The current crisis includes all of nature’s levels. Recently there was a TV show about natural phenomena that appear as total surprises to people. Among other things, they spoke about an island in the Pacific Ocean whose inhabitants livelihood is based on fishing.

Now when they go out to sea they are afraid to get further than a few kilometers from shore. The climate has changed so much that violent storms suddenly appear and it is impossible to forecast them. Very experienced fishermen who have lived their whole lives at sea relate these happenings; the ocean, which they knew so well, has suddenly become a stranger.

Such is the scale of the general human crisis. After all, man is the upper part of nature and so he has the most destructive power, much more than all the other creatures.

There are revealed and concealed forces in the world. It is hard not to notice the explosion of a bomb. On the other hand, radioactive radiation can only be felt by its effect. There are even finer radiations whose effects can be a total surprise for us. Their source is concealed from us; this is man’s mind power, the power of human desire.

We have reached the end of our egoistic development: The world population produces such powerful negativity that we are simply suffocating one another, and at the same time destroying the levels that are below us. They are great in quantity but weak in quality, and we by our qualitative potential can simply destroy them, which is actually what is happening. This is where the “ocean surprises” and many other phenomena stem from.

So if it is all about our thoughts, let’s correct them. Kabbalists speak about two ways of development: the good path and by suffering. Apparently at the moment we are advancing by suffering. How can we advance in the same direction in the good way? After all, we have one goal—adhesion with the Creator. This is the fate of all the people, of all the nations. This means that we have to explain to them how to follow the good path, and to adapt to the uniqueness of their development.

Man’s mind power is destroying the world. We are causing ourselves and the other parts of nature harm. Today it is possible to openly show people scientifically based examples of this. Therefore, we must treat each other well or we will all be destroyed. So let’s improve our lives with the help of the one force that can help us.

If people ask, “So what is that force?”, we will answer that it is the force of the good mutual connection among us, which is actually another definition for the term “Creator.” Today we must use this force worldwide. After all, there is no distance for thoughts, and they don’t weaken as they draw away from the source and reach even the most distant stars, which are thousands of light-years away.

How can we do that? The time has come in which we will not get anything without the right request. You won’t succeed in anything if you don’t ask for the Creator’s help. Just turn to Him “in the right way,” like a good boy and then you will get your “box of candy.”

What should you ask for? Bestowal.

–          I want to give out these candies to everyone.

–          Great. Take them!

At first it isn’t so attractive, but then you learn. At first you will also be allowed to taste from the general box, but gradually you will begin to enjoy bestowal by taking only what you need.

The danger of destruction threatens you by sufferings if you don’t reach the request for others: “I want to receive pleasure only by seeing that others feel good. Let me enjoy this; give me the power for that! Make it possible!”

This is how the correction is done.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/12, “The Freedom”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”: The general will to receive, which is the very essence of man, appears and exists only through dressing in the shapes of objects that are likely to be received. We call that action, “life,” meaning man’s livelihood. As we have explained in the act we call, “desire.”

Accordingly, with the disappearance of the desire comes death. We always live in anticipation of  the desired future and not in the present. If there is nothing to hope for in the future, we reach despair, until the body stops functioning and a person dies.

So we have to create for ourselves more advanced forms of development. This can be done only by the influence of the right environment. Otherwise, a bad environment, which fills me with bad forms, takes its place, and then I become incorporated in them and want them.

For example, I can’t manage without the media. The growing egoism obliged me to get used to them. A thousand years ago everything was different: With the desires of the animate level in me I lived peacefully and without the media. Today I can’t live without television, without the flow of information that floods me. I constantly need to see the future forms that give me the power of life and the feeling of life.

What kind of life? We already know…and so we need to build the right environment by ourselves that will assume the role of the media. In this case, I create my future forms by myself, and no one dictates them to me and imposes them on me. This is where my free will is: I choose a better environment that shows me the right forms and directs my desire to the goal, so that it will be balanced with nature, in line with the Creator.

Thanks to this I live in the forms in which the Reforming Light is hidden and which later becomes the filling. This gives me the feeling of life until I reach the eternal existence. Gradually my forms draw away from the corporeal discoveries, which can exist only in the corporeal world and I can soar towards the forms of spiritual development.

Then I am no longer tied to the corporeal forms that appear before me in any way. I don’t feel anything in them except for the basic needs of the animate level in me. But I don’t worry about that either because I am already on the “other side.”

And so gradually, a person moves from building the potential force to attaining the force to execute and begin the spiritual self. Always this is realized by increasing the quality of the desire: I create my future form, my more advanced form, and I am drawn to it, until I reach it and attain it.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/12, “The Freedom”

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Question: Does creativity depend on the right contact with the environment?

Answer: Power and creativity depend on how much a person identifies more advanced forms of development on his way and discovers the means by which to raise to them.

Every instant, like a small child, he looks for new forms in order to discover the world, not this prosaic world, but the hidden mysterious world.

After all, in the eyes of a child everything seems mysterious and he looks for new opportunities to discover the world more and more. For him the world is divided into the revealed and the hidden: He sees something and something else he doesn’t notice, he hears something and something else just passes by his ears. Sometimes he catches just a few words of what is being said, sometimes he focuses on something and everything else remains outside his sight. He constantly tries to discover what is hidden from him.

This is what we lack…we provide kids with games and the necessary means, and we have to take care of ourselves by ourselves. Our means is the environment, and thanks to it we advance. The environment should be the image of the next level for me. I don’t agree with what I see, but I am incorporated in the group and oblige all the friends to take on newer and more advanced forms. This is all our work.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/12, “The Freedom”

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The modern education “molds” everyone according to a fixed template. We can’t even call it “education” anymore because we don’t discover the creativity in people and don’t help them develop individually.

Being unique makes a person seem “weird” and the educational system destroys these “eccentricities.” A child comes to school and receives standard material, standard questions, standard problems… and eventually, we get a standard, stenciled form, like mud cakes in the sandbox, regardless of his individual tendencies.

Our education treats a person like a machine that needs to perform certain functions in society and at work. This is reflected in science too: Few scientists become true pioneers. After all, a unique personality is needed for that, a new perspective, a new perception, like Einstein or Friedman.

Today there are millions of scientists and in the past there were no more than a dozen. The point is that today’s scientist is a “technician” who performs a series of experiments until he stumbles upon something new. He doesn’t penetrate the nature of creation, he doesn’t see how things grow from the inside, and doesn’t discover the new layers and new dimensions as a result of a special vision.

No, he simply performs experiments. He tries one thing and then another thing and eventually gets some result. Of course, scientific thinking is required here, but it isn’t discovery in the true sense. These aren’t results of a person’s inner intellectual efforts. Usually they are just statistically predictable successes of repeated lab routine.

Therefore, we must draw a clear line between today’s mass education and the true education that molds the human in us.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/12, “The Freedom”

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It is written that one must begin each day anew. It’s as if yesterday didn’t exist, the count begins at zero. This applies to everything: who I am, what I am, my purpose, my goal, whatever exists and transpires around me. It’s as if I was born anew without any pre-existing knowledge or understanding. Why carry the burden of yesterday with me? Whether I was right or wrong, what’s the difference? After all, that was yesterday, and yesterday must be erased.

But how are we to do that? We do so by reading The Book of Zohar. What’s so special about it? It can grant us the power to do just that. It’s said that this power may be used for good and for evil, and this depends upon the person. The Zohar grants energy, and my “machine” determines how this energy is used, to harm or to benefit me.

We must therefore make a decision: How do we want to use the force that we get from The Book of Zohar? This power can become either the returning Light, a good force, remedy or cure, or the opposite of that, a deadly poison. Everything depends on the person, namely to what it is that he aspires.

When we draw closer to the source of life that has created us, from which all life force is generated, this is what we call “life.” And “death” is when we draw closer to our ego and follow it. Indeed, the ego has been made purposefully opposite to the Creator so that we would have freedom of choice in the middle. Therefore, when reading The Zohar, our primary efforts should be to keep ourselves aimed in the right direction.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/12, The Zohar

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Question: I was always taught that I needed to sacrifice something for the sake of unity. However, we are speaking about unity above all contradictions. What does this mean?

Answer: In reality you will not be able to concede anything to anyone. Of course you can sacrifice part of your aspirations if you have no other choice. However, concession is an imaginary notion when it comes to ideas. When I am right and he is not, it’s best for him to acknowledge the fact that I am right and join me. But when he is right and I am wrong, it’s of course best if I admit the fact that he is right and join him.

So what’s a concession? How can you relinquish the truth? It can’t be partial or intermediate. Only one of us is right. It’s impossible to reject a certain part here. If one were to relinquish a part of truth and the other one would cede a part of falsehood, this would not be the solution to the problem. This is not about things that can be shared; it’s about our opinions, ideas.

Question: But there is also something called the collective mind. By listening to different opinions in the group, it’s possible to find a better path than yours.

Answer: You have simply figured out that someone else has expressed a more sound opinion. Now you reject your opinion and join his. But this is not a concession. If after having evaluated everything I discover that he is right, I am not conceding, I am changing my opinion for his.

It’s possible to concede when I am convinced that the truth is on my side, but I chose to not follow it. This is not a good path; it never leads to peace. This leads to a question of whether it’s possible to make similar calculations on a global scale. After all, things are leading towards a war.

We say not. Each is right in their own way, but not according to my way. No one is corrected enough to view the entire collection of problems objectively, separately from the beloved self. So let us agree that there is neither absolute truth nor falsehood. Everything depends upon my current egoistic direction. After all, I hate and despise everyone from the beginning, but I love and exalt myself. Therefore it doesn’t make sense to go deep into details. The actual conditions do not allow us to unravel the truth or give in.

Let’s only concede one thing, the actual superficial squabbles, which always bring us wars and problems. Every time, I unite with someone just to kick someone else, this just goes on forever. Things cannot continue this way, and this is why we rise above all differences. Look at the system and you will see: The only way is to unite above the abyss between us.

Partial concessions don’t lead to peace and harmony even in the family. We don’t reject our opinion anyway, and for lack of any other choice, we falsely pretend. But when the egoistic desire grows bigger, it creates an even greater separation between us. And this is why our only possibility is to constantly be caring for love, which will raise us and cover all faults.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/12, “The Freedom”

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We have to convey our message to everyone. However, I suppose that people will accept it better than the leaders will. The general population will come to us before the “notable” people.

Question: Why can’t we convey our system from the top? After all, if the government decides, the decision will be carried out.

Answer: The point is that an ordinary person has no system. He has an empty stomach, and he usually doesn’t care what he fills it with. He doesn’t care about the means, about someone’s system. For him, the main thing is not to be hungry.

The prime minister, on the other hand, makes plans and thinks about what is best to do, such as raise taxes or lower them, cut the budget or not to change things, and so on. He is involved in the technical details. He cannot take his mind off them and get rid of them. That’s the problem.

This is why we find it hard to reach those who sit at the top. Their problem isn’t their stomach, but control. They want to preserve it, and they cannot see beyond their plans to understand the reason they are unsuccessful.

They find it hard to hear something new. They can’t do it. What they would need to do to change their way of thinking is to put on “round” glasses to see the “round,” integrated world and its interdependence.

In this world, success is not measured by economic plans, technical details, interest rates and taxes. However, experts cannot break out of this vicious circle; they see the economy through the old perspective and cannot imagine anything else. They make plans according to profit.

For example, I make shoes; I sell them and make my living this way. One pair gives me enough to live for an entire month. If I make and sell two pairs, now I have a monthly surplus. Now the government comes knocking at my door, “I am taking 50% of your profits on the second pair of shoes. After all, I need to fund the state, the army, pave the roads, and so forth.” Well, that’s understandable.

Then the municipality knocks at my door, “You need sanitary services in your neighborhood, public utilities, landscaping, and so on. Give me 10% your profits.” And so it continues. [Read more →]

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In order to figure anything out, one must either start from the very beginning or the end – from the beginning of creation or from its final goal. After all, what’s in the middle belongs to our work, free choice. By analyzing the beginning and the end, we have to understand what we have to do in the middle.

The difference between the beginning and end of the path lies in acquiring the intention of bestowal. Nothing but this changes in reality. By changing the intention, we attain our difference from the Creator and correct it. Therefore, it is clear that our task lies only in attaining this proper intention.

Every action consists of thought, speech, and action. Thought is the plan preceding everything, which initially includes the result of the action. And in the middle, between the plan and the execution, there is speech, meaning discernment.

And in order to make the proper discernment, there must be concentration. This is why Kabbalists have a custom of being silent, which is also done in this world. When a person is about to undergo an important event and he wants to understand how to do it, he focuses on it, requiring silence, and trying to close himself off so he won’t be bothered by external conversations. He intensely prepares to carry out the action correctly.

That is why we want to spend the weekend in silence, in quiet, and think about how we can attain the right action. Instead of talking, we will make discernments in silence.
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From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/12

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Question: Immunization against various diseases is one of the sensational achievements of medicine. They have saved a great many human lives, but waves of objections constantly arise to the immunizations of both children and adults. Why do things that have already proven themselves invite objections such as these?

Answer: At one time people did not trust medicines and immunizations and now they don’t trust doctors. After all, nowadays doctors are devoted to money, not health.

Medicine has turned into a business and most medicines are produced with the goal of making profits, not healing. Of course our world is egoistic, but in this area, people are especially susceptible.

Life is the most precious thing there is for the average person. But, he can’t entrust this to the hands of a doctor because the doctor thinks not of his health, but about money. Medicine has turned into a huge business.

How is it possible that a person is healed according to his financial ability? After all, bodies are equal, but no, the doctor skillfully examines the thickness of the patient’s wallet and warmly suggests to him what he is silent about in other cases. Everything is rotten in the world of today, and medicine is no exception.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/12, “The Freedom”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom,” Taking After The Collective: Our scriptures say, “Take after the collective.” That means that wherever there is a dispute between the collective and the individual, we are obliged to rule according to the will of the collective. Thus, you see that the collective has a right to expropriate the freedom of the individual. … And we can see that there is no other arrangement by which to live in society except following the law of “Taking after the collective,” which sets every dispute and tribulation in society in order.

How can such a thing be? The collective doesn’t have the imaginative thoughts that individuals do because they are the masses. The lofty things in the world are not each one’s concepts and are not easily comprehended. The more lofty, delicate, and specific an issue is, fewer are the people who are able to understand it. It is just this uniqueness of attainment that built the human pyramid. Thus the understanding of the collective, according to its definition, is found beneath that of the understanding of the individuals.

So what is Baal HaSulam talking about? From his words, it appears that if in a certain place more people have gathered, then justice is with them? Or is it the opposite, that the special, unique people are not justified only because they are a minority? Are the millions always justified and I should I follow them?

This is a great question since we are talking here of a person’s realization of himself, about how to realize his free choice and to find “the eye of the needle” through which one exits to the spiritual world. Could it be that on the way there I must “take after the collective?” And this was said by Kabbalists, by those who attained the Creator and knew the upper laws of nature.

In order to clarify this, let’s check: In what part of creation do we see the “hand of the Creator” directly? It is, of course, in the nature of the inanimate, the inanimate level. There, nothing resists Him. There are no desires there, not even the weak desires of the vegetative force. In the vegetative level there is already a special development that characterizes it. And at the level of animate, this independence is clearly revealed even more. If the vegetative only grows in the earth, then, in comparison, the animals can already move from place to place. And man can go even farther: He objects to the upper Providence and as if says to the Creator: “Move over to the side a bit, I want to take Your place.”

So it turns out that only at the base of the pyramid, among those that have no understanding or feeling but simply live because they are alive, reigns the undisputable authority of the Creator. Their life flows at the developmental level of the inanimate. [Read more →]

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