Our program today amounts to clarifying a primary and fundamental element in our development: the search to sense the upper force. Much in this search pertains to man’s psychology because we begin at the most basic psychological level, just like any regular person in our world. But then from basic psychology we start ascending higher. Why? Because the aspiration that we have within and work with is called the point in the heart.

That is what we must develop; that is what we must expand. This point has to become massive to us, bigger than anything else, filling the entire horizon. Through it I need to start sensing nature, its eternity and perfection, harmony, the upper force, information—everything! This can only happen if I cultivate my point in the heart.

The point in the heart no longer pertains to simple psychology. It appears only in special individuals after a great many lives over the course of their evolution, having arrived at a state when the desire for a new layer, the “Human” degree, arises in them. They’ve developed through the still, vegetative, and animate levels of matter and lived through many different incarnations as humans in our world, but now a new desire emerges in them, which begins to gradually develop them toward sensing the upper force of Nature.

Today this desire is emerging in millions of people around the world. And we have the method to actualize it.
[73744]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 3

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All our work is to find in ourselves the opportunity to sense the force that fills the world, controls the world and our destiny, leads us through life, and determines all the events in it—what will happen to each of us, every minute.

To do this, we need to constantly delve into ourselves, specifically through ourselves. We will not be able to find anything in the mechanical world that surrounds us. Only through refining our senses, increasing our inner sensitivity will we begin to feel the fine layers of nature as well as its information layer. This layer will reveal to us the entire program of creation, everything that should happen to us, and what has already happened, and will raise us above the sensation of time, space, and mechanical movement into an entirely different area.

Thus, we have to constantly go deeper and search in ourselves for the sensation of this information layer, of this force that controls everything. It may be called the basic force of nature, the upper force of nature, or the Creator because it creates everything and contains the whole program of creation. To accomplish this, we get together to increase our impact on each other and thus help each of us to unite together.

We start to create a new sensory organ in a collective feeling, which is able to reveal for us the force that surrounds us and penetrates everything. Being in such constant and correct connection between myself and others, I rise above myself, exit myself, and begin to feel what is between us. This becomes most important.

But everything else is my own, like my beastly body. When I desire to exit myself completely, to feel what is outside of me, there I find this upper force of nature.

Connecting with it is the goal of our existence. And we all want to achieve this.
[73747]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 3

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Question: A new door was opened to us at the convention in Vilnius. How can I put the foot in and not let the door close?

Answer: First of all, we should fear losing it, be in awe of the greatness of the state we have achieved, and strengthen our impression as much as possible.

We will not get through this door at once. It will take months to do so. After all, we are entering a period of labor, and childbirth happens in different ways: Sometimes it takes a couple of days, and sometimes a couple of weeks. Anyway, no matter how much time we may need, we are talking about a process that includes labor pangs, but not about a one-shot event.

We are on the road, and if you want the process to keep on developing, you should accept it correctly. You continue your path not because it is pleasant and exciting. You do not care about the state itself—the main thing is to know that it brings maximum pleasure to the Creator. You have to turn the vector from reception to bestowal.

If you add this intention, you will advance. True, it will immediately leave a bland taste in your mouth, but it will ensure your progress. Later, you will taste the real flavor, but already in contact with the Creator, in bestowal. And now you summon the Light to realize this.

But if you are inspired by pleasant sensations, if you are glad that you have finally tasted the delight of unity with friends, this feeling has a bitter taste of egoism and thus will not stay with you. After all, you need to be advanced, so your state will be taken from you. You will get a fair shake, forget about it, go searching for, and again approach it, but you will be more ready to be imbued with intention, not feeling.
[73724]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/2012, Questions about the Convention

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Nature will not change. It guided us for thousands of years in the development of our egoism until the point where our egoism became integral. We cannot do anything about it.

It is illustrated by recent events in Europe. There was a multitude of thoughts and agendas on how to divide Europe, European market, and the commonwealth anew—to separate and part ways to make it easier to bear economic problems of each country.

However, it proved impossible, and as a result Europe took the direction toward further integration and deepening of mutual relations. This decision came about literally in a matter of the past few months since no one had wanted it before. It’s simply impossible to separate even a single country. The separation of Greece, Spain, or Portugal from Europe will cost much more; it is by all means more beneficial to maintain the unity. It is being calculated and decided on the highest levels.

It turns out that we have arrived at such a state where we are obligated to be correctly and integrally interconnected. As to how to achieve it, we do not know. But, perhaps, if we do find out how to solve it, we will overcome all the crises: the family, economic, education, societal, governmental, and global crises.

Hence, the problem lies within man: How do we change ourselves to be in homeostasis, in balance with Nature? The fact is that the main law of Nature is the law of balance. Nature constantly gravitates to equilibrium. It’s the law of physics.

The equilibrium is supported by Nature on all levels: the still, vegetative, and animate levels. And only man breaks this law with his excessive egoism: He consumes more than he contributes, pollutes more than nature can reclaim, and so on.

This violation of the law of balance is basically the problem of our crisis today.

How do we reach balance? It can be done only if we begin to correct man himself. Therefore, the problem lies in man—in his correction. Furthermore, this problem is large and global. If we do not desire to be similar to nature, if we don’t want to consume only to the extent to which we contribute, nature will force us toward this through the crises.

We see that every day hundreds of thousands of people become unemployed because we do not need the majority of the production; it was excessive. We were producing absolutely unnecessary things or making them become obsolete sooner so we could produce, sell, and profit more.

Ultimately, if we ourselves do not curtail production to the necessary, reasonable level so as to exist sensibly, nature compels us to do it through the crisis. Unwillingly, we find ourselves unprepared, thrown out onto the street. Thus we see what is happening with the entire humanity.

The world is enveloped in a severe crisis. If we do not take it under control, then within this year we will see what terrible consequences it can still prepare for us. Hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs, and we’re not ready for it.

What are we to do with them if, say, we come to a state where we indeed do not need any excessive production? With the modern technology people don’t have to work as much. At a maximum, 10% of the population can provide the entire planet with food, clothes, shoes, and everything else that is necessary if they work approximately two hours a day. What will people do with the rest of their time?

Here, we arrive at an interesting conclusion: Man must work, but not manually and not to produce the material product, but to produce the internal and spiritual product. He has to reform himself into an integral part of society and nature. Thus he will generate positive energy and will put himself, society, and nature into balance. Then we will receive from nature the right bestowal and will be interconnected with it correctly.

Many scientific articles cover this topic. Many distinguished experts with whom we established contact are working on it.
[73540]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson

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As of today, we are still on the level of the animate development. We have passed the still, vegetative, and animate levels of development and have not reached the level of “Human” yet. The level of “Human” is the collective image in which we are all tied together integrally.

What does the integral connection give us? Why does nature push us in that direction by its law of balance, obliging us to connect?

Today we perceive the world through our five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. If we are connected integrally, we will begin to feel both ourselves and others as if one integral whole, and a new sensation of “we” will appear in us.

This new integral sensation, this new sensor, will enable us to feel the integral nature. We will begin to feel the force of nature, which surrounds, drives, and manages us and which gives rise to all phenomena. It is the force that determines our future, our fate.

We begin to feel the flow of life—the past, the present, and the future—as one flow of information. This is what we can feel when we acquire an integral connection with others. By that a person rises to a level that is higher than his beastly body and begins to feel what exists beyond matter—the forces, the currents that exist outside us, above us.

This is called the level of “Human,” the level of additional information, that which determines our entire life. Nature pushes us towards this level so that we will know the meaning of our life and its purpose. This is what the integral connection between us gives us.

So, we face a very interesting problem that seems to have an easy solution. But although the solution is at hand’s reach, it totally contradicts our ego.

This is why we are concerned with spreading this knowledge that reduces suffering: We want to start feeling this necessity not by suffering but by recognition; we want to understand why everything happens the way it does in advance. When a person begins to see that the world is global, why and how he is interconnected, he already begins to foresee the events and to understand what and how should happen if we act one way or another.

We hope that this method will become the method of making new decisions, and that humanity will be able to come out of the crisis—not only the economic crisis but the general crisis as well.

The crisis is actually the birth of a new state. It is like labor pains, when the baby makes an effort to come out of the womb, into our world. We too are currently going through the same turning point in our awareness, in our understanding of the world and of ourselves.
[73525]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson

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The fact is that by constantly developing, the ego was pushing us forward. We always wanted something new and were always chasing something. But today the ego has become flat; it has reached its maximum and, most importantly, become global. It has retired into its own shell.

As a result, we have become closed between ourselves and totally dependent on one another. We have created a closed analog system between us in which everyone is so dependent on others that through a chain of four acquaintances each of us is connected to all the people in the world. What’s more, today there is no need to fight: It’s enough to cut off a certain country from the mutual cooperation with other countries, and it will immediately collapse because it cannot exist on its own.

This was never the case before. A country could isolate itself and be independent. It could survive on its own. It had enough resources to produce energy, food, and everything the population needed, and there were no special problems.

But today we cannot do anything if we are not connected to tens of other countries. We have to buy, sell, and exchange goods, to constantly receive, send, and so on. We’ve become global, we’ve become closed. It wouldn’t be a problem if at the same time we were changing ourselves.

So, we have remained the same individualistic egoists while the world has become global and closed. Hence the discrepancy between the two systems.

On one hand, there is a discrete system, in which each of us wants to live alone: “I don’t need a family. I don’t need children. I don’t need anyone. I want to be independent and not depend on anyone.” This is how our ego speaks today. On the other hand, nature shows us the opposite: You are totally dependent on everyone. You cannot exist by yourself. You must be connected to everyone, and not only you, but your society, your state, and the whole world.”

This is the contradiction between the two systems: the general system we are in and our personal, individual, internal, system. This is the crisis since the two systems cannot work together. And this is what we feel.

So how can this problem be solved?
[73547] 
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson  

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In a way, we have always known what to do and where to go. Nature has always pushed us from behind: We wanted to evolve, to do more and to expand, to develop science and technology—everything we could.

Today we don’t want anything. We got stuck, turned silent. Our ego, which throughout history was humanity’s driving force, has ceased to work. It doesn’t evoke any urges or impulses in us, it doesn’t push us forward. We’ve been through many changes in society, we’ve developed, built, created, and made revolutions. Humanity has constantly tried to do something, to move forward. We were searching.

Today there is no search. There is no paradigm of thinking, no accurate, clear plan of what we want and in which direction to develop. This is what characterizes our times.

The main problem is that it applies to everyone. There was never something like this in history. All the countries and continents: Oceania, Asia, North and South America, Europe, the Far East, Japan, China, and Africa, all have all developed in their own way, at their own pace and were not dependent on one another.

Suddenly we’ve become so dependent that this problem has become global. We find ourselves in a world where everything is mutually connected. We don’t want it, but the mutual connection is so strong that it manifests daily and affects virtually each of us. If something happens somewhere in the world, it is surely and immediately reflected on us. We see what is happening in the stock markets in New York, Tokyo, Germany, or Frankfurt, what is happening with the oil or metals.… If there is an earthquake, a hurricane, or a volcano that erupts somewhere, it is reflected on everyone. We are in such a changing world that we cannot even imagine what to do next.

If we draw a simple graph of the development of the ego on a time axis, we will see that we used to develop more or less evenly. Only in the 20th century has our ego grown very sharply. We have made a breakthrough in every aspect of life: in technology, education, and upbringing, in developing the lands and conquering space. Suddenly we find ourselves on a “landing.” We’ve achieved the maximum of our ego, and it doesn’t push us anywhere anymore. We’ve reached this state since the end of the last century.

This is a very serious problem, which great men and great minds are dealing with. But today we are starting to research and understand it, and are beginning to realize what has happened.
[73550] 
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson 

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Now, we are creating a new sense organ. The science of Kabbalah is not just the science of reception; it is the method of developing the highest sense organ in us.

It does not exist in a single person, but is revealed between people when they are trying to create this interaction between them that will reveal the Upper Force that will fill the entire space between them.

Only we can stimulate this detector, this sensor. It can appear only between us, not in every one of us, but between us. To the extent that we strive to get closer to each other and turn into one whole, we will discover this force that fills us according to the law of the equivalence of form, the law of similarity, balance, and homeostasis. This is the method of Kabbalah.

I remember when I started studying with Rabash and did not understand anything yet, he told me a few phrases that I remembered, although I did not understand what he meant. He said: “The most important thing is to develop a sense for the Creator Who fills everything, for this force of nature that surrounds us.”

To develop a feeling? I did not know what it meant “to develop a feeling.” In general by nature, I am a scientific kind of person; I want to understand instead of feel.

It took a long time before I realized that this is achieved not by the mind, but only by developing an additional sense organ.

But the feeling can be developed only if we cooperate among ourselves, turning into one whole, like this great force around us.

We have gathered here to unite, to create these conditions between us so that it manifests itself. To the extent of our connection, our getting closer to each other, this force will be manifested.
[73642]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/12, Lesson 1

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Today, we will talk about the crisis that affects all of humanity and of its possible solution that the method of integral upbringing affords.

Humanity has entered a difficult period and turned into such a state that it feels completely lost.

At the very least, people who are concerned with society, family, education, upbringing, and public, governmental, and social problems; they cannot find solutions to the problems that arise in every individual, society, and government activities. We find ourselves in a state that we cannot understand.

However, in recent years (70-80 years), scientists have been suspecting what was going on. Starting with the 1920s, the first articles appeared suggesting that the world was entering a completely different area of development, that it was rising to a totally different level: the level of integral development. Many researchers wrote about this. In the 1960s, the famous Club of Rome talked about this, as well as by many researchers and organizations.

And today in the process of the crisis, we came to a very deep state from which we cannot find the way out.

Previously the crisis touched only the problems of raising and educating children. We were unhappy with what was happening, but somehow put up with it, although we saw that the schools did not educate children, that our children suffered from bullying, violence, and abuse at school. But we tolerated that.

Then, we began to notice how people suddenly stopped caring about the family and the family started to disintegrate, which didn’t happen 100 to 200 years ago. Throughout human history, it was accepted that a person lived in a family with his parents and then created his own family; then, his children did, and they were all united in a common home, but now everything is undergoing a critical decline. People began to divorce, children to move away from their parents, people don’t want to get married or raise a family. This is also a crisis because this phenomenon is not natural for us, people.

And what will happen to future generations? We are already facing a demographic problem where the elderly outnumber the young. And who knows who will provide for them in old age. What will happen to you if you do not have children? Who will support you?

People do not even think that one generation supports the other. At least, three generations are necessary: the elderly, the parents, and the children so that they support, educate each other, pass along knowledge, care for the household; the young care for the elderly, and the elderly convey their experience and life values. There is nothing like that.

Then, there are problems with drugs and depression, depression that is so strong that doctors today consider it the number one disease of the century, not only the disease in itself, but also its consequences. The cause, the root, of the majority of the diseases in the world is depression, intense anxiety, detachment, and helplessness.

The latest crisis involves a crisis in science, education, in all things. The crisis in science began from the point that we stopped believing in science. Once, we thought that through science we would reach a good life, conquer space, settle on other planets and have unlimited possibilities ahead. And suddenly, we closed all the space programs; we are no longer interested in space exploration; we do not think that we can find anything there. In the end, everything is slowing down. A person feels depressed; He does not want anything.

The latest crisis is the economic crisis. It is the hardest and  most difficult because it affects all aspects of our lives. Food, healthcare, heating, security, everything depends on the economy. But the economy refuses to work; it no longer works and we don’t know why. Companies close, financial “bubbles” inflated, and all manner of mishandling of money occur. And everything that was supposed to develop well, to our benefit, turns against us.

But what is interesting is that no one can deal with it, neither eminent economists nor politicians, but we are all willing to help them because we will not survive without the economy. It turns out that we do not know what to do. A huge number of high-ranking politicians, heads of states, the G8, G20 get together and can solve nothing. They do not know what to do.
[73554]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson

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The science of Kabbalah describes the stages of development we must undergo in getting closer to each other in order to reveal the Upper Force. According to our aspirations toward unity, our nullifying our egoism and ascending above it and uniting, we reach the first level and feel this force at the level of Nefesh (inanimate level). We begin feeling something is between us, but still can’t exactly grasp it. There are some sensations, but they aren’t definable or determinable yet.

Later, with a stronger yearning toward each other, we reach a stronger connection and start feeling how to “penetrate” each other a little and to feel the connection more. From this, emerges a higher sensitivity, the ability to feel. And not just to feel, but to determine and understand how we do it. Thus sensation at the level of Ruach, the level of motion, appears. According to our movement toward each other, we can get in touch with this force with different strength more or less according to the nuances of our encounters. Our movements and understanding of this upper force happen in some sort of a dialog: in our effort and in its response, the reaction of the upper force.

We advance further in establishing even greater harmony among us and start feeling just how to connect, but also what to give and to receive from the other. Then we reach the feeling of the upper force and communicate with it either in bestowal or reception from it. This level is called Neshama the level of Bina, an extremely high level.

Then we get to an even deeper perception of interaction among us: which way to work with them receiving from the other or giving to others through oneself. By giving to others through oneself, we reach the level of the Light of Hochma or Haya.

And finally, we reach the state where we feel everyone as one whole. There are no differences, no communication, no transitions, and no transmission, but everything merges into one drop of water and then all separation fully disappears. We reach the level of Yechida (from the word “unity“)—the complete unity among us and the upper force.

These five levels are achieved only to the extent of connection between us; when our personal egoism, protectionism, and everything personal is removed, a person ascends and lives only by the commonality.

In order to develop this possibility, such an instrument of perception, we gather into a group during congresses, in all our actions, and gradually develop this within ourselves.

Our time is special because it forces us and moves us toward that, and not only us but all of humanity is moved toward the initial stages when a person still doesn’t understand what it means to “develop feelings, unite, and connect to others.”

It takes many steps before a person finds out: “Why all this? Do I have this?” He acts automatically by looking at others. And only later, something starts gradually “moving” inside as if snapping from inside.  He starts feeling something else, something new and absolutely unknown appears there, like an entrance to an absolutely new area, which was completely hidden before.

And the world helps us with that today by staying in an absolutely incomprehensible and confused state. All the people in the world from young to old, poor and rich, strong and weak, nobody knows where they are. Everyone is searching, but doesn’t know where. They act mechanically trying to live the life that used to be, but it is no longer there.
[73639]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/12, Lesson #1

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