We started preparing for the convention a long time ago, a few months ago. Now, we need to try to make it so that the goal of the convention is primarily right before our eyes.

The goal is simple. There is nothing in the world except the assembly of desires into one whole. This is what we need to see before us: We do this or compel the Upper Light to do this.

If we seek to experience this state so that it is truly realized between us, then it will really happen. It depends on our desire, and only on it. Then, in the whole world, there will be a feeling, spreading like waves from us.

Everyone already knows that everything depends only on him. We repeatedly studied during the lessons that our perception of the world, the feeling of the world, is the result of our internal view of the world. Baal HaSulam calls it “inner reflection.”

So, we need to direct our inner contemplation, aspiration, so as to see one whole from all of us, and it depends on everyone.

After all, each of us is a separate universe. If we imagine ourselves in this way and support each other, then, naturally, there will be a correct superimposition of one on the other, and, together, we will gather that necessary power of aspiration that will produce a clear manifestation of this state. This is what I want to wish you.

Many of our friends from different countries and regions have gathered here. It is very good because this makes a diverse Kli. This gives power to our mutual aspirations.

To be lost in this society is the real happiness. If a person aspires to this, he feels that he loses himself and that he begins to dance in the joy of connection with friends as Rabash writes in his letter. He disappeared so much that he felt nothing, but them. If we lose ourselves in this our common society, we will begin to feel, through it, the state that we wish to feel: this unity, this Malchut.

I think we can do this. I do not see any obstacles. We just must connect what exists in us.
[143950]
From the Congress in St. Petersburg, Preparatory Lesson 1

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Question: What was happening in the days of the Temples? Why did they have to be destroyed?

Answer: First of all, why do the Jews unite? Through their correction, they establish relationships among themselves which will allow them to fulfill the condition of “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

To achieve the state in which the Creator will be fully revealed, they must create a single soul and a single desire.

Through  their internal unity, they built the first Temple within themselves. However, this state exists only for a moment and then immediately begins to break down, step by step.

The process is that at first, there is a slow ascent to the “bar” of the desired state, and once it has been reached and becomes manifested, the descent begins immediately.

Question: So, the method of Abraham has achieved its own result and raised people to the desired height?

Answer: Yes. There was contact between the entire nation and the Creator, based on mutual love, during which the nation reached the state of complete individual correction. This is the building of the first Temple.

When a state is realized, the people have nothing to do and no reason to exist at this level, since it exists for only a moment. The Light comes, fills the vessel, and that is all.

Then this state must disappear. Indeed, the process goes on until this handful of people, that has become the nation of Israel, corrects the whole of humanity. Therefore, an entirely new perspective is revealed before them.

The ultimate goal is not the construction of the First Temple, but in the complete correction of all of humanity. This is what Abraham said in Babylon even when he was the only one who knew about this.

But today the Jews say: “Please, leave us alone! What chosen people!? We want to be like everyone else!”

However, they will be compelled. We see that they will be forced,  just as they were then.
[143737]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14

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The Torah, “Leviticus,” 18:1-5: And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes. Mine ordinances shall ye do, and My statutes shall ye keep, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and Mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”

Under no circumstances should we use the egoistic desires that we took out of Babylon, Egypt, or from the land of Canaan, to which we soon must return. If we use all our desires properly by gradually correcting them and ascending to the previous level of Canaan, we will begin to turn this land into the land of Israel, which means focusing all our desires on the Creator, on bestowal.

Question: The modern corporeal world lives mainly by the laws of Egypt, Babylon, and Canaan but not according to the spiritual laws of Israel. Why is the spiritual revelation in Israel intended only for individuals and not for all of humanity?

Answer: No! Humanity does reveal the egoistic abyss we are all in as well as the inability of returning to the good times we had in the past. But the condition for this good life was that the ego was smaller. Therefore we say “the good old times” when we think nostalgically about the past.

Indeed, if we go fifty years back, we will see that people were less egoistic then. They were satisfied with much less and lived much more happily. They communicated with each other more and didn’t sit behind their computer screens or have the problems or the poisonous vapor of rot that are typical of our times. Everything was much simpler.

But there is no going back to those times and there is no need to do so! We have to advance. The main thing is to learn to attain the reason for the problems that we feel and to understand that they stem from a person’s ego and not from any other source. Therefore, we have to recognize that the ego is evil.

Comment: But the world has turned around when it came out of Babylon and Egypt and went back there, as today we are living by the same laws.

Answer: The world didn’t go anywhere. Humanity dispersed from Babylon all over the world and created the same Babylon everywhere. Today we are back to the small Babylon but on a global scale. Once again we are facing the huge egoistic Tower of Babel that pressures, kills, and destroys us, and we don’t know what to do.

It is now that a new Abraham should appear and call everyone to him: “Everyone who doesn’t agree with the new state, come to me! Let’s leave this state. We are not going anywhere, but we are going to ascend morally and spiritually above this terrible hateful state and start building a totally new land with a new heaven above.”

I hope that such person will appear. We have to prepare the ground for him as much as we can. We are in a very interesting historical point in which it is as if we are tangled and trapped. In this state, we have to fertilize the soil for the next generation. I see this as my mission and without that, there is no point in living.

Question: Indeed, in every egoistic leap in history there was always a leader who emerged and led the nations. Does he also have to appear now?

Answer: I think so. I hope that my students will be able to reveal themselves together as one leader. I don’t think that it will be one person. It may be in some way, but on the whole, it has to be something bigger and collective. I see the new leader as a group of people, and I think it will be the group of my students.

The situation is changing and the world is changing, including its attitude towards itself and to how to live. We see to what extent everything today is the result of advertising. Everyone understands that this world is based on a lie and that it is impossible to find the truth in it. No one is right and no one is to blame, since our nature simply manipulates us in such a way that we drown in this “vanity fair.”

When we finally acknowledge that under the pressure of external circumstances, which we actually summon, the Upper Light will reveal in us real internal, egoistic problems from which we will see that there is no way out. Then we will start to run around and will not be able to find ourselves in any way, as it says: “in the evening you will wait for the morning to come and in the morning you will wait for the evening to come.” But this will probably come after us, and now we have to work on it.
[143319]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/6/14

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Question: Abraham’s group, with their law of love for the other as for oneself, “went” through all the generations in Egypt. They experienced it, got out, stood around Mount Sinai, and became a nation. At the time, where was the group of Nimrod, meaning the rest of humanity, Babylon?

Answer: In the meantime, people gradually dispersed and settled. Kabbalah and the Torah do not study this because they are engaged in the spiritual elevation of man, and this is happening on the same earthly level. All this is described well in Flavius Josephus’ The Antiquities of the Jews.

Question: Let’s go back to the people of Israel, which came into its own “land,” in the egoistic layers of its own desire. How did they begin to process this egoism?

Answer: It was not easy. Firstly, they did not know how to alter it or how to begin to work on it.

They did not have Moses with them. There were no Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And here  began a different control of the people.

Basically, it was a kingdom. All kinds of frictions arose between them that were not described in the Torah, but in the Prophets and then in the Scriptures. They chose where to build the Temple, meaning where there was a suitable place for the sum of their spiritual desires. But we are not talking about geography, simply this process described in geographical terms.

The twelve tribes began to divide the land among them. There was a condition under which the two tribes should live beyond the Jordan where today’s Jordan is located because it was supposed to be according to the plan of the common soul on earth.

In general, there is a human nature (the soul), as well as animate, vegetative, and still. All these levels are projected on top of each other, and all are built on the same parallel principle. When the human nature begins to be manifested in us, meaning similarity to the Creator, according to this spiritual move, we also change the place of residence. In general, everything changes in us, and we do not even notice how much we change. This happens instinctively, as if by itself. Thus, we begin to explore and discover how we now need to exist.

Question: Do they continue living by the principle of love for the other as for oneself?

Answer: Of course! They continue, deepening it further. This means populating and developing of the land of Israel because the land means desire. Thus, they move forward.

But the matter is not that they divide the land between themselves. In the sources it is described how every tribe settles on its land, where it should be. The borders and clear distribution between them are described. The tribes cannot be mixed with each other because the common desire, the common soul is divided into four levels according to three lines. Hence, (4 x 3) twelve parts, the twelve tribes appeared, which must fully match their purposes, from the spiritual to the earthly level, so that they are exactly and identically added to each other according to these levels and even follow each other in a parallel manner.

Question: So, the correction of the world begins here with this small area, on which the twelve tribes are “laid?”

Answer: Yes. What is interesting is that it is said that later, at the end of the days, all of humanity becomes attached to these twelve tribes (ten of which were lost but will return). Then everything becomes clear because the modern Babylon turns into one whole, and the twelve tribes appear again in order to spread throughout the earth. That is, the “land of Israel,” like La Peau de Chagrin “stretches” throughout the entire globe, not physically of course, but internally.

Thus, this is the process of the correction of the huge layers of still, vegetative, and animate and, in general, human egoism, which is already covered, fused in one whole, and spread over the entire earth in a form that is presented to us today. As a result, from a small point, a new world is formed, with a new intention, and an aspiration “straight to the Creator,” Yashar-El, Israel.
[143732]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14

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From Baal HaSulam, Letter 2: “Therefore, I shall advise you to evoke within you fear of the coolness of the love between us. And although the intellect denies this depiction, think for yourself, if there is a tactic by which to increase love and one does not increase, that too is considered a flaw.

It is like a person who gives a great gift to his friend. The love that appears in his heart during the act is unlike the love that remains in the heart after the fact. Rather, it gradually wanes each day until the blessing of the love can be entirely forgotten.

Thus, the receiver of the gift must find a tactic every day to make it new in his eyes each day. This is all our work, to display love between us, each and every day, just as upon receiving….”

From the side of the Elyon (Upper) nothing has changed from the beginning of creation, throughout all of the points in the process of evolution to the end of creation. Everything develops only according to our perception, so that we will gather all of these points during our development and in each of these points we discover Ein Sof, absolute love, “there is none else besides Him,” that He is the good that does good, and that besides this there is nothing but adherence with the beloved.

There are no changes in the attitude of the Creator towards us, and what we must achieve is that our attitude towards Him will also not change. So if a person sometimes feels the sudden emotion of love within himself, he should know that this comes to him as an example. And now he must awaken that same feeling in himself through the environment, study, and prayer by investing all of his energy and using all means for the sake of it.

He must focus all of his attention only on this one thing, for we must reach this love, not sometime later, but at each and every moment discover it within us. At every moment, we need to try to feel the love within us, using all means of belonging to adhesion with the Creator. We must be found in an incessant inclination like this, for at every moment our feelings change and we are constantly required to renew them again and again. That is how we adhere to the means that connect us with the Creator and then connect with the Creator through them with connections of love.

A person must remember all of his thoughts and emotions, renewing the memories associated with discovering the connection, the love, and the devotion. This is called making a covenant with the Creator. Forgetfulness comes to a person all the time, yet he must always renew his feelings and return to that love. According to the example that is given to him from above, he must try to reach the same devotion from below.
[141764]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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We are in advanced states and so we mustn’t forget that the moment before redemption is felt as the greatest darkness, helplessness, despair, powerlessness, and disappointment. Right before the exodus from Egypt it is pitch dark.

We advance along two lines. The Light comes, but it is felt in the desires that have not been corrected yet as darkness. Thus, people and whole groups see themselves in the worst possible state; in a state that is increasingly lower and more contemptible.

They think that they don’t deserve the spiritual revelation and that they are further from revelation than ever before, as it says: “And the Children of Israel sighed from the hard labor” in exile in Egypt. But this is the spiritual path.

We, therefore, have to distinguish between the heart and the mind. It isn’t by chance that the two Lights operate on us this way, the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma; the Light of the goal of creation and the Light of correction. When we feel that we are in such a terrible state, we still have a chance to clarify and examine it and realize that it is right. This is actually the state that helps us advance.

On the other hand, the darkness and the weakness that are revealed are a very powerful call from Above. We have to break through this egoistic shell and reach the perception of a new reality, the feeling of a new world.
[143633]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/14, Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention”

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 Question: What kind of result must we reach at the convention? With which thoughts and feelings do we disperse? And what does this line amount to in us?

Answer: We must connect internally to all the participants in the convention so that the convention will not end. We continue to go forward, upward; within us we feel what we attained from the connection all the time, and distance only compels us to increase and strengthen this feeling. In this manner we rise to the next level.

You cannot imagine what kind of tension exists today among our groups abroad, especially in North and South America. They are preparing for the convention and are doing everything possible and impossible.

We connect and separate, again connect and separate, all the time. This separation is necessary so that above it we can maintain the previous connection.

When we disperse, each person going on his separate way, we are given some opposition, and above it, we return to feeling the previous unity. And then the unity that is multiplied by the opposition will give us new intensity, a new spiritual level.

Question: You said that in the American and European groups there are very intense tensions. But there are also other places in which there is an absolutely different attitude towards the convention. Aren’t we infected by “viruses” from them?

Answer: I am not afraid of this. The same intensity that is gathered at the convention itself becomes such a shield that no viruses can frighten us and no hackers can disturb us.

But if you have information that some groups or isolated individuals are opposed to our idea, we should try to explain to them before the beginning of the convention that unity is the condition for attaining the spiritual world. They simply haven’t heard this yet. Each one of us knows that on their own. How much time must pass until we began to hear it? So don’t be afraid; everything will be okay.
[143509]
From the Lesson Topic: “Preparation for the Convention, 9/9/14

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Question: To what state must preparation for the Saint Petersburg convention bring the world group?

Answer: Before the convention the entire world group must be in a state of arousal and excitement where awe, happiness, elevation, expectation and despair exist together.

This must not be something external, but internal. Each one must experience these states within himself.

Our friends throughout the world must prepare such that they will become softer, more flexible. Just as we work on dough, kneading it, so we also must work on this mass.

Besides this, we want to put ourselves under the influence of the Creator, so that He will make of us something that can be digested. This is our mission. We want to become active participants in this activity, and not spectators.

As it is said in the wisdom of Kabbalah, everything depends upon preparation.
[143518]
From the Convention Preparation Webinar, 9/4/14

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Question: Is there any chance that a person who studies can succeed simply by the power of inertia ? He doesn’t leave because corporeal life doesn’t seem attractive either, but on the other hand, he sees that the wisdom of Kabbalah is too much for him and he cannot believe that he will ever reach the revelation of spirituality.

Answer: It is impossible to study with the power of inertia. Every moment in our life requires our energy. Therefore, if a person studies, it means that the Upper Light operates on him and sustains him. He probably has to go through this period. There are such periods in which a person becomes like a corpse, a lifeless body: He cannot live in the corporeal world anymore, but he hasn’t started living in the spiritual world yet.

Question: It seems that one can wander on the border of the spiritual world for years and not reach a request, a prayer.

Answer: No, that depends on you; it depends on the environment. Believe me, I speak from my own practical experience. The preparation period cannot go on forever, no state goes on infinitely.

Every moment you exist and somehow get closer to the spiritual advancement, the Light operates on you and fills you with the spiritual force drop by drop, like an intravenous infusion. But it has to accumulate to the right measure and therefore it takes time.

If you want to reach the spiritual revelation sooner, hasten time. But it cannot be that your measure will never be filled; there is no such thing. On the whole I have to know only one thing: How to connect the group with the goal.

I want to eat some soup and I am told: “Get a bowl!” But I have no bowl, so what can I receive the soup in? The bowl is the group. If I am not incorporated in a group, I have nothing to receive spirituality in. I have to tie the group very tightly to the attainment of the goal, to the revelation of the Creator.

We still think and hope that there is some vessel where the Creator can be revealed somewhere inside us. But there is no such place in a person. There is only one black point that cannot receive any revelation. But still, drop after drop, the Light operates on a person and he gradually begins to tie his success with the connection, with the friends.

This is already a great accomplishment; it is a switch from the earthly, corporeal individualistic path to the spiritual ladder. You already begin to subconsciously tie yourself to the group. You get closer and closer to it, and the moment the first contact, the first connection, is formed, you enter the spiritual ladder. This is called the ladder of spiritual ascent.
[143548]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/14, Shamati #56

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Question: In what way should our covenant be revealed in the convention?

Answer: In warmth. Effective communication that must occur between us. It has to simply explode so that we will begin to feel a warm void among us that opens us up to one another and doesn’t let us restrain ourselves in order to express our love.

Moreover, it is mutual support, a mutual effort all over the world when the friends all over the world express their support and their awe and confirm their oath of loyalty to our covenant.

Therefore, we must feel some tension. Of course, the upper force can do whatever it wants with us, but each of us is committed to the friends, to keep all the advice and the commands of the Kabbalists and do everything in our power to keep the covenant with the others.

A person should understand that if he doesn’t accept this condition, he is not part of our stream, and he doesn’t float onward in our common general boat. He can stay in the convention but nothing will happen to him.

Everyone must realize and recognize the fact that taking an oath is the central issue in starting the spiritual path. Just like on Mt. Sinai: “Do you agree to be as one man in one heart? If not, this will be your burial place!”

If we are going to make a covenant now, it should include everyone by stretching a hand over the ocean, over the continent, no matter where. Everyone has to feel that they are with us in a continuous two-way connection.
[143523]
From the Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention,” 9/4/14

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