the way it works.

Today we’re playing a game of “Becoming Similar to the Creator.” If we continue playing this game, we’ll succeed! People develop through playing. You have to imagine yourself there. Imagine yourself as an adult; this is most important. You may ask: “What does it mean to rise to the next degree? After all, this is what we want to accomplish.” Go ahead and realize your desire! Fantasize about what it means and play this game, but base it on the knowledge you’ve obtained.

You read lots of articles and listen to the lessons: What is the meaning of the upper degree, the quality of bestowal, above egoism, a screen, Reshimot, Partzufim, the Light of Hassadim, the Light of Hochma, and so on? How do transitions become actualized? Try to constantly imagine that you are there and you’ll achieve it! All of nature operates according to this principle. There’s nothing new to add if you compare it to the development of a child.
[75898]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/2012, Workshop 1

Related Material:
Which Game To Play?
Striving Toward The Force Of Ascent
Even If You Pretend, But Honestly And Till The End

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

Question: The need for the women’s desire, without which men won’t come to the goal, was not felt at the seminars. Why is that?

Answer: In order for a man to feel a need for something, he has to realize that without that need or desire he won’t reach the goal. It means that they haven’t reached that state yet.

Assume I try doing something and see that it doesn’t work out. What do I miss? Aha, I need another tool. I start working with it and see that I lack some other device. Meaning, only to the extent I see myself not reaching the goal do I look for the ways to reach it.

Then I see the lack of a clear strong support. It must exist for sure! This is what is written in Kabbalistic sources and we see that in a real life as well.

Men have their own somewhat baseless pride. They forget their dependency on women due to their nature. That’s a man’s nature.

But by moving forward, they begin realizing how weak they are. And then feel a strong need for female support.

That is not a weakness, it’s just our nature; when we depend on each other with just the right combination, together we achieve the common goal.

By the way, I’m sure many men have this feeling—I see that in them. They really feel it.
[75941]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/12, Lesson 1

Related Material:
A Man And A Woman As Traits Of Nature
Behind Every Successful Man There Is A Woman
Due To Women’s Desire

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

Question: I will be connected to the North American convention virtually, together with other friends. How can we create a powerful unity on the path to the convention? How can we raise its importance so we all disconnect from corporeality and feel the single world Kli?

Answer: First of all, I would advise you to attend the New York convention after all. This is necessary without a doubt.

Secondly, I suggest you read all of Rabash’s and Baal HaSulam’s articles about the group. Unification, the change in a person’s attitude toward the group are what’s important.

Thirdly, dissemination also plays a big role in the preparation.

Thus, we are trying to help the Convention, to prepare and bring several more people to it who are in doubt as to whether or not they should attend. We should bring together as many people as possible to take part in it.

Besides, North America will be preparing with the help of South America, thanks to our meetings in Columbia, Chile, and Brazil. This will be real, practical preparation, including not only lessons and lectures, but also participation in seminars.
[75973]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/12, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
The Waves Of The Convention Are Washing Away All The Dirt
Convention As A Pressing Necessity
Three Days Before The Convention

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Kabbalah Dissemination, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

We cannot be simultaneously in egoistic and altruistic intentions, desires, and goals. These are two opposite properties, which cancel each other out. So if I extol bestowal and Light, if I exalt the ability to step outside and ascend above myself, and with that, if I feel how my friends are supporting me, if I sense how much this protects, inspires, and fills me, if I feel enjoyment, love, and fulfillment, then no place remains where I can think about myself, I simply dissolve in their love and concern.

Therefore, when people are playing and enacting this state, through that they evoke the surrounding Light on themselves. It gradually develops them up and leads them to that state. And then a person’s self-concern involuntarily dies off. He or she exists on the earthly level only to the extent required to simply support his or her existence, and no more than that. And this condition is the most comfortable one for our body, for our egoism.

Then all the person’s efforts involuntarily take form and add up to just one intention—to bestow. And within it, in this intention to bestow, within the light of Hassadim, he now begins to sense the revelation of the Creator, fulfillment, and warmth. He discovers completely different properties and other possibilities. They suddenly appear out of nothing. Before, he simply didn’t feel them, and now he reveals them.

We need to try to combine our efforts, like children who are playing the same game together, not one against the other, but together, and to not forget about the fact that it’s specifically our collective impressions, our penetration into and connection with one another that supplies us with the force of ascent.
[75712]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/12, Lesson 1

Related Material:
When A Heart Speaks, No Words Are Necessary
The Circle Of Embrace
Tuning In The Group

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

Question: From what I understand, when we speak of fulfilling desires at the “human” degree, we’re talking about fulfilling the desire for connection with the Creator. Should I also be fulfilling a person’s corporeal desires, like his desire to watch football?

Answer: The fact is that all unfulfilled desires of our world, meaning suffering, are aimed only at revealing the Creator to a human being. And only if we continue toward this goal will these desires be fulfilled.

We see that the world is full of pleasures, opportunities—anything you can think of—and still people suffer. We see that despite the fact that there’s an abundance of resources in the world, half of humanity is hungry. We see that despite the great advances made by medicine, people are sicker today than they were in the past. We see that although people are given all the means to lead a normal life, they still get divorced and don’t want to raise children, suicide rates are rising, and so on and so forth.

Why is this happening?! What is the problem?!

So you let a person watch some football. Then what? It is better to teach him something that will actually allow him to come closer to the source of fulfillment because any fulfillments that I can give him, besides whatever is necessary for our physical body, will only divert him from the goal, causing him to suffer in the end.

There is nothing else. There is only one goal. And all of humanity must aspire to it.

If we fulfill our physical body on the animate level with all it needs for survival, all our remaining motives, all our remaining desires must be aimed only at achieving the goal. Otherwise, if I use them in some other direction and not toward the goal, I receive feedback that will trigger suffering in me, to make me correct my direction.

Therefore, if I give a person anything other than his bare necessities, something additional, like letting him watch football, my actions indirectly cause him to suffer. I’ll buy him a ticket to see a game, and he will definitely receive some blow from fate because he’s not moving in the right direction. This will happen all the time. That is why humanity’s suffering only increases as we develop further.

And we have no other means of doing good to a person other than to give him a normal, sensible standard of living: food, shelter, family, health, and everything else, but only in order to achieve the goal. Herein lies the program of creation.

And If I lead him away from this path, I am to blame for him failing to achieve this program of creation. And both of us will suffer for it. I cannot act in any other way.

That is why all my work in this world amounts to helping people to feed and take care of themselves only so that they understand how they can truly achieve happiness. All other paths only lead to misery because the Light’s influence will be opposite in order to guide the person to itself thereby.
[75893]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/2012, Workshop 1

Related Material:
No To Unemployment Yes To The Real Work
Justifying The Credit Of Trust
Double The suffering Of Love

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