Entries in the 'Conventions' Category

The Convention – For Mutual Guarantee

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we fulfill the first stage of the group’s goal in the upcoming convention?

Answer: First, we have to prepare so that we understand that only thanks to our connection, mutual guarantee (which is also the name of the convention), we awaken the Light. The Light operates on us because it is drawn by our desire. We want it to appear and to change us so we place ourselves under its influence and let it do whatever it wants with us.

The whole world will follow us because, through our desire and the materials that we publish, we connect the world to ourselves and pass on to it the same influence of the Light. If we try to awaken the Light and receive it, it passes through us to the world via the same “pipeline” by which we are connected. We see how beneficial our mutual bestowal is.
The group doesn’t have to be too big in order to pass on the influence of the reforming Light to the world. Of course, it should be big, but what is important is that it should awaken the Light, and that the Light should be as strong as possible. If the group is filled with Light, it will “flow” from the group to the rest of the world.

After all, we are filled by the Light thanks to the desires we receive from the world, as if they were our own desire to receive, our AHP. So we receive the Light only to enable us to exist and to carry on and develop the method of correction. All the rest will flow onto the world.

Thus, the group will achieve a state of greatness (Gadlut) in spirituality. The group doesn’t have to be big. We don’t need millions for that. It isn’t one percent of humanity, but much less. I don’t know the exact number, but what is important is to awaken the Light. With regard to that, the quality of the group is more important.

So at the convention we have to focus on quality, on the connection between us, and thus we will advance.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/30/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Music That Warms The Heart

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should the music at the convention be like so it would really warm people’s hearts?

Answer: Joyful music is not mindless partying. Rather, it has to awaken a good feeling within me, sympathy for what is happening. At the convention, as well as every day, we must imagine our future state that we aspire to, from which we want to receive an illumination, a glow, an influence. Let the Light that reforms come from there and draw us there.

Looking at something beautiful, I am automatically drawn to it. But in this case I have to imagine the beauty myself, as an exercise before and during the convention. In December we will immerse ourselves in the world of the future for 72 hours. We have a single vessel in which a general bestowing force becomes revealed and we all dwell in mutual bestowal.

What do we discover by that other than a feeling of euphoria? What are our relationships? How do we interact in the family, among friends, at work (with our coworkers, employees, and employers), in the economy of the new generation, in ecology, in society? We are entering a new world and are starting to check its details: culture, upbringing, science, our attitude to all kinds of things…

And that’s where music can help us develop the right approach to life. And it doesn’t matter if it has words or not.

However, music should not draw me to any sad thoughts, to anything reminding me of a descent or despair. And this prohibition is effective in our day-to-day work as well. Sad music, the left line can only be used if I have built a strong right line ahead of time and am in it. As Baal HaSulam writes, only half an hour a day can be spent on critical self-analysis, on the condition that I worked in the right line for 23.5 hours.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/11, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Uneasiness Before The Convention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the fear that needs to be felt before the large upcoming convention in December?

Answer: Uneasiness before the convention is the anxiety and fear that I will not carry out what I have to according to the program of creation, which defines who I am, the qualities with which I have been created, and how I can participate and invest the most of myself to accelerate the development of the entire spiritual vessel.

Every person must feel responsible for the development of the entire common vessel, and this is referred to as the measure of my bestowal to the Creator. We need to concern ourselves with this and understand that everything only depends on me.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/30/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Not Just Like Nuts In A Bag

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When there is a disaster or a war, people unite and help each other, they take in people who are hurt, and it’s as if there is mutual guarantee between us. How can we explain that mutual guarantee should simply be between us and not against some third party?

Answer: I think that now our interdependence will be revealed not because some disaster unites us. In the past we felt our mutual guarantee under the pressure of threats around us, and so we clung together, like nuts in a bag. We didn’t want to unite, but the bag held us together, and as we had no other choice, we had to exist inside one bag.

Today things are different. Today we are facing nature, the upper force, and not some corporeal enemy that surrounds us and can be killed and destroyed. Nature shows me that I depend on and am tied to everyone else. If I just lived next to some enemy, it wouldn’t be a problem. The point is that I am totally dependent on him. I am so dependent on him that I can do him no harm. As I harm him with my hatred, I inflict harm upon myself.

A system of interdependence is being revealed to us everywhere in the world and with regards to everything. In every situation that I cause someone harm, I harm myself in return. This is how the general integral system is revealed. Essentially, every person in the world is part of me, and through him I feel all the evil that comes back to me.

Doesn’t Germany want to dump Greece or to be cut off from it? But it can’t! They can’t just “cut off” Greece, Italy, or Spain because there is already a connection that makes them dependent on everyone. You can’t just hate others because by your hate you are simply “shooting yourself in the foot.”

This is unprecedented, and so everyone feels so helpless not knowing what to do: “I hate his guts, but I can’t even touch him because of the blow that will immediately come back to me.” We can’t “fix” the situation by breaking up our connections. It is impossible!

If I harm someone, the harm will come back to me in much greater magnitude than if I harmed myself. It’s also the same in the opposite direction: If I do good for others, the goodness comes back to me 613 times more compared to the starting point, meaning instead of Nefesh of Nefesh, I receive the Light of NRNHY.

So I shouldn’t say or think evil things about anyone, not even half a word. It’s better to curse myself. This will become clear to everyone. This is how globalization will oblige us to change.

To reach this by ourselves, we will have to go through a long way of suffering, while the wisdom of Kabbalah reveals this to us much more quickly.
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From Lesson 1 at Arava Convention 10/27/2011

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The World Is Already Mutually Connected, So What About Us?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We mostly work in our local groups. How can we divide our exertion correctly between the work in the group and joint activities with other groups?

Answer: First, we have to try to be part of the general plan, according to which eventually all our groups throughout the world have to feel as one big group. The problem is that we don’t have enough people, specifically project managers. We have to organize the work so that every group should take part in the general process, according to the character of the country and region.

Now for example, the world experiences a period of uprisings, and we have to get all our groups to work in response to it. This, of course, has to be done considering the local conditions, gently, reasonably, and in an understanding way. It cannot be that one group wants to deal with it and another doesn’t. After all, it is the present need. If the world already feels that it’s mutually connected, we have to treat it as a group. It may not understand the situation yet, it may be confused, but it has already been formed.

The spiritual system is being revealed today, Malchut of the world of Assiya, and so everyone already acknowledges global unity. Once it was perceived differently, but now it’s exactly this way. Kabbalists used to say that the wisdom of Kabbalah will be revealed at the end of the 20th century because Malchut of the world of Assiya descends into our world. We can describe it differently: It is revealed from inside, like a net that rises from the bottom of the ocean and closes up on us, the small fish that are caught within it.

This is the situation in the world today. We are in this net, but we are in it willingly, unlike the others because it leads them to a crisis. This is why we have to do our best to explain to those caught in the net: “This isn’t the end of the world at all. We can’t escape this net anymore, don’t even dream about it. We can understand its laws and use them in our favor. If we understand the situation, we will attain pleasure, eternity, wholeness, and a wonderful new life. Things won’t be the same. So let’s see what it’s all about. After all, we have no other choice.”

We have to “advertise” the new reality. Today politicians, experts, and leading scientists already talk about it. This is our work with regards to the world and our groups.

Many of us are still worried about our own problems. A person wants to attain the spiritual world and doesn’t see it in connection to others. I remember how I personally found it hard to digest this idea. I heard and read about it a lot and still couldn’t connect it directly to myself. “What’s written there is one thing, and I am another thing.” A person can use nice words externally, but internally treat the world in a totally different way. So only the general force of the group that operates on all of us together can gradually lead us to the right understanding.

Today we rise to a new level. Previously, everyone made his personal calculations: “If everyone studies, I will join them too, in order to attain spirituality.” Then we began to speak a little about the connection in the group, that it’s the only way by which the spiritual world can be attained. This isn’t simple, and we haven’t totally agreed to that either.

Now we are facing a new and more advanced condition, and we can’t slow down the process of evolution. It doesn’t depend on us. We only agree that if the process is headed in this direction, we will go along with it because there is no other choice.

Today the same problem is revealed all over the world. But it manifests differently in the world and seems to turn it in our direction. People are beginning to suffer from being connected to each other. We want it in the group and at the same time can’t reach this mutual connection. It’s the opposite in the world. The connection ties everyone together against their will. If the group also went in this direction, things would be much easier.

But we don’t see that we are connected to each other. We are living like isolated islands in the ocean of humanity. It discovers a tightly growing connection from which there is no escape, whereas we, in the groups, seem to be totally disconnected.

This is how we are obliged to connect willingly and independently and to build the general network between us. I have to connect it myself. Within the huge network of souls, our groups are free of the strings of the general system. Thus, we are given the opportunity to connect to the network using our own powers and to create these connections. This is our work.

Let’s hope that we can explain this better to ourselves, including those who have “moved aside” because they can’t accept this situation. This is why I have great expectations for the December convention. After all, today the whole world is already mutually tied while we aren’t. This means that it is we who have to get ready for the connection and shout: “Let’s unite!”

We have to see that the world is more corrected than we are. Everyone is connected from Above without any preparation. They are simply “caught in the net.” We, however, have to discover this net and to build it by ourselves, and then our “islands” will draw the whole world to them and will teach it how to function correctly in the new spiritual mechanism.

Let’s hope we will succeed in making an important step in this direction in the coming convention.
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From Lesson 1 at Arava Convention 10/27/2011

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The Convention Is A Breakthrough

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: A few days ago we held a wonderful dissemination action of giving out newspapers. People immediately started reading them with great interest, which made us extremely happy. How can we retain that happiness and bring it to the December convention?

Answer: We are living in a big world which is rushing toward a new state. People are starting to understand that something has gone awry even though they’re not exactly sure what that is. Every person is yelling about his own concerns, and that is natural. That is how we are built: From the youngest age, we do not even suspect what we are really crying about. People are sounding calls for equality and social justice; the only problem is that everyone has their own idea of justice.

However, the pressure will continue growing and expanding. We will see how the relationships between nations and civilizations will add fuel to the fire and it will get even hotter.

For us, this is a completely clear sign that we have to start acting. With time, people won’t simply wait for new materials from us. They will feel that Light is flowing here, that this is where life lingers. Right now they are inspired by the lively, warm, smart words that are helping them figure out what is happening and to gain at least a slight understanding of what they want, what they are yelling about. By reading about it, they are making an order of things inside of them. A person felt bad, and now he understands exactly what the problem is, what he should aspire to, and what he should be watchful of.

In essence, we are “formatting” or building people from within. But this is only good for a start. Back in your day you were also brought to Kabbalah by a certain inexplicable desire. But then comes a period when the Light has to appear. It is what will bring the changes. We cannot drag this out for too long because otherwise the Light will become revealed in the opposite form, as disasters, epidemics, and other catastrophes on a global scale. A long time ago, the prophets wrote about how dangerous this path is.

Therefore, we have to take care of the Light that reforms. This Light only comes from unity, which does not exist in our world. After all, we are animals, but if we unite the points in our hearts, not our bodies, but precisely these particles of the Creator, our spiritual aspirations, if we try to weld them into one, then we evoke the Light that reforms. It is contained or concealed inside of this unity.

Once this Light appears, it will unite us. Then our dissemination will shift to a new level. It will no longer be newspapers and websites, but we will become revealed in people from within. Without understanding why, they will start asking questions about mutual guarantee and Kabbalah, and will start to look for us under the guiding influence of the Light. You came to the group accidentally, as it were, and likewise, they too will turn around, not exactly in our direction, but in the right direction nevertheless.

The world is moving forward more and more swiftly. And that is a huge mass of people. On one hand, they are feeling worse and worse, and on the other, a good solution is starting to take shape before them. Therefore, the upcoming convention will have to unite our points and reveal the Light which will pour out of us like a spring of living water and fill the whole world. That is exactly what we must achieve.

We have to prepare in such a way that the convention will become a flash of Light, a breakthrough of the spiritual force which will aim the world toward goodness with one blow. Then we will immediately feel how the world is changing, right during the days of the convention and onward.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/11, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Creating The Model Of A New World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: At the December Convention, we want to celebrate the birth of a new world. What should we concentrate on?

Answer: We must unite for the sake of the values that we want to highlight at the convention. Day by day, we should put more and more effort to feel ourselves living in a new world. We need to play it, imagine it in the relationships between us, in all our thoughts and actions.

As Baal HaSulam writes, we must create a model of the new society, which will form the basis of the new world and will allow everyone to learn from our example. So, let us first discover this new world between us. Then we will see how opportunities that we have never dreamed of open up for us in communal life, industry, commerce, education, and so on.

We don’t really understand these stages, so leave them to the Light. If you do what you can, everything else will work out. Our job is to exert effort, and opportunities will open. All our efforts need to be directed at the new world, new relationships, new society. This work should take each moment of our lives, setting the tone and creating a mood in dissemination, in the preparation for the convention, and in the relationships between the groups so that we feel ourselves as one group more and more….

Every day we should see to the growing unity and bridge the gap between the desired and current reality. If we still see negative phenomena in the world, this means that we have not achieved the correction between us. And this is the only reason.

After all, humanity develops according to what has been prepared for it, while we have freedom of choice and the ability to attract the Light, which then pours onto the entire world and establishes order in it. Thus, the convention is nearing, and everything is very serious.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/30/2011, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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The Real Work Is Internal

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I’ve been studying Kabbalah for a few years, and it’s clear to me that what matters most is my internal work. However, it still seems to me that I don’t really understand what it is. Will you explain in greater detail what our internal work is?

Answer: My internal work is to try as hard as I can to join the collective internal work of creating the vessel for the reception of the Light. The end of an action is in its initial thought. First, I yearn for the state in which I reveal the Creator. What is that state? It’s the state in which several points in the heart join together. If I create the right unified system with these points in which the power of bestowal resides, I will discover the force called the “Creator” in it. I will discover Him according to the level of our unity.

So our internal work is about unity, mutual guarantee. It is said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself is the great rule of the Torah.” A rule (Klal) is the vessel (Kli) that contains all the Light. This is the only thing I need, and this is why I stay focused on it.

I try to do different things that will lead to the internal unity of the points in our hearts. I look for opportunities to unite and to awaken the friends towards it. I am concerned about all of us being in one intention, thought, about being inspired and connected so that the fire among us will burn. Then we will reveal the Creator there.

His revelation is the only thing we need. The essence of the entire wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the created being in this world.
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From Lesson 2 at Arava Convention 10/28/2011

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Questions About The Need To Act And The Forthcoming Convention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: At one of your recent lectures you said that we have to act. What do you mean?

Answer: As the world becomes more interconnected and integral, for our well-being in it, our interconnection must assume the same form. Experience shows that we are already lagging behind the interconnected world, and that is why our actions become more and more erroneous. We need to learn the new structure of the world and correspond to it. This is a guarantee of success in life.

Question: Is it possible to prepare teenagers for the convention? They have a good desire to join the Mutual Guarantee (Arvut) movement in the future. Today, it is difficult with these children. I want my second son to be able to participate in the preparation for the convention, not with adults, but with children like him.

Answer: You have to call and solve this matter with the organizers; I am sure that your son will find his place and activity during the preparation for and at the convention.

Question: It is difficult to gather in one place in such large countries like Mexico. How important is it to get together physically in one place at least once a year?

Answer: It is desirable, as much as it is reasonably possible, to gather in groups, and as large as possible.
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Arava Convention – 10.28.11

Arava Convention, Lesson 2
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