Entries in the 'Conventions' Category

Ask For Others

239One must not exclude oneself from the public and ask for oneself, not even to bring contentment to one’s maker, but only for the entire public.

One who departs from the public to ask specifically for one’s own soul does not build. On the contrary, he inflicts ruin upon his soul (Baal HaSulam, “Not The Time For The Livestock To Be Gathered”). 

We must clearly understand that we cannot ask for ourselves! To ask the Creator to lift me up or to bring me closer to Him is pure egoism.

How should I address Him? By asking only for the group, only for its sake, only as a part of it, within it! If I want to advance my friends, I can turn to the Creator. But if I think of my own advancement, it is best not to turn to Him.

When I ask for myself, I destroy my soul. But when I ask for everyone else, I assemble it because there is one soul for everyone. This is the one common Kli of Adam; the only thing we need to think about. After all, a private soul was given to me so that I would constantly be concerned about assembling the common soul.

It is prohibited to be disconnected from the friends, mutual assistance, and mutual support. We cannot live outside of it.
[293816]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility Lesson 6

Related Material:
True Prayer
I Am Asking For My Brothers
Giving Contentment To Others Gives Contentment To The Creator

Prayer Is Essential For Everything

625.02Question: What is the role of prayer in revealing the laws of mutual guarantee?

Answer: Prayer is essential for everything.

We must observe it, develop it, and understand that only with the help of our appeal to the Creator can we move from degree to degree.

If we wait and do not turn to Him, this slows down our development very much.
[293550]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility” Lesson 6

Related Material:
What Is Prayer?
Write A Prayer
Preparation For A Prayer

Let The Light Affect Us

282.02Question: If I start loving a friend whom I hated a minute ago, then it knocks the strength out of me. How do I deal with it?

Answer: There is no way to deal with it. There’s nothing you can do. This is the action of the upper light that can turn you over like this every minute.

And you must always be in the direction, in the intention, toward this light, to the quality of bestowal. And then you won’t have any problems.

You will perceive everything very easily, you will be pleased in all your states.

Question: All I have is only egoism, the ugliness of which I can still understand. So, on what basis should I bring the greatness of the Creator to the group?

Answer: On the basis of constant work on yourself. Based on the fact that your group will be present at lessons all the time, and this way you constantly move forward.

It won’t all fall on you in one go, just regular studies. We need to let the light affect us, and this takes time.
[293542]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Deriving the Greatness of the Goal from the Friends” Lesson 4

Related Material:
What Is the Upper Light?
How Do You Measure The Upper Light?
How Can We Draw The Upper Light?

I Want To Be A Servant Of The Creator

237Rabash, “What Does It Mean that One Should Bear a Son and a Daughter, in the Work?”: The work above reason should be unconditional surrender.

A person should say, “I want to be a servant of the Creator even though I have no idea about the work and I feel no flavor in the work. Nevertheless, I am willing to work with all my might as though I have attainment and feeling and flavor in the work, and I am willing to work unconditionally.”

This is exactly how we must act. Despite the fact that I do not understand and I do not know and I do not feel, and in general I do not want to, I must constantly force myself to do this. As a result, such work in faith above reason, meaning despite my egoistic desires, leads to the revelation of the Creator.

As a result of our efforts, we create such a Kli (vessel), such desires, intentions, and conditions in which we can reveal all this with our own eyes.

I do not want to stop at the level of a purely theoretical depiction. I want to reach a state where the quality of bestowal and love of the Creator is really revealed within me.

I am preparing myself for connection with the next higher degree, which in relation to me is called the Creator.
[293500]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

Related Material:
Devotion To The Opposite Nature
Working At The Creator’s Farm
Preparation For The Work Of The Creator

On The Path To Spiritual Love

276.02Question: Has the world group already passed the stage of what you yourself hate, do not do to your neighbor? Or are we in two stages: to love and to hate?

Answer: I think that at least we have dealt with hatred. It is clear to each of us that there should be no place for hatred among us! Then we will think about love.

Question: What is spiritual love?

Answer: Spiritual love is the highest connection between people or between people and the Creator, which can only be at the level of the absence of any actions and thoughts about oneself, but only for the sake of the Creator.
[293456]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

Related Material:
Spiritual Love
The Spiritual Love Triangle
Absolute Love Or How To Find A Soulmate

Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 1/7/22, Part 2

962.6Question: How can I check whether I am causing harm to the society?

Answer: We have to check and adjust ourselves so we act solely for the benefit of the group.

Question: Why should a person try to become the lowly part of the body and not its higher part like a heart or a head?

Answer: Because one needs to annul oneself.

Question: Yesterday I heard that we are not annulling our egoism, but are rising above it. Today I hear that we are to annul our egoism. Could you please explain?

Answer: You can hear many different things: how we destroy something, burn it, behead it, and so on. Here we mean intentions for our own sake. But desires themselves remain, and we correct them by adding the correct intentions to them.

Question: When I annul myself in the ten, I feel the state of light, happiness, joy, and love. How do I know that this is not egoistic joy but that it comes from the Creator?

Answer: Enter the group again with these desires and intentions and check if this is perceived correctly by all the friends. Then you will know.

Question: Does the process of annulment, growth, and birth repeat itself?

Answer: It is a repetitive process at each degree. It is, of course, in different qualities but at each degree.

Question: What remains of a person after he has managed to annul himself in an ideal way?

Answer: What remains is a Kli (vessel) that gets filled with the upper light, the revelation of the Creator.

Question: What does it mean to ascend if our goal is to bring contentment to the Creator? What should I think about when I annul myself?

Answer: Think exactly about this: I am doing this in order to bring contentment to the Creator, to become equal to Him, close to Him, and to adhere to Him.

Question: What should I do if I no longer understand what annulment is? Is it that I ask the Creator for the friends as a great one asks for the small ones because this is adhesion with the Creator?

Answer: Annulment is when I replace my concerns with the concerns of the group. This is called annulment. Everything else is just words.

Question: If at least one friend in the ten does not annul himself, will the ten not be able to feel the Creator?

Answer: It does not matter. The main thing is that there should be at least two friends who can annul before each other.

Question: If a person successfully annuls himself through the group, does this allow him to create a personal Kli?

Answer: Of course. I cannot be responsible for others. I am trying to do everything I can by annulling myself toward others.

Question: How can we not confuse annulment with indifference or laziness?

Answer: Annulment is not laziness and indifference. In order to annul, I have to work very seriously on myself.

Question: What qualities strengthen the desire of everyone to annul before the ten?

Answer: By what he sees in the friends.
[293363]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

Related Material:
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 1/7/22, Part 1
Annulment Is The Condition For Revelation Of The Creator
Creative Annulment Before The Friends

Cling To The Friends

938.02Question: At workshops you often ask questions about the importance of measuring closeness to the friends, connection between them, caring for the friends, etc. And each time it makes us very upset, we get lost, because it is completely incomprehensible how to measure emotions in changing situations. So what is the purpose of these questions? And how can we properly approach working with them?

Answer: It is good that you are worried and feel that you do not perceive the questions and cannot give an answer to them. It’s already good! And then we will continue like this until a real feeling comes to you.

Question: It seems that all my efforts and ability to do the right things are not my own actions, but are the result of the group’s influence on me. So how can I stick to a group when I don’t feel their influence?

Answer: Just stick to it as you can, internally. There is no other way out. Start working on it all the time! And suddenly you will find yourself glued to the group.
[293491]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

Related Material:
Raise The Friends In Your Eyes
The Creator Is Behind The Friends
My Heart Is In The Hands Of The Friends

What Separates Us From The Creator?

260.01Question: We say that initially my nature is egoism, and only a small point, a point in the heart, connects me with the Creator.

Now I have heard that we must come to a state where I am completely in bestowal and a small egoistic point is only the difference between me and the Creator. Is there a revolution going on here, or are they two different things?

Answer: No. I correct my egoism for bestowal, and I only have what initially, according to the Creator’s plan, separates me from Him—the desire to receive from the desire to bestow.

But everything that concerns my primordial desire to receive, I build in the likeness of the Creator. This will be the attainment of the Creator in me, the revelation of the Creator.

That is, these are the nine Sefirot. And Malchut is not corrected by itself because the desire to receive remains in it. It works only in reflected light, giving, rejecting, making restriction (Tzimtzum), and so on.
[293452]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

Related Material:
125 Steps From Me To The Creator
Knowing The Rules Of The Creator’s Game
There Is No Choice!

It All Depends On Sincere Desire

3Question: Is it possible to help a person who does not see the greatness of his friends who believes that they have been sitting for decades without achieving anything?

Answer: We can help a person only by doing everything that is up to us, besides this, everything is in the hands of the Creator. If it were necessary to speed us up in our work, the Creator would have done it. But if He does not do this, we need to strive to move toward the goal within our framework. When this doesn’t happen, we have to agree with that, too.

Nevertheless, in our time we are still advancing. I see that we are moving forward from congress to congress, and doing it well. I’m happy for you. In general, we are already talking about positive steps forward, about actions toward each other and toward the Creator. I think you’re doing a great job.

If you want to get to final correction (Gmar Tikkun), I support it, but I can’t help you in any way. It depends on your sincere desire, but there is no sincere desire yet because every day it needs to be formed inside you all more and more.

A sincere desire for correction lies between us in the same way as the Creator’s quality lies in love and bestowal. That’s all. There is no need to imagine final correction in any other way.
[293459]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Deriving the Greatness of the Goal from the Friends” Lesson 4

Related Material:
Desire And Aspiration
The Duality Of The Light And The Desire
Working In Two Directions

The Problem Is That We Can’t Hear!

49.01Question: It seems to us that it is so easy to annul and see the friends above ourselves. Why is it easier for some friends and more difficult for others?

Answer: This is not as difficult to do as it is difficult to start hearing. Hear! There are people who seem to have heard about it, but it has not reached them yet. It may take several years or even decades until from the ear it reaches the middle of the brain, descends to the heart, and then from the heart rises again to the brain. And it takes thousands of years for humanity.

The problem is we do not hear! That is, we hear these words, but they do not reach us. We do not understand and do not accept their inner meaning. We cannot connect the correction of the world in any way with our attitude toward the group, let alone all of humanity.

We cannot accept that my attitude toward the group, my correction, and my friends’ correction really corrects the world, corrects me, and reveals the Creator in me. I cannot hear it, I cannot agree with it. Even if I hear and shake my head, it still  flies away from me later.

Therefore, mutual guarantee is needed, precisely in this, so that everyone in the group tries to work on absorbing the concept of rapprochement and love your neighbor.
[293315]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

Related Material:
Listen To The Creator’s Hints
Everyone Will Hear The Creator’s Voice
“Do His Will As Your Own”