The essence of the assembly is for everyone to be in one unity and for all to seek but one purpose: to find the Creator. In every ten there is the Shechina [Divinity]. Clearly, if there are more than ten then there is more revelation of the Shechina. Thus, each one should assemble with his friend and come to him to hear from him a word about the work of the Creator, and how to find the Creator. He should annul before his friend, and his friend should do the same toward him, and so should everyone do (Maor VaShemesh, “VaYechi”).

We need to practically adapt what we are studying to the relationships between us in the group. Otherwise nothing will come of it; it is just a waste of your time.

Rabash in such cases said, “If a person doesn’t want to participate in a group, what to do? Let him go and enjoy life.”

It is one of two things: either enjoy life on the streets or enjoy life in a group aimed at the Creator. Otherwise a person is neither here nor there. He only gnaws at himself, which is worst of all.
[292496]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

Related Material:
The Taste Of Connection With The Creator
Don’t Lose The Level You Have Attained
Discover Tremendous Opportunities To Receive Pleasure

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

This means that he must believe above reason and imagine that he has already been rewarded with faith in the Creator that is felt in his organs, and he sees and feels that the Creator leads the entire world as the good who does good. Although when he looks within reason he sees the opposite, he should still work above reason and it should appear to him as though he can already feel in his organs that so it really is, that the Creator leads the world as the good who does good (Rabash, Article 28, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”).

You must believe above reason, that is, contrary to your understandings, opinions, and beliefs, and imagine that you have already been rewarded with faith in the Creator, as if you already feel Him with all your organs, and see and feel that the Creator leads the entire world as the good who does good. We must be clear about this.

And although at the moment I don’t feel the Creator as good who fills the whole world with His good attitude, I try as best I can to imagine what kind of world it is in which such a phenomenon manifests itself when everything around is filled with the revelation of good power.

No matter where I turn, no matter what I think, no matter what I do, no matter what I encounter, everywhere I see the manifestation of the Creator’s kindness. His presence fills the whole world.

Imagine that the Creator (the good, positive force) fills the whole world and you and your friends unite in such a way that you want to feel this force through your intention for kindness. You want to make yourself a detector that reveals this power to the extent that you want to create it among yourself in the group.

To do this, there must be several people giving, influencing each other positively, so that in connection with each other they uncover a quality that would reveal to them the Creator who fills everything. This is how we create the Kli (vessel) for the revelation of the Creator.

We have everything for this. It doesn’t matter that we don’t see or feel anything yet. The main thing is that we are together. We will strive for this as much as we can. And in accordance with this, we will gradually force the Creator to reveal Himself in the connection that we artificially create between ourselves in feeling.
[292516]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

Related Material:
The Power Of Thought
A War Between Good And Evil
Can We Measure The Effect Of Thoughts?

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the difference between imagining within reason in our reason and being in faith above reason in action? And how does one lead to the other?

Answer: We can imagine these states as we like, but we still need to understand that everything depends on how we act, react, and how we build our relationships. We need to create a relationship as if the Creator is revealed between us and is constantly revealing more and more.

In this case, we will really prepare ourselves for the fact that we will reach a state when He begins to reveal Himself to us. And then we will have to create a protection against not revealing Him explicitly. This is called restriction, creating a screen and reflected light.

Only to this extent will we be able to attain Him, because we will form a Kli (vessel) of bestowal within ourselves, a quality of bestowal, and we will become like the quality of the Creator. All we need to do is to work above egoism on the quality of bestowal.
[292639]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

Related Material:
Immense Egoism, And An Absolute Love
Break Through The Shell Of Egoism
Leaving The Magnetic Field Of The Ego

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

To annul yourself in relation to the ten means that you have to define your common goal,  realize you are in the same boat, and there is nothing else left but to become dependent on each other so much that you will all feel like one common whole.

And then, as you get closer and closer and constantly work on it, you will be able to feel how the Creator dwells in all this.

Every friend should think that he wants to feel the group, only this system, and live inside it. Then you will begin to feel that there is an upper force inside it, the Creator who pulls you, guides you, and shapes you inside the ten. And the ten becomes a common system. You have to feel it.
[292635]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

Related Material:
The Enduring Cloth Of Connection
Ten In One Boat
In A Boat Through The Waves

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Going by faith above reason means going above one’s own perception, above one’s own feelings.

I see my friends in their usual way. I have a certain idea about them. But in order to pull myself closer to the Creator, I have to imagine them, not the Creator or myself, but them being on a higher degree and to try to connect with them at the level that I imagine them at. This is called going by faith above reason.

And so it is every time: higher and higher and higher. It does not matter to me what I see. It is written about this: “They have eyes, but they will not see; they have ears but they will not hear.” That is how I imagine them: higher and higher!

I want to be together with them, in adhesion with them, and thus I bring myself to a state where I begin to see the Creator through them! That is all.

Knowledge is what I see and hear, and above knowledge means that I imagine my friends being at a degree higher, better, and purer.
[292506]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

Related Material:
How Do You Reach Faith Above Reason?
Compensating The Lack Of Knowledge With Faith
Faith And Knowledge

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

We need to imagine a world filled with the Creator’s qualities—bestowal, love, and connection—and in this state interact with each other in the group. The more we express ourselves in such a way in relation to our friends, the faster we will move toward the revelation of the Creator.

And we will always have to imagine the Creator in faith above reason, never in reason itself. He will always reveal Himself to us only from the state of concealment.

Therefore we say that there is a restriction (Tzimtzum), a screen (Masach), and reflected light (Ohr Hozer). We create such conditions in ourselves that even if the Creator were revealed to us, we would not want to openly reveal Him between us and within ourselves.

Only under such conditions can we truly attain Him and are already prepared to reveal Him only in the direction of bestowal.

Therefore we will constantly try to establish a connection in faith above reason and realize it as if the Creator is between us; we want to be like Him in this connection.
[292583]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

Related Material:
Check Yourself: Do You Feel The Greatness Of The Creator?
The Creator Is Not A Person
Filling The Desires Of Others As If They Were My Own

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: All the needs of a baby are provided by the womb. Should the group also provide for all the needs of a friend?

Answer: Not all the needs of a friend, but rather his spiritual needs.

Above the group is the Creator. And if a friend annuls himself before the group, the Creator will clearly take care that he receives everything that is necessary for his spiritual development from it. That’s how everything is arranged.
[292570]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

Related Material:
Revealing The Creator’s Greatness
Who Can Be Considered A True Friend?
Who Are You, My Friends?

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Rabash, Article No. 21 (1986), “Concerning Above Reason”: This is why they said that when the evil inclination comes and shows him the lowliness of the friends, he should go above reason. But certainly, it would be better and more successful if he could see within reason that the friends are at a higher degree than his own.

I must not forget that everything that I feel in my five senses is depicted by my egoism. It shows me what kind of world surrounds me and what the group is. And I perceive it only through my egoism.

Therefore, if I yearn to see the world differently than my ego depicts it, and I can do this only with an external effort, with the effort of the group, then I can rise above this egoistic picture and begin to feel the world of the Creator instead. And this is very simple to do.

When the evil inclination comes and shows him the lowliness of the friends, he should go above reason. That is, above what he sees, although he can see each friend in an unattractive form, he must use his efforts to raise his friend as high as possible.

But certainly, it would be better and more successful if he could see within reason—within his reason—that the friends are at a higher degree than his own.

But if he does not see this in his reason, then he must imagine in faith above reason that his friends, contrary to his opinion, are above him.

Hence the conclusion: the only correct way out of any state is to raise the friends in your eyes. At any given time, I have to think about how to keep them higher and higher in my feelings, mind, and impressions. This should be our permanent work. And then I will reach the state where I see the Creator through them.
[292293]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3

Related Material:
Friends Who Will Never Disappoint You
Awaken The Friends And Awaken My Soul
Annul Yourself Only Before The Friends Along The Spiritual Path

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: How do we reach self-annulment?

Answer: We reach self-annulment when we realize its necessity, from the fact that I have been hearing about it for months. Each time I listen, I receive a little bit of the upper light.

As a result, I start to feel how it affects me, how certain changes occur in me like an internal click, a switch, and I suddenly realize that I truly cannot live without the group and I must annul myself.

I can feel either myself or the Creator. And how can I feel the Creator if I have no tool to change myself? So I am replacing myself with the group. And then in this group I begin to perceive the Creator.
[292445]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

Related Material:
Creative Annulment Before The Friends
Humiliating Pride And High Self-Annulment
Annul Yourself Only Before The Friends Along The Spiritual Path

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Thus, each one should assemble with his friend and come to him to hear from him a word [about the work of the Creator], and how to find the Creator. He should annul before his friend, and his friend should do the same toward him, and so should everyone do.

Then, when the assembly is with this intention, then “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to nurse,” and the Creator approaches them and He is with them (Maor VaShemesh, “VaYechi”).

Now we are in a gathering of friends. We have to think all the time about how we are getting closer to each other, how we want only one thing: to begin to feel the revelation of the Creator in the connection between us, not in each of us, but in the connection between us. This is very important!

That is, I do not want to reveal the Creator in myself, this is egoism. Watch where the border between our animal world and the spiritual one runs! I want to reveal the Creator in the connection between us, as a quality of bestowal and love, my own toward all my friends.

I do not want the revelation of the Creator in order to see Him, to know, to understand, and to enjoy Him. These are egoistic qualities of a person. They should be avoided. Try to control yourself; try to rise above yourself.
[292564]
From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

Related Material:
A Successful Gathering Of Friends
Freedom From Oneself
Love Exists Only Above Egoism

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Events, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →