Question: How do we know that we have attained the state of the spiritual Ibur (conception)?

Answer: I suggest that you do the following: In spite of everything that happens, try to awaken yourself with the help of the environment, keep the same daily schedule, annul yourself, and accept that all the problems come from Above in order to help you annul yourself before the upper force, through the group.

The sign of the correct self-annulment is joy. Don’t ask for anything else, only to remain in this state in order to advance by the annulment of the ego. This already means that I am in state of Ibur.

I don’t care what I get from it. The only thing I want and what is important for me is to remain as strongly adhered as possible—that is, in the lowest point of annulment, in the smallest state. And because I want to see and feel different spiritual phenomena, I still have to work on myself. In other words, I have to annul my ego to the zero level, and this is called adhesion with the upper one.

Then I increasingly annul myself beyond that point and adhere more strongly, although my ego awakens. Thus the nine months of pregnancy go by. The most difficult part is the first three days of the absorption of the semen. Most of the problems occur at this phase, both in spiritual life and in corporeal life.

Even problems like miscarriages, which occur in the more advanced stages of pregnancy, happen because of different malfunctions and defects that occurred in the first three days of the absorption of the semen.
[106431]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/1/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Why does an egoistic connection between friends arouse the influence of the upper Light, while our other egoistic efforts are not able to attract it? What is the trick here?

Answer: The Creator brings a person to a group, as it is written: “The Creator puts one’s hand on the good fortune and says, ‘Choose it.’”And what do you choose? You choose the environment. You hope that it will influence you, even just a little, to the degree that you are ready to bend yourself before it.

Here, the question arises: Why and for what do you bend yourself? If we are honest, it is in order to make a good profit. They tell you that if you lower your head before the friends, you may win a big prize. Essentially, this is pure ego.

The group before which you bow is in no way better than you. All the friends are the same egoists, but this doesn’t matter because each one wants to lower his head to the others so that through brotherly love with a massive “promotion,” you will receive some kind of pleasure.

So, the Light comes to you because, as it is said, in order to fulfill the commandments, we don’t need intention. So, even if your intention is egoistic, you receive the Light that Reforms anyway.

You might ask, “How does this happen?” I would put the question differently. If it were not for this mechanism, how could you change at all?

There is a parable about two angels who asked the Creator: “Why did you give the method of correction to humans and not to us?” The Creator answered: “Do you have an evil inclination? And humans do.” It follows that you must be within the evil inclination and quite consciously seek self-benefit, saying: “Even were the world to burn, most important is that I feel good myself, even if I am left alone.”

However, at some moment, the spark of a new desire is awakened in you, directed straight to the Creator, and even though you imagine Him as the source of egoistic pleasures and an eternal and perfect life for yourself, it is enough if you enter a group of people like you. After all, it is specifically the Creator who brought you together; it is specifically He who is gave you the means to learn and to connect.

More than this, the Kabbalists stand above us and organize everything that the group will need, like a perfect teacher. They are concerned for us, and the Light reaches us specifically through them. You will see this yet.

That is how the method of Kabbalah works: Good deeds don’t require the right intentions and, thanks to them, when you still have nothing, you can reach the first level.

An approach like this directs the person the right way, protects him from lying to himself, and makes it possible to look forward to a true, mutual connection. This is no lie. Everything is based upon laws, not on concepts, beliefs, or customs. We are in a realistic system. With time, we will be able to describe it using a precise, adequate language.
[106169]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/25/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 96, “What Is Waste of Barn and Winery, in the Work”: The basis upon which He built the order of the work was in the lowest manner, and all of it was above reason. Only one who is a real fool can be so low as to proceed without any basis on which to establish one’s faith, literally with no support.

Additionally, he accepts this work with great joy, as though he had had real knowledge and vision on which to establish the certainty of faith. And to that exact measure of above reason, to that very measure as though he had reason. Hence, if he persists in this path, he can never fall. Rather, he can always be in gladness, by believing that he is serving a great King.

We have to descend from the height of our ego, our confidence that we know and understand everything, that we have everything under control. It should be to such an extent that we come to the recognition of total hopelessness, absolute zero, 100% lowliness. To the extent that our previous knowledge was great, to that extent we are now going against our reason and are happy about it, feeling sure that it is the right thing.

We don’t want to count on anything that comes from our desire to receive. It is because everything that comes from it is undoubtedly a lie, no matter how true and real it may seem.

Of course it is possible to descend so low and ascend to faith only by the Light that Reforms, but we don’t have any power to do that since we have nothing but our ego. We can only check ourselves by the joy that we feel when we return to the same problems, the same mistakes, understanding better each time to what extent we have to be in a state of lowliness.

All this has to be in faith above reason: the extent to which I am able to I disregard my mind. I accept my mind, but only in order to work above it and advance accordingly. It is impossible to acquire the attributes of bestowal without passing the zero point of self-lowliness.

It is the same point that is called an embryo (Ibur), conception. This level constantly appears before us each time, with new conditions and new depth of desire (Aviut). We descend to “zero,” and we have to justify our past, which is called to bestow in order to bestow, and then justify the past for the others, called to receive in order to bestow. This means that first we correct the mistakes, and then we turn the mistakes into merits.

But when we change them to merits, we bring them to lowliness since it is only the Creator who does and determines everything. So the structure that we build is based on this point of lowliness, on the state of the embryo that grows and increasingly annuls itself.
[106427]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/1/13

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We are all connected by a “cobweb” of forces that penetrate all our relationships. On the whole, these are either the forces of reception or the forces of bestowal. If a person discovers neither of the forces, it is as if he is hanging in emptiness. Usually, however, either the positive or the negative forces are revealed to him, and together they weave the general network.

So the “cobweb” exists and it is up to a person to what extent he feels it, to what extent he is in it, and to what extent he wants these forces to be either corporeal or spiritual.

We may say that we are in a “fixed” position in this network, regardless of our physical location. And the saying “he who changes his place changes his luck” refers to spiritual “coordinates.” If I move from one country to another and see different people and a different environment around me, it doesn’t mean that I have changed my position in the system in any way.

I am in the same point, in the same network, but now it simply seems to be different. Even if my “luck” has changed, meaning the forces that act upon me, it doesn’t mean that I have changed my location in the spiritual network. Only the manifestations, the “garments,” the scene in the Creator’s theater, by which He manages me, have changed. But the director is the same, and the play is the same play, and behind the new set there are the same side scenes.…

Question: But what should I emphasize? Where should I make an effort?

Answer: The Creator tells me: “I have brought you to a point of choice, now realize it.” He has brought me to the group, but it is only the place of choice, while the choice itself is in my hands. It is like coming to the ballot box that has already been prepared for me, and now the choice is mine.
[106354]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/30/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”: However, prior to being rewarded with inverting the desire to receive in us through Torah and commandments, into reception in order to bestow, there are strong locks on those gates to the Creator, for then they have the opposite role: to drive us away from the Creator. This is why the forces of separation are called “locks,” since they block the gates of approaching and drive us away from the Creator.

But if we overcome them so they do not affect us, cooling His love from our hearts, the locks become doors, the darkness becomes light, and the bitter becomes sweet. Over all the locks, we receive a special degree in His Providence, and they become openings, degrees of attainment of the Creator.

We should see only the forces that operate on us in every event in our lives. It doesn’t matter how they operate since they are all meant to push us towards the Creator, to discover and to adhere to Him.

If a person works together with these forces and cares for his physical needs only to the extent that it’s necessary for the existence of his animate body, dedicating everything else for the needs of his soul, then by trying to clarify these forces and to criticize them, he discovers that there is nothing coincidental in this world and that everything happens only so that he will adhere more strongly to the Creator.

He reaches a state in which he finds himself not facing the forces that separate him from the Creator, who is on the other side. But when he hears an invitation from the Creator: “Come to Pharaoh!” This means that the person and the Creator stand together side by side, stepping forward against Pharaoh together, while these forces step forward against them. The Creator says to a person: “Hold my hand and we will go together!”

This is a very important point a person has to clarify in his life, as he clarifies where he is with respect to the Creator and with respect to the obstacles. Are he and the Creator on the two sides of the obstacles; that is, do the obstacles separate the person from the Creator? Or does a person annul himself and adhere to the Creator, so then he finds himself in His arms, or holding His hand, like a child next to a grown up, and then both of them face the obstacles, as it says: “Come to Pharaoh!”

Then the work changes since he holds on to the forces that come in order to strengthen the adhesion between them, to connect the person to the Creator. It’s like a dog that barks at a child, thus forcing the child to cling to his mother or father out of fear. That is, if a person is on the same side as the Creator who invites him to go to Pharaoh together, then these forces are immediately felt as help. Then Pharaoh operates in order to bring them closer together, and this is the whole difference.
[106257]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/29/13

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Question: How is spiritual and inner work divided in the corrected world? Do inner differences between people receive external expression?

Answer: In the corrected world everyone will realize what he must carry out 100% in order to correct his desire. For everyone, this is according to his level and desire.

Some people will learn from morning to night and will realize the material that they have learned internally. This will be their function, similar to the creation of software. Others will be occupied most of their day with organization, dedicating only a small part of their time to learning. Some of the people will be the operators, some will realize themselves in service, and so forth.

Everyone will act according to the degree of his deficiency and its expression in this world. This is because a person expresses himself according to his inner desire, according to his level within the general system, divided into five levels of Aviut (the density of desire). Each one of us belongs to different parts, to different “organs.” It could be the “liver,” or the “brain,” or the “lungs”…. In a complete system everyone is important because every organ and every part has its function that establishes all of our external deeds.

Therefore, quantitatively and qualitatively, my corrections are derived from the spiritual source of my soul. Accordingly, being a corrected “cell” in the right place within the totality of souls, I need to receive the Light that Reforms.

It’s said: “There is no coercion in spirituality,” “a person learns where his heart desires.” According to its influence, the system itself establishes a person’s place, and it’s up to each one to take account of himself regarding the form of his chosen participation. Possibly, this “review” will make it possible for him to advance. And perhaps the person will understand that he is not ready for more than this; he will be satisfied in the outer circle, and this will be the place of his correction.

Not all of us need to strive inwards. The outer part of every level is found within the inner part of the lower level, and together they build a pyramid of “overlapping” parts of Galgalta ve Eynaim and AHP. This is a universal principle derived from spirituality.

Possibly, you dream about universal equality. All are equal in a sense that, from Above, each one is given all that is required according to their desire (vessel). And with everything else, all of us are different. Democracy from the side of the Creator is that all of us are loved to the same degree, and all of us comprise one circle of adhesion. Together with this, there is a hierarchy that characterizes the spiritual ladder up to the end of correction.

Therefore, decision makers are those who reach spiritual heights and desire more wisdom and adherence, not those who want more money and control. Such people were once called the “Sanhedrin” or “The Great Assembly” among the people of Israel.

On the other hand, the concept of “equality” in modern society is destructive. This vision of equality brings fascism. All the sociologists, the political scientists, and people of other professions know that a fascist regime is the most egalitarian: They always talk about the “common citizen,” about the “common worker” and so on. We know the results. Therefore, the right structure is a spiritual pyramid in which each has an equal opportunity for self-realization.
[105809]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A person is composed of two components: his own “I” and his existence. We can forego our own existence by bringing proof to our ego that it’s worth it. We see that the world changes, its values change as well, becoming less and less materialistic. The desire to receive changes not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, and therefore prefers more subtle fillings.

Besides this, there exist many types of people, and each enjoys different things: music, art, or sports, which are considered to be more “spiritual” than simple “materialistic” occupations. But essentially these are all types of materialistic egoistic fillings, and they are all the same in relation to a person’s spiritual development. The only difference is in this is how much a person prefers personal preoccupation in comparison to collective preoccupation. This determines his development.

There have always been people who loved to work for the good of all. They provided inspiration to people to make social revolutions, stood at the head of charitable movements, and helped the needy. Ten percent of all humanity have an inclination towards bestowal, their ego enjoys bestowal. This lets a person feel superior, to respect himself, to be proud of himself, even if nobody knows about his good deeds. This is a special type of egoism.

But to forego “self” is already impossible. It’s possible to do something like this only through the Light that Reforms and even this is not directly, but indirectly. The person invests himself in a society, tries to be included in it, and then the Light begins to influence him and to change him through the society.

Only in a form like this is change possible. This is a unique patent since in truth, we don’t want this to happen. It’s impossible to desire this for real, but since we nevertheless are able to act in this way, the change in us happens. This is called “I have labored and I found.” We are prepared to make a particular effort to be included in the environment, as if we have the desire to bestow, as if we want to discover the Creator and bring Him contentment.

All this is “as if,” but in this game there is a kind of condition for all of these efforts to enter into the system for “fun” but for real, as if we truly desire it! And the system begins to react to us. While the person isn’t really asking, yet suddenly he finds an answer. And he always finds something that he didn’t expect at all, and therefore this is called a “find.” This is always discovered as a surprise, quickly, abruptly. Thus through external corrections we reach internal corrections, through correction of the existence of reality we correct reality itself.
[105784]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/13, Writing of Rabash

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We are in a very special relationship with the Creator. If a person puts all his egoistic hopes in Him, just like all the people in this world, then everything is fine. Everyone believes that the Creator is good and that He sends us good things and cares about us. Although people suffer, they always find a justification for that. We see that it isn’t too difficult to hold on to a simple belief. Billions of people truly believe in the existence of an upper force and are ready to make different sacrifices and even to sacrifice their life for this belief.

It is so simple since it stems from our ego. A person praises and glorifies the Creator and is ready to exert himself and to perform different religious rituals. However, we cannot even think about Him and are skeptical about whether or not He really exists, if He is the good and the benevolent, if everything comes from Him. It is so difficult because it doesn’t stem from the ego, but from the point in the heart, from the form that is opposite to everyone’s general attitude towards the Creator.

However, we were given an environment so that our attitude towards the Creator will not stem from the ego, but from the opposite factor. Through the environment, we can really ascribe ourselves to the Creator to the extent the society increases His importance in our eyes. The more we all consider the society to be important, the more a person can attribute greater importance to the values that are accepted in the society, including the importance of the Creator.

If a person ties the environment with his point in the heart, then the Creator is inside the society and He gradually enters a person, enters his point in the heart. This is what we should demand from our group. Without this, there is no chance that we can reveal the Creator—by only connecting the environment with our point in the heart so that the Creator becomes revealed in their connection into one whole.
[105803]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/13

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The Writings of the Maggid of Koznitz, “The Work of Israel”: The sages said: “Dispersion is good for the wicked and convention is good for the righteous.” That’s because a wicked man separates himself from the Creator, thinks that he manages himself according to his own desire, and thus says “I will rule,” which is the source of the shattering.

Thus the wicked, each feels that “I will rule” and so they are in the world of separation and cannot connect like the circles because they cannot sit together, and so the dispersion is good for them. However, although the righteous each work the Creator in a different style, they all still aim at one thing: at their Father in Heaven, and they gather and assemble as one man with one heart.

When each one lowers himself and praises the work of the Creator, it gives him power and the mind to work for Him and so he doesn’t feel superior to his friend, and in the world of truth they unite with one another.

A person must convince himself as quickly as he can and not let time go by until he finally listens and believes that the spiritual world is not beyond some distant galaxies or in some faraway dimension. He is indeed in a different dimension, but this dimension is in his heart, in the desires and thoughts of his heart. Everything is in a man’s heart, in his desires: “the heart understands,” the heart thinks.

Only by controlling the desire is it possible to reach the upper dimension in which the upper one dwells, where He is the one who bestows with regard to the lower one, the one who receives in his thoughts, desires, and intentions.

One can have thoughts that are aimed at and operate for unity only by self-annulment and submission; that is, the thought of the righteous can unite since they are all aimed at one source, towards their unification with the Creator. The thoughts of the wicked, however, are each for his self-benefit, and so they all are separated and cannot attain anything.

Therefore, we should discover as quickly as possible in a true and decisive manner that the first spiritual level stands for self-annulment, connection with others in any way possible. We shouldn’t fear that it’s too honest and that someone may get scared and run away. The Creator gives us an example by showing us that the entire world is in a terrible crisis that spikes despair and helplessness in people’s hearts.

Thus, as a result of all our efforts to connect egoistically and to find spirituality not where it actually is, we must discover this helplessness. Then, out of helplessness, as it is written, “and the children of Israel sighed from the work,” we will be forced to turn to the upper force and demand that He save us.

The faster and more correctly we discover the fact that it isn’t in our power to reach self-annulment, the faster we will be able to reach the truth. This is possible only through connection, unity, and the strive for one root.
[105708]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/13

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Question: Why does Baal HaSulam hardly mention the group in his articles?

Answer: There is hardly anything to say about the group since it is an obvious condition. If you don’t work on the connection with the group, you don’t have a spiritual vessel.

So Baal HaSulam has only several articles about the group. A Kabbalistic group is a concept known since the days of Abraham, who was the first Kabbalist who had to work in a group. Before him, there was no need for that since the idea of the connection of the souls was not revealed. The souls were so pure until then that they didn’t need to connect to one another in order to connect to spirituality.

Although we know the history of Cain and Abel, this connection is still on the level of the roots of the evil inclination. So, Abraham was the first who needed a group although he had already attained spirituality.

He was the first link in a chain of twenty generations from Adam Ha Rishon (the First Man) until Noah, and from Noah until Abraham (ten Sefirot of the Direct Light and ten Sefirot of the Reflected Light). He was the first who started to organize a group, and so he is considered the father of the nation of Israel. This nation is a Kabbalistic group.

The concept of the group was then formed, and it is impossible to reveal spirituality without it. The more we advance, the bigger the groups become. First, the groups were only a teacher and a student, as it says: “The minimum of many is two.”

There were different stories throughout the time periods in history, but the end result is they are all eventually meant to be as one. During the events before Mt Sinai, when Egypt’s desire to receive was revealed, the unity of the group of the whole Israeli nation as one group was crucial. The conditions of the gathering before Mt Sinai were the conditions of a Kabbalistic group: To be “as one man with one heart,” “each man shall help his friend,” “don’t do unto others what is hateful to you,” “love thy friend as thyself,” and “all of Israel are friends,” connected in mutual guarantee.

These are the conditions for the existence of the group because the “nation of Israel” is a Kabbalistic group.
[106248]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/13, Shamati #25

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