Question: What can be done if after we have checked the needs and the deficiencies of the friends, we see that we cannot help them, we don’t know how to fulfill their needs?

Answer: So we pray, we ask for help.

Question: How does one turn in the right way with a request, with a prayer, so that it will bring the Light that Reforms?

Answer: For that you must enter into the friend’s problem as if it were your problem.

Question: But I cannot change myself.

Answer: Right, only the friends can change you. In the spiritual path, a person sees how weak he is. In the spiritual path I discover that I have “no hands.” I have no way of helping myself and I am completely at the mercy of my environment. If the friends want it, I will advance; if they don’t want it, I will not advance.

So we reach true Arvut. To advance, I require a connection with friends. So I am ready to give them everything.

And then vice versa: I no longer want anything for myself and don’t think about my advancement. Instead, I think about having the opportunity to support them, to help them. This is true Arvut.
[135167]
From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/16/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How is it possible to correct the negative connection between people into a positive connection?

Answer: The whole problem is in how to correct a negative connection between us into a positive one. If we were to succeed in arranging and determining a positive connection, then we would feel the higher power between us, and instead of the reality of today, we would see a reality that is completely full of Light, bestowal. This would be life in another, spiritual dimension.

But we are in a shattering with respect to this condition of wholeness, in a form which is its opposite. All of our work is to go from the broken state to the state of wholeness.

One vessel that was filled with Light was created at the beginning of creation. This state is called world of Infinity. But those who were in this world didn’t feel themselves as existing because the Light suppresses all differences and doesn’t permit feeling anything. For this reason the shattering was created, and everyone there discovers that there is no longer any Light. The Light disappeared from this world; it was removed and the world was left empty. And now all parts of creation have become egoistic; ego is revealed between them!

We need to bring the Light back so that it will again fill the world. This is our goal and this will indicate a state of the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun). But due to the difference between these two states, we pass from a negative state to such a positive level where we begin to understand and feel the higher power, the Creator.

In the first state we were suppressed and didn’t feel ourselves at all, we were completely filled with the Upper Light, like a drunkard who gets so drunk that he loses consciousness and doesn’t understand what is happening to him. We are now in the second state and are beginning to feel how much we lack the Light, how much we lack the right connection between us. This is the crisis that the world is experiencing today. The Light gradually disappeared and now we are beginning to feel that we are sinking into darkness.

And our next state is the beginning of the correction where we bring the Light back to a place to the degree that our souls will be ready to accept it and to attract it again, to the degree that we demand that the Creator be together with us. We need to vacate a place for Him, and for this we must remove our ego that takes up our entire living space. It is necessary to suppress it. So all of us together enter into the center of the group where we build relationships with each other that are like the Light. And according to this resemblance and equivalence, according to the law of equivalence of form between the Light and the vessel, the Light returns to our connection. All of this is very easy to understand and incredibly difficult to carry out.
[134841]
From the Convention In France “One For All And All For One,” Day Two 5/10/14, Lesson 2

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Question: If I haven’t found a dissemination task that is suitable for me, is it possible to be busy with “internal dissemination” instead of that in the meantime, which means holding intention?

Answer: No, that is not a substitute. We do not know what our intention is. The intentions are built in us by the Light that bestows. A person has no connection or control of his intention.

My intentions are determined by my present situation. I am not able to create an intention within me according to my desire. I cannot sit and attempt not to think of a white elephant, and then force myself to think about a green alligator without being distracted.

All of my intentions are a result of the state that I am in. I can’t turn a knob to turn an intention on or off, to change an intention from one to another. That is impossible.

I must work with the environment, disseminate, study, and because of my energy, efforts, and investment, the Light that Reforms will come and change my intention. I am not in control of my intention, I can only, through my efforts and prayers, invite a response for my desire to change, which will come back to me like a boomerang, and the upper Light will change me.

I am not able to build it myself; it’s like giving birth to myself. It is only possible to influence it so that it will happen. But that influence is my entire work. How am I able to awaken the Light so that it will produce the correct intention within me?

My prayer, my MAN (Mayin Nukvin– female waters) is up to my expectations. So I need to have contact with the group, mutual work, envy, lust, and honor in relation to the friends, and admiration for what they value and what they do not. In this way I acquire at least some kind of deficiency for bestowal, even though they are egoistic in the meantime, Lo Lishma (not for Her Name).

But I cannot change my inner self by myself, to direct myself to certain thoughts and intentions. I have no such control panel with which I could calibrate myself correctly.
[132092]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/3/14, Questions and Answers with Dr. Laitman

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Baal HaSulam, “Letter 43”: …It is written, “And Moses would take the tent,” etc. Why did he pitch his tent outside the camp?…

However, it is to the contrary. It is a true remedy for opening the fountains of wisdom to a faithful source, since once Moses had pitched his tent outside the camp, the craving for him inside the camp increased, as one who has bread in his basket is not like one who, etc.

As usual, we don’t appreciate what we have and so Moses has to leave. It is written: “The Torah will come out of Zion (the exits).” We have to exit a state in order to appreciate what was and what will be. It is only by the feeling of deficiency that we attain the importance.

A person has to work on raising the importance of the current state, like an old man who walks bent down as if looking for something he has lost, by increasing one’s deficiencies through the group and dissemination. We must not wait for the deficiencies to awaken inside us by themselves and complain why we aren’t burning, why we don’t yearn, why we are asleep.

If a person doesn’t look for additional deficiencies by himself, by the connection with the friends, the study, and dissemination, he will dry up, wither, and lose interest. There should always be “bread in his basket.” If a person knows that he has a slice of bread for the future, he will not fear being hungry since this stock will satisfy him. But if he has nothing for the future, then even if he is full, he will already feel a deficiency and worry. It is because the future vessel is gradually revealed and he doesn’t have the expected filling.

Therefore, we must always yearn for the future filling, which means for the desire to bestow. The Light of Hassadim, in contrast to the Light of Hochma, fills the empty vessel with joy by yearning to fill the others. Although I have nothing of my own, not even a shirt, like someone who only wants to be Hafetz Hesed, I don’t need anything either.

This is the perspective we have to look at concerning what “bread in his basket” means. It means that on the one hand, a person prepares himself for greater and greater emptiness, but on the other hand, he has to feel a filling in it.
[135350]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: What kind of help must be sought in concealment?

Answer: If the final goal is adherence, which is possible only with equivalence of form, then it is good that darkness is revealed to me now. All my ego, all desire to receive, is taken from me and the egoistic joy from one of its parts is taken. Now, it is from this part that I can carry out some kind of altruistic movement directed towards bestowal, closeness to the Creator.

It follows that concealment comes specifically to make it possible for me to do something, to take a step forward, to determine in what form I want to be. Of course, I must work together with the Light that Reforms, yet I can use it as a means that is at my disposal all the time, like a vehicle that travels in any direction that I want. If my request is for the right thing, then the Light will carry it out fully, both quantitatively and qualitatively, meaning that the Light will do everything that I want.

Question: In what is my independence expressed at the time of concealment?

Answer: My independence is to act in a group and with dissemination in order to connect with the friends as strongly as possible in the state of concealment, and this is due to previous preparation. I don’t know what the right form for me should be. I only know that I want to build contact with the higher power together with the friends and the group in order to feel how I give pleasure for the Creator. I want to discover the happiness from His side; this is disclosure.

And this is not to make myself happy but to discover connection with the Creator beyond concealment. This will be called my future “head of the Partzuf,” meaning the beginning of the soul.

Question: How is a request in a state of concealment different, indeed in any state where I am asking for power?

Answer: In a state of ascent, I ask for for the force that will allow my mind and heart to justify and praise the Creator. In every state we are searching for clarification of adhesion, so that I will have signs, clear sensations, in order to know in which impressions, desires, and thoughts I am in connection with the Creator, adherent with Him, where He embraces me and I embrace Him.

Spiritual adhesion is like adhesion between physical bodies where there is protrusion and indentation, bestowal and reception, matched one to the other. Yet what is unique about spiritual adhesion is that with every desire I both receive and bestow. All of the desires that bestow are like protrusions and receptions are like indentations. That is how we connect absolutely and reach a shared sensation.

I seek full adhesion and want my partner to feel pleasure from me. He is good and benevolent and I want to be like Him. This is my goal.
[135340]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/14

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Question: What is the work in concealment?

Answer: A black spot, a dark place, is revealed in Malchut of Infinity, which I have to fill with the greatness of the Light, the greatness of the Creator. Everything around it is Light, but I was given this picture of darkness so that I will add bestowal on my part there.

It is like a small part of person’s heart that doesn’t function because the blood flow is blocked. The medical term for this is “myocardial infarction,” and I am required to fix the blood flow by adding the Light of bestowal there. Thus the parts are gradually shown to me one by one so that I will add the Light there.

I cannot do it by myself, of course, since I am not the source of the Light, but I can ask that the Light of bestowal will appear there instead of the Light of receiving. The concealment gives me such an opportunity.

So we shouldn’t see the states of concealment as darkness, unpleasantness, or punishment. Punishment is actually the opposite—if I am not given such states of unpleasant concealments and am dulled by good feelings that turn me into a well-fed animal that needs nothing and doesn’t want to hear about anything.

There is nothing worse than that. In this state I am doomed to remain on the animal level because I receive all the fillings while lacking the ability to reveal any deficiencies and to get closer to their correction by myself: to do something independently, to respond and to participate by myself.

It is like being invited to some important conference in which great experts take part and where I am greatly respected but am not allowed to speak. How would I feel? In the state of concealment, however, I am allowed to respond.

We mustn’t forget that all the manners, limits, and forms of concealment must be clarified only with regard to the group. Everything else belongs to the animal level: all the issues that belong to food, sex, family, money, respect and knowledge. All this has nothing to do with spiritual darkness. Spiritual darkness applies only to the mutual guarantee in the group.
[135336]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/14

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Question: If all the friends are also part of my soul, what do I have to learn about my attitude toward them from every picture that the Creator shows me?

Answer: It is through the friends that the Creator gives us the tools by which we can contact Him. Then, the same must be done with the entire world, as required to reach the level of “There is none else besides Him.”

Question: Why is it so hard to think that there is none else besides Him? I constantly want to leave this thought because it is so difficult.

Answer: First, the Masach (screen) is very thick, and it is very hard for us to penetrate it in order to constantly hold on to the thought “There is none else besides Him.”

However, the Masach gradually becomes thinner, and then it becomes easier to overcome it. Eventually, we understand that it is even a good thing for the Masach to remain since it provides us with the letters of the work, the feelings and the ability to hold on to the Creator.

If the Masach disappears completely, we would certainly say that “There is none else besides Him” in everything, and the picture of the world will show a person how to hold on to the Creator.
[135332]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Most important is the relationship of a person to concealment, to darkness, even though the darkness is very exhausting. It is precisely according to the attitude toward the darkness that closeness to revelation is determined, not the attitude toward the Light, to the time when you are in ascent.

At the time of ascent, everyone wants to go forward, as if they just got a shot of energy. The main thing is when in darkness, losing strength, taste, and desire, to nevertheless you organize yourself at this stage in order to be Domem de Kedusha (still level of holiness). You are now given the opportunity to manage your Kelim (vessels) by yourself, as much as possible.

In ascent, in the elevation of mood when the goal illuminates and attracts a person and pushes him forward, he doesn’t advance through his own powers. It is from within the darkness and the descents,specifically from the departures: For out of Zion shall go forth the law (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2), that you require the Light that Reforms, which is called Torah.

Then, you say, Thou hast made the LORD who is my refuge (Psalms 91:9), meaning that the Creator covers you. You begin to see a higher mercy  in this darkness because it conceals you from those physical pleasures, which you would have pursued and forgotten about holiness. And so concealment comes, and from this concealment, you need to draw the importance of spirituality inside yourself and to work on it.

Now, you are given the opportunity to discover yourself, like a child whom they stand up and let take his first steps alone. There is no choice but to try to take these steps alone, for they are for your own good. You must understand that all the concealment prepared for you by the Creator is only for your own good.

Certainly it is impossible to do this alone. It is best if you get to some meal, event, or dissemination activity where you join with others. This is a wonderful remedy that acts faster and better than anything. The main thing is not to remain alone at this time; you should schedule participation and integration into all kinds of events and activities in order to get out of the descent as quickly as possible with the help of others.

For He will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways (Psalms 91:11), and in the darkness that is sent to you, you must believe that everything is arranged by the Creator. However, you specifically are given free choice within this state. The Creator is seemingly concealed and removed. This gives a person the opportunity to act and participate independently in a state of O thou that dwellest in the covert of the Most High (Psalms 91:1), meaning in single concealment.
[135241]
From the preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/14

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Question: What is the “summation of all the parts” that makes it possible to reach spirituality?

Answer: The summation of all the parts indicates that you love everything: the still, vegetative, animate, and human as a single whole in which there is no difference. You love them as the Creator relates to them, as the good and benevolent.

The Creator says: “It is difficult for us to get along with each other because you are the opposite of Me. Come let’s learn how to love each other through a third someone.” And so now you have this whole world.

Initially you hate this world and reject it. You have no need for it and you are ready to give it up. Nothing matters to you, including people near and far. But to the degree that your attitude towards everyone changes and you begin to approach them and love them, you will be able to measure your attitude towards the Creator.

And then in order to reach love of the people, you need the Creator. This is because you have no love for them, but only hatred! It is good that the friends don’t know how you truly relate to them. So you begin to turn to the Creator and ask for help because you cannot tolerate such an attitude.

And so you need more and more from the Creator for the sake of the friends. And then you also begin to gradually pay attention to the Creator: how to turn to Him, how much I need Him, how He can help, how merciful and understanding He is. You already begin to connect with Him; you become partners.
[135224]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/13/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How is love for our neighbor realized? If a person needs money, how can I help him?

Answer: The world is full of needy people who are dying of starvation. However, I am incapable of correcting the world directly. My task is to bring it closer to the Creator. This is precisely the general approach we should have with regard to the problems of humanity.

In fact, the world does not need money or bread; it needs the Upper Light, which will fill and organize everything. It will treat all ills. I can only, through my inclusion in the group, bring the Light closer to the world. Together with the group, I can aspire to the Light, reveal the need for it to be corrected, and the correction will flow through us to everyone. This is what I am working on.

On the other hand, if I try to help Africa or another region in need, this will not do anything. Today, we see this after all the efforts of philanthropists or other “benefactors.” Only the Light will help the world.
[135165]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/16/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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