Question: What should we do in order to reform the negative attitude among the friends into an understanding that everything is initiated by the Creator?

Answer: It’s very simple. As soon as I feel there are some problems between us, specifically between us, I can immediately call on and directly draw the upper force which will make peace and harmony between us, as it is written: “He who makes peace in heaven makes peace between us.” I as if can make or force Him; I can understand why it is occurring between us and why He does it.

Generally speaking, you can make claims to Him only so that you get corrected. As to what happens between us, I should say: “All of this is my fault, and no one else is to blame in any way.”

Suppose I feel tension, some kind of conflict, between you and me. It is not because you are corrupted. Sages say that everyone who judges another does so in the degree of his own egoism, in the extent of his own corrupted nature. Looking at you, I always see you as bad when, in fact, it is my own reflection in you.

Therefore, I must always demand correction. Until I see you as perfect, I am not transformed. And all of this pertains only to our interconnection, the goal of which is to come to the Creator.

One can feel this only when he enters the group which enthusiastically works with this, understands that this is where the purpose of its existence is contained, exists solely to work out within all possible interactions, and comprehends that while doing so, it transforms all of creation and plows the soil for others.

After all, we are part of the integral system, its root, the “cap.” Today, we are the groundbreakers in the new generation that will be the first in mass to unveil the upper world. In other words, we lay the groundwork for the rest of humanity.

What takes place among us should be treated creatively, as in a laboratory. We should view ourselves as experimenters and relate to ourselves, to egoism that arises in us, as if it’s something supplementary or foreign that we should experiment on. We should treat it just like the Creator does: from the side.

As soon as I start treating my egoism as something aside, having fully risen over all problems that will have appear in me, then will I exit Egypt. And afterwards, I start unveiling the Creator, but not all at once since it’s not that simple. In the beginning, I am in the process of the correction of my desires. This is regarded as “forty years of wandering in the desert,” but it is something totally new. In truth, I battle with egoism in the desert in order to conquer it and create between us the property of bestowal, the attribute of Bina.
[33822]
From Lesson 2 in Moscow 1/16/2011, “A Prayer of Many”

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Berlin Convention, Dr. Laitman’s Introductory Talk, Lesson 1
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Berlin Convention, Opening Ceremony
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Berlin Convention, “Man and the Laws of Nature,” Lesson 2
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Berlin Convention, “Man and the Laws of Nature,” Lesson 3
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Berlin Convention, “The Basics of Spiritual Work,” Lesson 4
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Berlin Convention, “Kabbalah As a Social Science, Lesson 5
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Berlin Convention, Friends Meeting 1
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Question: In your opinion, what is freedom? And are you free?

Answer: In my opinion, freedom is absolute similarity to the Creator, when I do not have any other desires but His. This is because the Creator is the absolute law of nature. It is not somebody from the skies, but an enormous law of nature that surrounds the entire nature and controls everything, all of its parts, including me.

And I exist in an absolute prison. Imagine yourself completely tied up. Your nervous system is not able to handle it, you are losing your mind; it is awful! This is your state when you are opposite to the Creator. But when together with Him you reach similarity to Him, His understanding, and balance, you suddenly feel that all these chains, these limitations, disappear.

Like a cogwheel, you are locked in from all sides with all other cogwheels. You are not able to move anywhere; you are not able to do anything at all! And suddenly you feel that specifically your understanding of the Creator, your agreeing with Him brings you to balance, a joyful state when you simply do not need anything else. What a relief!

This already is a state of “Hassadim (Mercy),” a state of  faith. You do not need anything else but corresponding to Him in properties. And no matter what happens, it is Him influencing you with the only purpose of giving you the opportunity to find an even greater possibility to correspond to Him.

Once all His different influences touch you, and you find your similarity to all of them, now nothing can affect you and make you fail to be similar to the Creator: You have attained the state of absolute bestowal, Bina. Now you feel completely free.

What does “completely free” mean? You are under the Creator’s complete power just like before, but you agree with Him completely of your own will, and not against it because you realize that everything must be this way and not the other. You find yourself in absolute harmony, in unison with Him. This is the state of Bina, when nothing is lacking!

The next type of work only begins after this. We call it reception for the sake of bestowal.
[33105]
From Lesson1 in Moscow 1/14/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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Question: Who belongs to the human level of development, and who to the animate one? Does this depend on the region where a person lives?

Answer: This has nothing to do with any corporeal parameters. The still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature exist in all the people living on Earth. And every person must reach his perfect state at the end of his or her development.

The key issue here is one’s aspiration towards it, which absolutely does not depend on any of us. All souls are gathered together in their initial state, in the initial informational record, referred to as Reshimo in Kabbalah. And every one of us has a place in this hierarchy of souls.

For this reason, when the time comes and a point in this global mechanism must begin its development, the person who possesses this point feels a certain pressure, and this pushes him forward. And the only thing that depends on him is the speed of realization of this Reshimo and its kind: good and fast or slow and evil. Nothing else is up to him.

So, in every region there can be people who are already striving towards spirituality. And this does not depend on one’s location or quality of life.

In Europe we have found a lesser number of people like this so far; the most are in South America and Russia. But, generally, they live everywhere: in China, Iran, Japan, Africa, Australia. We have students everywhere; they are of different races, nationalities, and social levels. And we are not able to foresee which ones are yet to strive ahead, how they will do it, and when. This is completely unpredictable.

We do not know the order of development of every part of the common soul. Just like an embryo in a mother’s womb develops in a certain order, the parts of the single collective soul of humanity, all of us, also develop in the same order. Every individual soul also develops according to the same image and similarity to the collective soul.

Question: Can we say that if the question about the purpose of life has appeared in a person, in other words, that if he has acquired a point in the heart, it means that he is already working with the “human” level?

Answer: Yes, if he has acquired a point in the heart, and he is beginning to ask about the purpose of life from within it, he is already working on the “human” level.

But he can “conserve” himself on this level for many years. Practically, he will not be able to do anything if he does not find himself in a group, near authentic sources, and next to a teacher. Regrettably, there are people like this, and it saddens me to see them. They were with us, and then they stepped away and froze. I hope to see them back soon.
[33127]
From Lesson 1 from Moscow 1/14/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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The convention in Berlin is about to begin. Our intention has to be simple: I wish to unite with the others and through this unity, receive new, additional, greater forces that will help me see the entire reality within. I wish to feel that all that was not mine is mine, everything external is internal, and that the Creator is also within. I wish to unveil everything within me and treat the creation as my internal world, even if it’s egoistically for now.

Question: So, instead of exercising the principle of “There is none else besides Him,” I should say: “There is none else besides me?”

Answer: True, there is none else but you. The Creator, the friends are all within me; all of it is me. One should tell himself: “The world was created for me.”

You may object to this: “I bring everyone within, but still treat them egoistically. It is as if I have found my children. Previously, I didn’t know they were mine, but now I discover it is so. Then, naturally, I will love them, if only expanding my egoistic Kelim (vessels) and considering what advantage it will give me. So, I am simply cultivating my will to receive, aren’t I?”

Don’t worry. While you’re at it, you will also feel the force of resistance, and then unification with the friends will not become another dab of selfish desires. To the contrary, it will be done above your egoism. Oneness is formed one degree higher.
[33773]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can a working woman with children combine preparation for the convention with daily domestic chores?

Answer: I advise her to listen to our programs while doing domestic chores; she can do so by turning on our television channel or Internet site. For a woman, it is easier to accomplish: she can switch on the TV and continue working around the house. This alone puts a person under the influence of the right environment.

In addition, if it is possible, open my blog and read it daily; as much as the time allows, enter the Sviva Tova (Good Environment—the worldwide Internet connection) site and answer the questions. Usually, a woman’s time is more limited than a man’s; but if she finds the time for all of this, then she should try listening to Kabbalistic music.

If a person is eager but can’t find time to do more, then such conditions are arranged for him or her from Above, and it is enough for preparation. And the rest we will do together at the convention.
[23868]
From the Introductory Lecture Series Kabbalah for the Nation 10/12/10, “Preparation for the Convention”

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The created being is desire. The Creator or Light created the desire, the Kli (vessel), that matches Him. To the extent of His desire to please, fulfill, evoke the sensation of kindness, warmth, and overall good, He created a need directed towards Him, a need for His properties which He wants to be manifested in His creation.

But to make sure that this desire does not become automatic, that it operates, strives to be like the Light, and feels its existence, the mind develops next to it. The mind is an outcome, and this is why it is the main human characteristic: “What do you desire?” This does not refer to a natural desire; it is what I envision as a good state in my mind.

The difference between the desired and the actual is the vector of all our actions. People are judged according to this criterion: the direction of their actions, aspirations, and hopes. Our actions do not become realized on their own, but rather under the influence of the environment. The next optimal state can be unconditioned, and we select it under the influence of the environment. This way, the environment where we find ourselves forms us and our future.

And this is why man is given the mind and a sensation of lack. Now, he can use the environment to direct himself towards the next state which he himself chooses.

The vector of aspirations and its volume characterizes us. This is why we never judge a person according to his current state: It was evoked in him from Above. Instead, we evaluate a person according to the actions he performs in relation to his environment, with the purpose of evoking in him a certain direction of thoughts and desires for a new state.

And this is why we need to create an environment around us, which will precisely define our future state, the state that we aspire to. According to this future image that imagination paints to us, we evaluate ourselves and the group from a distance and ahead of time.

Just like the group, a person is only judged according to the vector: the direction of his aspiration and its strength. If a group wants to control itself, if a person wants to understand his direction, he always needs to see the next expected image before him. He needs to focus his attention solely on it, live only in it. Then our advancement will be quick, and the thoughts and Reshimot (informational data) arising in us will manifest immediately.

And this is why one’s primary task is to work on thought, imagine the next states as correctly and as vividly as possible. The thought creates and builds our future. It is the foundation of our action, and this way it brings it to reality.
[33133]
From Lesson 2 in Moscow 1/17/2011, Shamati

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On January 27, 2011, I will hold a public lecture in Berlin. The lecture starts at 7 P.M. local time and takes place in Logenhaus, Emser Str. 12-13, 10719 Berlin-Wilmersdorf. During the lecture, you will be able to ask your innermost questions and take a fresh look at our life and the world around you.
[4283]

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Question: In a few days I will come to the convention where I will meet people whom I have never seen before, who speak different languages, and belong to other cultures. What do I have to convey to them and what do I have to receive from them in order to hold on to the thread that leads into spirituality?

Answer: You have to give each other mutual support, the understanding that if we inspire each other, then we will attain the goal. Don’t count on the Creator or some “kind God.” We see that the whole world cries out to Him, but did this ever help anybody? You can only turn to the group.

When you turn to the group and desire to reveal love and unity among all of you, that will mean that you have revealed the Creator. The Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, or the Temple is the common Kli, the common soul of the group, the nation, or the whole world. It is our unification. The Creator does not exist outside of the creatures. He is called the Creator (Boreh) because you reveal Him (“Come and See,”  Bo–Reh) inside of the common, integral, connected Kli or desire.

With this intention I come to the group or travel to the convention where I want to tell everyone, “Guys, do we want to reveal the Creator? Then where can we see Him? Where is our unity!? How does each one of us inspire and get inspired by the unity between us, meaning from the Creator, from spirituality? Can every person receive such a force from our common unification that he will fortify himself and become included back in it even stronger!?”

This will mean that we have made contact with the Creator. The Creator is our common force, the force that consolidates us!

Say there are ten of us and each one has a force of 100 pounds. Do you think that we have a common force of 100×10, meaning 1000 pounds? That is not so. Because we have united together and canceled our ego in order to come closer and unite, instead of a thousand pounds of force, we have received a million! That’s because we worked against egoism, against hatred for others, and have attained love for everyone. This effort had to go somewhere. We didn’t just add or sum up our pounds because we had to exert a great amount of effort to achieve this.

Suppose we are collecting money for some shared activity in dissemination. I don’t just throw money into the common pot, but I work against my ego and various calculations. If I simply spent that money, I wouldn’t even notice it. But I cannot force myself to pay it to the group, to the common affair. Anything but this! I am ready to burn it, to spend it so tomorrow I won’t even remember where it went, yet I will know that I still did something for my own enjoyment.

But when I give money to the group, it costs me 100 times more, so it’s as if I’m not giving $500, but $50,000! That’s the kind of effort I make. Therefore, if unification is created for the sake of revealing the Creator, mutual bestowal, then inside of it I reveal enormous forces. This isn’t just us “pitching in” to the common fund because besides our personal contributions that fund contains one more additional, “consolidating” component.

There is one more “bonus” or addition to the account whose might is a billion times greater than the sum of the contributions. This is the force that each person receives from the group because it divides into everyone, but does not get any smaller!

That is why we get together at conventions and other meetings: in order to extract that common, “consolidating” component. Each one of us receives it for himself, for his own correction.
[33698]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/11, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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