Question: Why are there friends in the ten who do not participate in its life?

Answer: We must accept and realize that there is a place for this too. After all, we ourselves have such qualities that we can work a bit toward bestowal with some of them and with others absolutely in no way. We see the same thing in friends. Try to bring them closer nevertheless. This will all be corrected.

Question: Is it possible to use envy for a great friend who is not in our ten or in collective work of dissemination?

Answer: Yes. If he is really engaged in spiritual work and you are in contact with him, then you can envy him. But this will not replace your relation to the ten that you must cling to with all your “claws.”
[293634]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Deriving the Greatness of the Goal from the Friends” Lesson 4

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Question: Am I demanding the conditions of the mutual guarantee (Arvut) to be fulfilled only from myself or also from my friends?

Answer: From the friends too. You must agree between yourselves because we will implement the conditions in the group that Baal HaSulam and Rabash explain.

But still, we must take into account how difficult it is because people who come to Kabbalah can be very different. I know from my own experience that by the time I realized these conditions and felt their necessity, a lot of time had passed.

Question: In what form can I demand mutual guarantee?

Answer: We make an agreement between us that we are obliged to be in mutual guarantee. If we try to fulfill its conditions, then we begin to attain the Creator.

The meaning of mutual guarantee is to provide each of us with such a spiritual Kli, such a vessel in which one can reveal the entire universe, including the Creator. That is, mutual guarantee means connection of all the broken parts of the soul of Adam.
[293466]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility” Lesson 6

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And the most important is the prayer. That is, one must pray to the Creator to help him go above reason, meaning that the work should be with gladness, as though he has already been rewarded with the reason of Kedusha, and what joy he would feel then (Rabash, Article No. 12 (1991), “These Candles are Sacred”).

The main thing is the appeal to the Creator. Do everything you can. Imagine our world filled with the Creator. Act as if you are inside Him. This is how you treat your friends but not everyone else.

Raise yourself to the level of faith above reason and develop it within the group.

Ask the Creator to help us rise above our state in the quality of bestowal, above what we see in our world and in ourselves within reason. This is called faith above reason. And this work should be in joy as if it had already been awarded.

Question: What is the point of prayer if you believe that the Creator is good and does good? Who am I to disagree with this and see it differently?

Answer: Why disagree? It is precisely based on the fact you assume that He is kind and does good that you can ask to be given states where you could be like Him.

Question: If I ask to see my friends as the greatest of the generation, does the Creator answer such a prayer?

Answer: Sure. Asking to see your friends as perfect is the best prayer.

Question: What does it mean to pray all day? Is it a thought, an approach, a feeling, or an action?

Answer: This is the perception of the world in which the Creator rules. If I treat this world and the Creator this way, this is prayer. I want to be in this world filled with the Creator and constantly connected to the group.
[293462]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

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Question: What advances my friends in the ten in the best way: my internal work on annulment or my concrete actions in the ten as a result of it?

Answer: Annulment in the ten is a concrete action.

Question: How does one leave all imaginary pursuits and work together? How can we combine this?

Answer: Consult with the rest of the friends and you will see how you can solve this. There is no need to turn to me anymore for solving problems. I gave you the keys to their solution.

Question: The connection between us in the ten as “one man with one heart” is the quality of the Creator (“one”). Does the stage of adhesion allow us to reach the connection with the Creator according to the common quality of one?

Answer: Yes, exactly like that.

Question: When I feel the greatness of the Creator, then I turn to the Creator with the needs of my friends. Is it the adhesion to the group or is it adhesion to the Creator? Do I do some additional action toward the group in order to adhere to it?

Answer: No. If you adhere to the group, feel what it wants, and turn with this desire to the Creator, then this is already a complete action.

Question: How does one work with anger correctly?

Answer: I think that the problem with anger is a problem with the center most part of egoism that we cannot contain and that controls us. Therefore, try to work on it anyway. Anger is a manifestation of extreme egoism.

Question: If I discover that my friends neglect the external framework recommended for us to observe, for example, they go for a walk during the lesson, how should we work with this?

Answer: There is no need to work with this. What can you do? It is a pity that they do not participate together with the group in the common work. Of course this is not good. Of course this weakens the group and pushes them away from the group. They are drifting away with the current and who knows when they will come to us again. But they do not feel it yet.

Question: If all the work of revealing the Creator takes place only in the ten, in the group, then why did the Creator create the entire external world? How should we treat it?

Answer: We must connect this external world to us. And we will do it. First, we will pull ourselves up, and then we will pull it up to us.
[293627]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

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Question: We are very close in our ten, but sometimes there are disagreements and friction between us. What should we do to grow closer?

Answer: You should have even more friction. Otherwise, what will you rise above? In spite of what will you get closer?

We cannot just get closer, we have to see the obstacles and rise specifically above them. It’s just like lovers: if they don’t argue, then they have nothing with which to renew their relationship. This is how we are made.

Therefore, our life always consists of black-white, black-white. And if we correctly build our relationship on the contrast of these two elements and rise above them for the sake of a third element, a more important factor, then our relationships continue and flourish.
[293535]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

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Question: You tell us that when we bestow to the society, the efforts come back to us. How does that work?

Answer: We have no means to influence our development other than  taking part in the development of a ten, our common Kli. A person cannot pull himself out of the swamp.

Therefore, we need to realize the state we are in, clearly understand and feel it. Then you will see the law of Arvut (mutual guarantee) as a vital condition for transitioning to a better state.

Question: When I bestow to my ten without mutual guarantee, it seems that nothing is coming back to me. Is this the case?

Answer: Of course not. But we must try to ensure mutual guarantee. Then the effect is much greater and more potent, and the progress is faster. But even if you bestow to the ten without feeling mutual bestowal from it, there is still advancement, both yours and theirs.
[293595]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility” Lesson 6

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee],” Item 17: On the negative side, if a part of the nation does not want to keep the Arvut, but to wallow in self-love, they cause the rest of the nation to remain immersed in their filth and lowliness without finding a way out of their filth.

Mutual guarantee assumes that everyone in the ten more or less understands the necessity to observe this mutual guarantee and move toward common connection. Only in it will they find the property of Bina—the property of revealing the Creator, the upper world.

If a part of the nation does not want to keep the Arvut, this means that they do not understand its importance.

There are people who do not realize that this is important. They need time. I know for myself how difficult it is. I also did not immediately begin to understand the need for spiritual guarantee because before that I had studied all sorts of theories and all that repelled me from studying this topic.

Every day, even every moment, we must again raise ourselves in faith above reason to the property of bestowal, exit ourselves, raise above ourselves (Malchut), and thus secure this guarantee from our friends.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that if a part of the nation does not want to keep the mutual guarantee, they force the rest of the nation to sink into egoism and remain in it.
[293505]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility” Lesson 6

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 59

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 155

Lesson on the Topic: “Everything Is Obtained by the Power of Prayer”

Selected Highlights 

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Question: If the greatness of the Creator depends on the greatness of the friends in my eyes, isn’t it better to speak about the greatness of the ten and not about the greatness of the Creator?

Answer: In principle it is the same thing. The greatness of the Creator cannot be more than the greatness of the ten.

Therefore, if you want to know exactly how great the Creator is in your eyes, you can measure it by your attitude to the friends, how great they are in your eyes. This is how it works.
[293497]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Deriving the Greatness of the Goal from the Friends” Lesson 4

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Rabash, “Concerning Yenika [Nursing] and Ibur [Impregnation]”: However, in truth, one must believe that his desire to begin to work the Creator in annulling his self is a call from above, for it is not within man’s wisdom. Meaning, if a person has a desire for spiritual advancement, it comes from the Creator. It is not caused by his own wisdom.

The evidence of this is that during this call, all the questions he had before he was called from above—he had many questions, and each time he wanted to do something in order to bestow the body resisted and could not understand if there is a person in the world who could annul his self before the Creator and not worry at all about his own benefit. He was always under some fear whether he could annul himself to the Creator.

But now he sees that all the thoughts and doubts have been completely burned and he would feel great pleasure if he could annul himself before the Creator.

Do not be afraid of anything. By relying on the group we can easily overcome all doubts and reach a state where we simply walk with our eyes closed. We do not need any questions, answers, anything. We only want to be in the quality of bestowal. And therefore, we want to achieve it above all doubts.
[293213]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

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