Question: What efforts must one make to reach spiritual action?

Answer: Efforts should be applied only to connecting with the group; this is the only thing that we are missing. We are the result of the shattering; we are its shards, so all of our activities are directed only towards connection between us.

There is nothing in any of us to correct! This is a bitter mistake that constantly delve into and blame ourselves. This is a Klipa that sucks all of the powers out of a person. I have nothing to correct in me; only to correct the connection between us needs to be corrected.

This is a difficult and fatal mistake; if we were to refrain from it, we would attain correction very quickly. The whole problem is that we don’t pay attention to the place where we truly must correct the vessel in order to reach Divinity.

We only need to correct our connection. We don’t need to look at ourselves and others: I can be good, I can be bad with horrendous characteristics, but this is not at all relevant to correction. Correction is only  for the connection between us.

It’s like a volleyball net where the main thing is the strings and not the knots. All the knots are egoistic and individual people. They have appeared in our world until our time and are in control by force. But today they can no longer dominate because all of our power has passed to the strings. A completely different approach has begun.

So there is nothing to correct in the person himself, only his attitude to the group. Only there is his free choice and surety realized. Shifting the emphasis from personal correction to general correction is called passing from ethics, from morality, to the wisdom of connection, to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

It’s very important to understand this approach because we still act individualistically and look only at ourselves. But this is not associated with discovering evil or its correction. Therefore it’s said that the opinion of Torah is opposite to the opinion of the masses, that is, even those who want to fix themselves.

This defines our approach to everything in life: education, culture, and politics; this is radically different from the usual. This is a completely opposite attitude because we don’t ascribe any importance to that which everyone pays attention. What sense is there to be involved with things if it doesn’t help?

The whole world is now in crisis because they are paying attention to the person instead of paying attention and correcting the connection between people. Therefore all of the rulers are losing their power and ability to control anything as the world becomes more and more connected.
[131020]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/14

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Question: In our world we clearly see the trend toward separation and isolation. But where is the second trend here, the yearning for connection? I don’t see it.

Answer: The second trend is revealing my dependence upon everyone. It turns out that two forces are acting upon you: on one hand, you reject everyone and on the other hand, you depend upon them. These two poles are constantly in front of you.

If from above they want to advance you then they will always influence you with the help of these two forces. Just as the Creator promised to Abraham, (Genesis 21:12) …it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued. Through him will be born many grandsons will be born that will grow to a huge family, and on the other hand, He adds, (Genesis 22:2) …and bring him up there for a burnt-offering.

If the Creator had just told him to kill Isaac, it would have been more understandable. And even if he blessed him with a multitude of descendants, this also would have been clear. But, how can the two statements be realized together?

Mankind is in this state now. On one hand, total mutual dependence between everyone is evident and on the other hand, the separation is so great that no one is able to talk with the other. Thirty years ago the relationships between people were much better; today European countries cannot reach an agreement between them.

Question: But where in the world do we see an inclination towards connection?

Answer: There is no inclination towards connection; rather, there is only a discovery of the picture of how much we depend upon everyone. And on the other hand, according to our inner feeling, we want to disconnect.

For example, Scotland wants to break away from England even though it’s clear that both of them would be worse off because there are a multitude of joint enterprises. One has coal mines and the other has coal fueled power stations; one nation has fish and the other restaurants that serve fish; this dependence is recognized by all. Why should they be separated?

If this assured them monetary gain, then it would be understandable, but it doesn’t. They would gain only one thing: quenching their hatred. That is, for the sake of the natural desire that has no material justification, they are even ready to lose economically, provided that hatred will win out.

This inclination exists throughout the world, soon we will return to feudal fragmentation. For example, in Germany two hundred years ago, there were dozens of small principalities. We are returning to those times again because we cannot correct the mutual hatred.

But we won’t return exactly to that past condition because of the mutual dependence. One has water, a second has bread, a third has meat, a fourth has fish, a fifth has cars, a sixth has medical equipment, and so forth. In spite of it all, I depend upon everyone; so why do all of these borders exist?

Hatred obligates me to establish borders and to close them. And life shows us that we are within an integral system that we have reached as a result of the development of our desire. So what can I do if they obligate me to connect with everyone? In this case only war can solve the problem; it will destroy the borders and the entire world. Then everything will be just the way I want it: rigid boundaries, separation, and my hatred could pour out in full. When we have no choice, we will begin to fight. This is the result if we let the ego run wild.

On our level there is no other solution. The solution is found above, above the two opposites. Hatred and convergence are incompatible with each other; there is a short circuit between them. It’s impossible to connect them directly; we must put some kind of adapter between them and transform the hatred into love. Then it will be possible to connect them.

But how do we transform hatred into love? In our world no power exists that can transform our egoistic desire into a desire to bestow. Therefore we need the science of connection, the wisdom of Kabbalah. It teaches us how to organize our environment in order to attract the inner power of unity through its exercises. This force will gradually correct us.

And then, from the corrected power of connection, we will begin to feel new relationships, a new perception of the world, because we have been changed. Within this new comprehension, within the relationship of love instead of the relationship of hatred, we will see a new reality. In the previous reality, I pulled everything towards me; my view was to derive personal benefit from all.

But through a change in orientation to caring for the good of society, I discover completely different properties and powers that act in reality that are called the upper world. All this will be discovered within my new relationship with the others.

Just as I now discover this world through my egoistic relationship with the others, I will discover the upper world within the altruistic relationship with the others until all of the worlds, all of the levels, will reach a state of Infinity. Everything depends only on changes in the perception of reality.

It is written (Shabbat 151b): “There is no difference between this world and the next world except how the governments will work,” meaning that everything depends on the orientation of the desire to receive: concern for the self or for the other. The nations have already discovered how much they depend upon one another and understand that it’s impossible to fight against a nation that supplies it with oil or produce. If I eliminate it, what will happen to me? This is like burning a neighborhood grocery where you buy all of your needs. Where will I get all that I need in order to exist?

But the hatred is so great that it doesn’t allow us to think logically, “It makes no difference if I will die, as long as it will happen to my neighbor first!” That is how the law of hatred works, and the intellect is left powerless. Emotion has precedence over intelligence. In sum, the intellect is a slave of desire. First the desire is awakened and then the mind helps to realize this desire.

The intellect helps me to get what I want, not what I planned and decided! This is the whole problem. All of creation is a desire for pleasure and all of our thoughts are directed only towards this. Therefore, I don’t see a millimeter beyond the limits of my ego; it makes no difference how wise I am. Only the science of connection can help, meaning the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[130925]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/25/14

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Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot, Section 8: Indeed, that Godly man, our Rav Isaac Luria, troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah was given to Israel….There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor. The doors of attainment were locked and bolted, and he came and opened them for us….You find a thirtyeight-year-old who surpassed with his wisdom all his predecessors through the genius and through all times. All the elders of the land, the gallant shepherds, friends and disciples of the Godly sage, the Ramak, stood before him as disciples before the Rav….All the sages of the generations following them to this day, none missing, have abandoned all the books and compositions that precede him, the Kabbalah of the Ramak, the Kabbalah of The First and the Kabbalah of The Genius, blessed be the memory of them all. They have attached their spiritual life entirely and solely to the Holy Wisdom.

Baal HaSulam knew how it is necessary to bless and to honor the Ari who revealed the wisdom of Kabbalah to us. Thanks to him, we have the possibility of rising from the beastly level to reach the level of the Adam (man), the one similar to the Creator. If not for the Ari, we really would have lacked the means. It was he who saved us from a mere beastly existence of only life and death.

There is no Kabbalist closer to us who has helped us so much, of all who were before and after him. All the books that were written before him were only a preparation for its disclosure. Everything that was done after him is derived from his revelation. Therefore the Ari truly symbolizes the beginning of the era of salvation.

The Ari made the greatest revelation that was possible to make. He rose from within the exile and developed a new way for correction of the world, meaning he began the process of correction. The exile ended together with the Ari and the period of correction began.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 4: From that you can deduce about the wisdom of truth, which contains all the secular teachings within it, which are its “seven little maids.” This is the entirety of the human species and the purpose for which all the worlds were created, as it is written, “If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.”

This is what has sustained us thus far, to maintain the armies and the wall around the wisdom of truth, so no stranger or foreigner would break in and put it in their vessels to go and trade it in the market, as with the secular sages. This was so because all who entered have already been tested by seven tests until it was certain beyond any concern and suspicion.

The science that explains the fundamentals of creation is inside a person. It explains how one can change oneself so that one understands the creation in its authentic form called the world of Infinity.

When one senses the creation, one meets with its source, the Creator, the Upper Force. One feels that one was “created from nothing” and exists only to attain the Upper Force.

The science of Kabbalah is fundamental, as it is about the nature of the Creator and the nature creation and how the creation can attain the Creator. The creation senses this world under the condition that its perception are almost completely reduced. Instead of ten Sefirot (Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut), the creation possesses only five material senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Working with these five organs of sensation, the creation learns the laws of this world and names them “material sciences,” which reveal themselves through the egoistic desire.

Our reality given to us in the form of intellectual perceptions and sensations of this world exists only to serve as a basis that allows us to reach the Creator. Attainment of the Creator is the goal of the creation. The creation must reach the Creator, i.e. reveal Him and attain His level and His properties. Scientists presumed that it is not worth revealing the secrets of science to small egoists so that they wouldn’t make them the objects of trade on the market; however, Kabbalists never prohibited spreading their knowledge. On the contrary, they disseminated the fundamentals of the wisdom to the nations of the world.

One studies according to one’s desire. This explains why Plato and Aristotle studied the basics of Kabbalah and then based on this knowledge; they initiated the development of earthly sciences. Kabbalists were never against dissemination of knowledge since it stimulated the world’s progress. It instigated a rapid revelation of malevolence, acknowledgement of the evil inclination, and the necessity to correct them, to ascend to the authentic wisdom, thus rising to the true state, the world of Infinity.

Conversely, the wisdom of Kabbalah could have stopped the egoistic development. That’s why Baal HaSulam wrote that premature revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah caused many problems and launched numerous mystical teachings. We haven’t fulfilled things we were supposed to, thus, we have to go through pain because Kabbalah was revealed prematurely. If we behaved differently, the program of creation could have been more favorable.

Even though an untimely revelation of Kabbalah brought troubles to the people of Israel, today we are at the doorstep of the final redemption. From now on, our correction and attainment of the true world depends only on us. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah is open to everyone.
[129759]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Today, the wisdom of Kabbalah is available to everybody: Please come in, the door is open! Still there is an invisible barrier (Machsom) that does not allow everybody to come in. When we advance and approach the entrance, it pushes us away.

We are almost there! And yet it repels us again. Sometimes we come closer to it and all of a sudden forget where we were heading. We turn aside and suddenly get distracted by something else.

It means that everybody who wants to enter should go through seven tests. One has to go through all the egoistic desires and rise above them so that one stops relying on oneself any more. This is the form that allows one to enter.

In other words, the door is always open if one withstands the tests. Our generation is the worst among all previous generations. It is said “the face of the generation is like a dog’s grin.” We don’t respect anything anymore. Compared to us, people who lived at the time of destruction of the Temple were very delicate and decent. They passionately aspired to spirituality.

Rabash shared that in the beginning of the 20^th century, he happened to see the last of the real Hassidic Jews from Kotzk. At the end of the 19^th century, if any young man from a small Russian or Polish Jewish town was offered studying and attaining the Creator, no one would think twice before quitting his prior lifestyle and would devote himself to this goal with no hesitation.

The revelation of Kabbalah came in parallel to the revelation of desires that fell to their lowest degree. The evil manifested itself in the most terrible way and we are unable to correct it because our pride, mutual hatred, and envy have reached their ultimate level. That’s why our generation is the one the wisdom of Kabbalah was exposed very widely to. Our desires are ready to go through “seven tests” and enter the gates of true wisdom. However, the warning of seven tests has always existed.

These tests are not checking the fineness of our desires, but their depth. Maturity of a desire is a condition for its disclosure. That’s why the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealing itself only now instead of emerging several hundred years ago. It is explained by the requirement to wait until the desires descend to the very bottom material Malchut.
[129754]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From Baal HaSulam’s articles “The Giving of the Torah” and “Arvut (The Mutual Guarantee)” and other sources including Rav Kook’s writings, we clearly see that those who aspire to merge with the Creator without pulling the entire world cannot achieve correction.

We need to realize that hiding from the world, taking care of ourselves, and studying for ourselves are very comfortable for our egoism, but it does not help. Until we realize this, nothing happens.

Don’t complain that the world is not receptive and does not want to listen. Those are just excuses to justify our laziness and discomfort in this material plane. When it comes to the Upper Force that organizes the entire reality and creates all internal and external conditions for us, we need to decide once and for all and confirm each day that by not observing this particular requirement, we do not deal with spiritual advancement.

Because it means that we are not engaged in building the spiritual system. In this case, we would be replaced by others or the Creator will send us terrible disasters and problems and we will still have to return to Him against our will. This should be very important to us.

Some people complain that they have been studying for 10-15 years now, but they still have not reached the attainment yet. They have to better understand the system we are in. If we act correctly inside the system, then we advance towards its true goal: the revelation of the force of bestowal, connection, merging with the Creator, and the ability not to demand anything for ourselves, i.e., spiritual attainment. Our advancement is possible only if we act this way.

If someone behaves differently, then one should not be in the group and be unnecessary ballast in the common boat. It’s better to just walk away, at least then you would know what you are doing, instead of coming every few years with complaints: “Why haven’t I reached the revelation yet?

This is an egoistic question: “Why don’t I have it?” But he doesn’t ask: “Why have I studied for so many years and still continue thinking about myself?” Instead, “Why haven’t I received something that I was waiting for so long?”

We should fulfill our duties. The Creator never compromises. We are talking about the whole of creation and the system requires our actions. In his works, Rabbi Kook writes that the state of the world requires us to act and that there is no room to escape. Correction is to realize our exclusivity.

We feel the desire to attain the Creator not because we are so special; rather, the Creator purposely awakens the desire in us so that we can do our job properly. Our duty is to fulfill our task correctly, not acting in our own way, but rather learning how to perform it.
[130241]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/14

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The Ari didn’t write his books by himself. It was his student Rav Chaim Vital who wrote them. This story is very reminiscent to The Book of Zohar, which disappeared and then was discovered in a very strange way. The same thing happened with the works of the Ari.

They were written, but there was no one who could edit them. Only Rav Chaim Vital’s grandchildren managed to edit his writings. They took them out of his grave where they had been hidden in a crate and buried. It’s actually an adventure story, a treasure hunt.

Question: Why are there so many events that we don’t understand and such confusion when it comes to the writings of great Kabbalists, with The Book of Zohar, with the writings of the Ari?

Answer: It was specifically arranged that way to bring them to an adapted world. The world is confused and the writings of Kabbalists are also confused. If we could see the forces that operate in this world and manage it by our egoistic reactions, we would understand that bringing the spiritual knowledge into our world is only possible in this strange and incomprehensible manner.

The writings of the Ari were buried in the grave of Rav Chaim Vital. Then they were taken out and kept in a crate in some house in Tzfat. It was only several decades later that they were taken out of the crate. If they couldn’t be revealed by the father, then they were revealed by the son or the grandson or by one of the pupils.

The writings must be adapted so that they would be suitable for the world: through a certain soul, through a certain event, by a certain concealment in a certain period. It seems strange, but if we could see the system, we would understand that the Upper Light that comes closer to the vessels arranges everything this way in order to gradually bring this knowledge into the world.

It’s impossible to enter our confused world, this mess, the terrible egoistic state in this world, the total lack of spirituality, in any other way but by revealing and concealing these writings and then revealing them again ages, maybe even two thousand years later. It is a matter of adaptation. The main law here is the adaptation between the Light and the vessels.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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We are making an educational and spiritual revolution throughout the world! This is the task that stands before us, and there is nothing to hide. The world requires this and expects it. But for this we need to prepare ourselves for an educational, ideological, and spiritual world revolution.

Revolutionaries were never afraid of going out to the people and disseminating their ideas in all kinds of ways, even privately. Here everything is determined by the importance of the goal.

This revolution that must happen now in the world really touches the foundations of the world in such a way that the whole world will shake. This is not some kind of change in order, from one egoistic foundation to another egoistic foundation: from feudalism to capitalism and from capitalism to socialism. It’s not just the person and his society that are being changed here, rather it is nature itself: the still, vegetative, and animate, they are also being changed. We can’t imagine to ourselves what (Isaiah 11:6) “the wolf shall live with the lamb” means. These are new and completely different orders in nature. And all this is happening thanks to a change in the person.

We don’t understand the scale of the changes. Everything will be changed, including the DNA. It’s impossible even to imagine what will happen within matter itself. So we are standing before a diverse revolution that is unparalleled in history. So if we are ready for this, this is excellent. We will gradually begin and advance from the easy to what is heavier and heavier, until the true picture of the revolution that is about to happen is revealed to us. This is not just some kind of improvement with the goal of appeasing the world for which it is now bad and from this it will be better; rather, this is a global revolution.
[130671]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/14

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Nothing will be easy, everything will seem impossible if a person sees from the power of his individuality and not from the power of the group. If a person knows how to go out to every activity equipped with the power of the group, then there will be no difficulty for him!

Therefore it seemed to us that we couldn’t do anything in the world, and we began to complain about our weakness and inability. Everyone looks inside himself and thinks: “How will I do this?!” Certainly he cannot do anything alone. But if he relies on the power of the group, then he no longer needs to do anything. If we connect and make one step towards the goal, then we have already attained it. Our work is not in attaining the goal; rather, it is in preparing the Kli that will be ready to receive it.

It is very important to determine what the goal is, the way and the steps towards it. But the approach must be like this, that we attain everything only with the power of connection. And our problem is that each one looks out from himself: “How will I carry this out, how will I turn to people, how will I convince them?”

We cannot evade and escape dissemination; we cannot be closed within four walls and only study. The world demands our full participation and evading this obligation destroys everything.

If a person comes and says that he is not able to succeed in some dissemination activities, this indicates that he is not with the group at all. All of his explanations about his lack of success are not important at all, there is only one reason: he doesn’t include the power of the group.

It makes no difference who the person himself is, what his characteristics are, where he is going, with whom he speaks, or what he does, the main thing is, does he have the power to integrate into a group or not? It is only our power of unity that is active.
[130368]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/14

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Question: What is the right way to approach the public today in our generation, is it through the mind or through the heart?

Answer: It should be both ways but more through the heart.

Most people are underdeveloped, which means that their ego blocks their mind. We are all like that. The ego blocks a person’s brain, his mind, and he cannot see more than his ego. It turns out that he is wretched and limited. He may have great, wonderful abilities, but the ego stops him and doesn’t let them be expressed.

If for example you want control, the ego blocks everything else. Although you could prosper, the strong desire for control obliges you to engage only in that. This is an example of how limited we are in our ability to work with our brain. But by working with the heart, we can open the way to the brain. This means that we have to turn to the heart and to work on it, but it is possible only by mutual incorporation with the friends and through them with the public.

People have to penetrate our heart this way, so that we will not be able to abandon our concern for them. Then it means that we have incorporated them in us like the upper level with regard to the lower level.
[130627]
From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/14

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