Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

The Oath Of Allegiance

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How in practice can we form a union within the group to stay in the same feeling of belonging to the general unity?

Answer: But we all want to advance! We have reached a new sensation at the convention; it’s not for nothing we prepared so much for it and gathered so many loyal friends. There were almost no people who came by chance and if someone showed up, he disappeared in the general atmosphere.

And now we are all interested in this union to continue what we have achieved. If everyone wants to maintain the same feeling of belonging to one whole in which we aspire to find the mutual property of bestowal, then the upper force is present within. It’s hidden for the time being, but it will be manifested gradually, clearly, and it will shine. It will happen! We are already discovering the area in which it should occur.

A union is different from simple efforts that we commit to each other. Now that I feel I belong to the collective unity, I pledge to keep it, as if swearing allegiance to my people, my homeland. We feel that we belong to our country and this requires us to be loyal. The same thing happens here.

Actually, we have already formed this union, and now we just need to strengthen it, to sign it. The signature means that you cannot retreat from your obligations even for a moment. You promise that regardless of any new situations and disturbances you will keep loyalty to the collective unity. This is called signing a covenant.

You will be thrown from state to state, but you will keep your agreement thanks to the power of the Creator. Although we are not revealing Him yet and that is why we do not feel that everything depends on Him, meanwhile, we should be supported by the fear of losing what we achieved; this is the rope that binds us together. Then, we will be able to get closer to bestowal and will understand that the Creator is the guarantor of our union.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/13, Writings of Rabash

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How To Bridge The Gap

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are times when you feel strongly impressed and elated; you need to pass this on to others. But there are times when it doesn’t work: Someone is in a state of descent, another is active and leaves, and the gap just keeps on growing.

Answer: This is actually a good thing! When everyone is in a state of ascent it’s bad. Yet we will be given such states. If we could see everyone around us from the inside instead of the bodies, to see some other parameters, you would see that everyone is jumping up and down. But these jumps are totally different and they are all mutually connected.

Question: But how can we support one another so as not to increase the gap and not to make the states of descent any worse?

Answer: Smile at one another, support one another by your desires. Do your best to invest all your efforts in that. There is nothing else I can wish for you or suggest in this case. You have to show the others that your heart is open to them. This is how you will convince them and thus beat them.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day One” 7/12/13, Lesson 1

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We Are Already In The Spiritual World

Dr. Michael LaitmanA descent happens only because we cannot maintain the previously achieved state since every time there is a burdening of the heart. We have not been given this burdening of the heart because we are shown mercy from above.

But it’s no good if the burdening of the heart is a consequence of the external material problems. After all, from now on we can remain only in spiritual work and interpret all the material unpleasant disturbances as spiritual.

We will see nothing material in these disturbances, even in the most severe blows. They will suddenly begin to take such a fantastic shape; the most important thing is to hold ourselves at the same level. If we persist in staying at the same height above all the disturbances, we will begin to enter this degree more deeply.

We have already risen to a new degree and now we need to get further into it to see the ten Sefirot in it, new properties. And then we will suddenly see that we are able to stay in this state and are in the spiritual world! We have already touched this state in the external form.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/13, Writings of Rabash

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The Light Of Confidence

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the convention there was a pleasant feeling of confidence in our belonging to unity. Now we have to separate the pleasant feeling from the feeling of belonging, but should confidence remain in this case?

Answer: Confidence is the Light that we have to secure for ourselves. No one can feel confidence because of himself only, it comes only from the outside. This is the confidence of the baby who rests in the mother’s arms. All his confidence is in belonging to the upper.

Mutual guarantee, mutual inclusion, confidence, and connection, all this is joined into one common state, one illumination. And then we will learn to divide these feelings into three lines. At different stages, birth and suckling, growing up happens in different ways. Our dependence on the upper and our attitude towards the group change, as on the upper degree or at the one where you are. If the upper force is manifested in the group, then we already attribute it to ourselves, to our soul.

Everything is within the group so we do not need to philosophize much, the most important thing for us now is to make one step forward that will become life-changing. Everything depends on whether we are able to enter the achieved degree more deeply or fall back, and then we will need a very long time to return to the same state.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/13, Writings of Rabash

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Life Goes On In The Orbit Of The Convention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the preparation for the convention everyone had a definite date to which we could accelerate, to concentrate all our efforts toward. And after that, everyone went back to his project and this common effort, aimed at one point, is not felt. How can we achieve acceleration relative to the same point?

Answer: I think we are old enough and do not need to set a date as a guide for ourselves. It’s a childish level if we can concentrate regarding any one day.

Day means a state. And as we advance further we will have to hold this state at a greater height and with increasing steadiness, until eternity. For the time being, we are given pleasant feelings of being in these states so that our material egoistic force helps us hold ourselves in them. Our egoism still supports this unity because we are at the beginning of our development.

The main thing now is to make this state permanent and to feel our belonging to our whole world group. Try to separate from this feeling and associate this condition with all the events of your life; in any situation, you only need to remain inside our unity. We need to stay in the same state in which we were during the convention together with everyone, and bring all your life inside it. All the daily activities: Lessons, work, home, family, all the situations happening need to be brought into the area of the convention and continue on its orbit.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/13, Writings of Rabash

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A Process In Waves

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do you evaluate the state of the world group? What do we lack and what do we need to do in order to develop a focused joint attack?

Answer: In my opinion, you have already felt about yourselves that when you learn within the group seriously and steadily, trying to summon forces to relate to people, to friends and to learning correctly, in general for the whole world, then suddenly you feel some kind of confusion, an inexplicable mess, everything escapes from your head and nothing is connected. You don’t know where you are, something is happening that is not clear.

A number of days pass, perhaps a week or two, depending upon which part of the way in which the person is found (in the beginning this could even take up to two months and perhaps even more) and after that these states become compressed. They become shorter and shorter, but in spite of it all, a mess is felt in the head.

And then suddenly everything becomes clear, clarified, and organized. You learn on a new level, with greater understanding and feeling, and again everything progresses smoothly and well.

There is a cumulative process of your intentions, actions, learning, and then suddenly you again enter into an inexplicable internal vortex, you cannot concentrate mentally and emotionally. You are completely lost, and suddenly after a number of days or perhaps a number of hours or weeks, everything becomes clarified. This is the process.

Baal HaSulam writes that when he was in a state like this, it didn’t apply to the books, he wouldn’t try to read or to learn much. He would need to supply himself internally with everything, to reorganize and digest everything within himself so that the Light would bring him to another level and would convey to him particular elements so that he would begin to understand, to see, and to feel everything differently.

I personally think that a break like this is imperative, and incidentally, this is very widespread in everyday life. I remember that when I was studying we had a professor who was a lecturer who told us to go to the movies in the evening and come to him in the morning for the examination. And he was right. This truly helps, as it makes it possible for you to be organized and not just absorb what is written in books.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention 7/11/13, “Preparatory Lesson”

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Levels Of Connection

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, Article “A Sage’s Fruit”: The Zohar compares this to two people who were on a boat when and one of them began to drill underneath himself. His friend rebuked him, “Why are you drilling?” And the fool answered him,”What business is it of yours, I am under me, not you?” Truly, one person can ruin everything.

In the physical world, in a case like this all of us will drown, and what happens in spirituality?

And this is the secret of the prayer of many, it is forbidden for an individual to leave the collective. And it is forbidden for him to ask only for himself, about himself, even if it is to give satisfaction to his Maker, rather he must ask only for the entire collective.

First it is necessary to reach love of others. And from this state one will reach love of the Creator. Which is to say, first of all we must connect and only then can we go on to the next step. There can be no spiritual action if it doesn’t come from connection.

Spirituality doesn’t exist by itself rather we build it from our Kelim, vessels, we form a picture of the spiritual world on a background of white Light. Certainly we are not allowed to portray just what comes to us, we are limited by the picture that potentially exists already within the Light.

We need to gradually adapt ourselves to the Light, approaching it by the 125 levels that we construct. It’s specifically we who build these states within our Kelim. And therefore we don’t have anything to build without connection. And someone who is not directed toward this goal is not directed towards a spiritual action. Every other action besides this brings us to “another way,” the way of “Beito,” to the way of suffering, to the long and difficult way that is designed to return us to the recognition of the need for connection.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Writings of Rabash

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The Difference Between Spiritual And Non-Spiritual Descent

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe main thing is not to move from this point: “Today, we have gathered here.” Today is the moment when we need to work on not losing what we achieved before, but only on expanding. This is exactly the situation that has arisen now, after the convention. We need to care about continuing and adding to our gains, instead of waiting until we are thrown down once again and who knows when we will be able to rise again.

Our whole world group of Bnei Baruch must keep itself at least at the same level. We want to preserve what we have achieved, and if you are not able to stay at the same height, then you are not in the desires of bestowal even in the slightest degree.

We must by all means stay in the achieved state and not fall. Descent should be in the realization of the fact that it’s necessary to add to the previous ascent; it’s not enough for us! We must rise to a new ascent. And if we descend, we will never ascend to the King’s palace.

It’s necessary to distinguish every ascent that is in greater bestowal, which is added drop by drop: every time a little bit more bestowal, connection, and the feeling of unity. And after we reach this addition in bestowal, we get a descent based on the feeling of the opportunity to rise even higher. That is, we ourselves awaken the dawn and thus advance.

All the descents that we received to date threw us down from the achieved level, causing us to fall down. They were incorrect, not spiritual descents. The spiritual descent should occur in relation to the previous values. If in the past we somehow imagined bestowal, now we see that bestowal is much more. So, the state that we have achieved seems to us as a descent.

Of course, this is possible only with the support of the group. Let’s say, I have won $1,000 and am very happy. And then I suddenly see that someone else has won $2,000, and then I feel no longer in ascent but in descent. Similarly, we need to treat what we have achieved: Everyone should see in his environment that it’s possible to attain more, even greater bestowal! There should not be any descent; there is always an opportunity to add.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/13, Writings of Rabash

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Let’s Redouble Our Efforts Now!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We experienced great joy from the unity that was attained among the friends during the St. Petersburg convention and the mirror conventions. Now the thought of losing it is scary. How can we hold on to this unity?

Answer: The fear of losing the feeling of unity that was attained is a very good thing, even if it’s an egoistic fear. It guards a person.

There is no fixed state in spirituality and there are constant changes, just like in a living body where there are continuous processes going on. So the question is how we can advance. In order to preserve the previous state, we have to constantly advance, which means to constantly make additional efforts. It’s essential, even in order to preserve the previous state. If we want to rise above the previous state, we have to add a doubly squared effort.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/13, The Zohar

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Everything that you say after the convention is already perceived in a totally different manner, as a new attainment. But on the other hand, there is the fear of losing it, since it takes great power to hold on to what we have attained and it can only come as a result of our unity. How can we increase the mutual support among us?

Answer: We have been through many states lately, through many changes, and have experienced difficult situations. Although they are easily forgotten because of the support from group, the essence of these changes is very significant. Besides, we have made great preparations for the convention. It was simply a favor from above that we held the convention in Krasnoyarsk before the St. Petersburg convention and I wanted everyone to envy those who had attended it.

It actually happened. Everyone wanted to reach the same state of unity and because they felt sorry that they had not felt it, they took the preparation very seriously. This is why we have attained what we have attained. I don’t think that the mirror conventions were any different judging by what I saw on the screen and in the convention itself.

It was the first time I have seen people ending the convention happily as if they are not about to say goodbye. They didn’t have to hug everyone and cry as they used to do in the past. No one came complaining to me that it would be hard to go back home. I left and no one even noticed. It is a very good sign.

People felt that their lives are in the group, in the general connection, while I only come and awaken it from the outside. I explain how to build and organize it, but life itself is fulfilled inside the group. It isn’t I who makes the convention, but actually you by yourselves. You have become so independent and this is very important, and so you have experienced these new feelings and advanced to a new state.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/13, The Zohar

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