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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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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Question: What is the best way to train myself, to see each friend above me or the entire group?

Answer: Both are good.

Question: Is incorporating in a group considered work?

Answer: Yes, creating a Kli (vessel) is considered spiritual work.

Question: What should I do if I see flaws in the friends, and I have no reaction to them, no clarification, no prayer, and no plea?

Answer: You have to write on all the walls, everywhere around you, that the most important thing in your life is to come to respect the group and feel that you are small, premature, and underdeveloped next to them. This will be your most correct state.

Question: In order to see that we are truly connected with each other, do we need to ask ourselves whether we are ready to put our heart in the hands of the friends?

Answer: Yes, if we reach such a state, then, of course, this already is the highest correction.

Question: Is each annulment before the friends equivalent to our gradual ascent to the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How, by annulling before each other, can we become integral so that the Creator would connect us into one desire?

Answer: This is exactly what we need to do—to unite in such a way that we all would be connected from zero to infinity, regardless of any external conditions.

Question: If the Creator is clothed in my intention to bestow to Him and to all the people, but this is not yet the common intention of the group, only a personal one, will I get the feeling of light before everyone else? And how do I act so as not to harm myself and the group?

Answer: Share it with everyone. Then you will definitely get the most optimal condition for your and for everyone in the group.
[293582]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

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Question: You said that I am incorporating into the friends and at a certain point I will receive the force of bestowal. What does it mean that I get the force of bestowal by incorporating into the friends?

Answer: You suddenly have a desire, an intention, and a direction to bestow to them. You begin to feel that an urge awakens in you to fulfill them. Where does it come from? It is just the way you see in a child: Yesterday he did not know how to do something, but today he is doing it. You look at him: Yes, yesterday there was no such thing, but today there is. Where did it come from? This is called development. The inner force of nature works on everyone and develops us.

For this, however, we on our part need to conform to it. When we do this in a group, we give the Creator the opportunity to act within us and to develop us in a certain direction. And this is how we are developing.

The Creator is revealed to us as a force that corrects, unites, and raises us toward Him through many degrees. He takes us “on His wings,” meaning, He raises us to the screen and above the screen.
[293579]
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: When I am ready to work for the Creator and enjoy working for Him, isn’t that egoism?

Answer: If the work for the Creator means loving everyone, wishing everyone only good, spreading this desire in the world, and trying to make everyone understand who the Creator is and what He wants from His creations, then we cannot say that this work is egoistic. You want to attract more people to this work and show them your example.

Of course, there may be various egoistic twists but, in principle, by working to attract others, you act according to our concept—altruistically. You will not be allowed from above to remain an egoist, but you will be constantly be advancing toward the quality of bestowal.
[293586]
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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One 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

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Question: 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

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Question: 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

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Question: 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

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