Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 102: This is why it is written that all who learn Torah Lo Lishma, their Torah becomes a potion of death for them. Not only do they not emerge from concealment of the face to disclosure of the face, since they did not set their minds to labor and attain it, the Torah that they accumulate greatly increases their concealment of the face. Finally, they fall into concealment within concealment, which is considered death, being completely detached from one’s root.

This is what happens if a person doesn’t make an effort through the environment, through the study and all the means he has, in order to reach the revelation of the Creator, which means to discover the attribute of bestowal and love of others inside him, in order to arrive through the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator. He has to focus on that so that the result of his study will be the revelation of the attribute of bestowal upon others, no matter how artificial and meaningless it may seem to him at first and contrary to his own nature.

At first he refuses to hear about it and to agree to it. But if he returns to it time after time, despite all the obstacles, and performs all the requirements as required and determined by nature, by the Creator, as a result of the crisis, and all the other conditions that are revealed to him, he gradually agrees that the goal of the study is to reach self-negation.

It is a very special action, not the kind we imagine at the beginning of the way. But to the extent that the changes occur in us along the way, we discover new definitions each time, what—restriction, the other, connection, mutual guarantee, Creator, the attribute of bestowal and love, etc.—mean. We already begin to understand what “the potion of death” and the “potion of life” mean and why the Torah brings such opposite phenomena. Thus we gradually begin to clarify the right way and direction.

A person often falls into situations in which he does not see how wrong he is. But “what one’s mind doesn’t do, time does.” The only way out is to advance as “an ox to the burden and a donkey to the load,” to go on studying day after day as it says: “Do anything but leave!” He doesn’t understand what is happening: The ego is given to him from above and so are all the conditions he is in; everything is done by the upper force.

He exerts himself, does something, but so far he doesn’t understand what is going on. The main thing is not to leave, but to at least perform the simplest actions mechanically. If he can somehow carry on this way, then he should be happy that he manages to do at least this.

So we should respect anyone who makes efforts to go through each day and to participate as much as he can, as much as he is allowed from above. It is an essential condition to come to this place, to this state. Afterward there is already the work of clarification: Why, what for, what will I get from it, why am I participating in this, what is the desired outcome that I expect?

I have to learn from the example of Rabbi Shimon and his students since we want to connect and to be like them, to sit among them. They felt hatred or love toward one another. We have to reach these contrasting discernments.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: In each group, there are friends who are more motivated and some that are less motivated. Should the stronger friends initially organize by themselves so that others become attracted to them and do not fall under the influence of those who skip workshops, etc.?

Answer: Everyone in the group must be equal. Everyone has times when he is moving forward more purposefully and times when he is moving less so. Being in a permanent system, a person is equal to all others, even if it takes several years before he begins to understand where he is and begins to participate in the events, to understand the studied material a little. This happens in different people in different ways, but in any case, it should not affect the general movement forward.

On the contrary, you should spare a person. Does he come, participate, study? He could be rough, may not understand the need to participate in all the events because this feeling has not been yet been revealed in him. He is told, but he does not hear, he turns a deaf ear. You need to wait. The most important thing is that he does not cause harm, then everything is fine. If he is harmful, then you may think about dismissing him.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Question: If we don’t truly adjust ourselves to the integral society correctly in our present stage, then will nature change and correct us?

Answer: It will happen gradually through self-education. This is a learning process similar in children; it is absolutely the same system. Moreover, humanity already has these developments, especially if we are talking about the wisdom of Kabbalah, which fully shows us how we should proceed.

How should a person arrange himself within the environment? He needs to place himself under the influence of the correct environment. Why is one’s free choice specifically in that? Which values should be elevated first? Moreover, they need to be elevated artificially, and then afterward, a person will grasp them and see them as truly basic and necessary.

Then it will be necessary to be included in this society, gradually dissolving within it, but together with this a person doesn’t lose his identity. By the way, we don’t go against our ego. We don’t oppress our ego by any means whatsoever!

We don’t oppress anything in a man. He doesn’t need to get rid of anything within him. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you were educated up until now, what your views are, what attributes you were born with, or the values and opinions that you received during your education process.

You will begin to be integrated into the group, which comprises a mini-society with which you will begin to work on this mutual interaction. The main thing is that it aims for a person to create a new vessel of connection with others, a communication system where he begins to see that he is completely dependent on others.

Question: A person already begins to see this dependency, although in principle it only irritates him.

Answer: Correct. But there is no place to escape it. We need to do something with it, since otherwise we simply will disappear! Even now there is talk about future famine, cold, drought, terrible problems in the economy and finances. People will be thrown out in the street; unemployment will grow. This means that everything is going in the direction of a complete breakdown. It specifically points to that, and we must find between us the correct point of balance.
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From KabTV’s “An Integral World” 11/26/12

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 101: Thus, as long as one has not attained Providence of the revelation of the face, the abundance of Torah and Mitzvot he has performed makes his concealment of the face much heavier. This is the meaning of, “the Creator hides Himself in the Torah.”

Indeed, all that heaviness he feels through the Torah is only proclamations by which the Holy Torah itself calls him, awakening him to hurry and give the required measure of labor, to promptly endow him with the revelation of the face, as God wills it.

The closer a person gets, the more distant he feels that he is. But he also understands that this distance is given to him on purpose so that he will hurry to complete the necessary sum of his exertion. But a person who doesn’t have the right connection, who doesn’t advance correctly, simply feels the “hardening of the heart” increase, which eventually throws him off track.

We should understand this difference clearly. Both feel the “hardening of the heart,” the one who advances correctly and the one who does not advance correctly. But they interpret it differently and feel their state differently. The one who is advancing correctly is connected to the teacher, to the group, to the Creator, to the study, and doesn’t miss a chance; he is constantly looking for ways to tighten the connection, the mutual guarantee. He understands that only by adhesion to the environment will he be able to discover the Creator inside it.

Thus he feels support. The more he discovers the evil in his attitude towards others, the more it pushes him to connect with them and obligates him to demand from himself and from others to tighten this connection. He envies the success of others who advance and is frustrated when he compares himself to them, but it pushes him to connection and correction.

However, a person who does not advance correctly, which means that he doesn’t look for bestowal and connection with the environment in order to discover the goal of creation in it, but rather aspires for personal success, he cannot receive support from the environment since he hasn’t established this support. Then he feels that this path is not for him. It seems to him that others don’t understand anything, that they are dealing with nonsense, and it is impossible to reach this goal. Eventually he leaves the group.

So we should pay close attention to whether or not we are building the right connection with the environment that must constantly support us. When a person falls, the environment helps him rise, and when he is full of strength, then he has to invest it in the environment, building up “stock” there, thanks to which he will later receive help.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: Who is to blame for the fact that a person stalls and advances slowly?

Answer: The main reason for that is laziness. He doesn’t make sure that the friends awaken him and obligate him. After several unsuccessful attempts, the society stops paying attention to him; it’s not obligated to deal with him forever.

It has to call on him twice, like in the example from the Talmud of the donkey that falls and that is helped to rise twice. If this doesn’t help then that’s it. He can’t ask the group to constantly pull him forward, since they have their own work among them.

They tried to revive him once, but he didn’t wake up, and they tried a second time, and again it didn’t work, so there is no third try. If he wants to leave, let him. We have to write our protocol and determine the attitude to the friends according to these conditions.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: What should I do if I don’t envy the friends?

Answer: If you don’t envy the friends it means that you feel that you are better and higher than them or that you don’t pay any attention to them, as if they didn’t exist and you don’t measure yourself in comparison to them. You have your own Creator, your own way, and you come to the group as a free listener who comes to hear a lecture.

It turns out that you have the wrong approach, since you don’t understand that the spiritual world can be revealed only through the connection with the friends. The spiritual world is absolute bestowal, and it’s revealed only in bestowal. The Creator is the force of bestowal, and He can be revealed only according to the equivalence of form with the force of bestowal that a person develops internally towards the environment. But if you don’t work with the environment, there is no way you can advance.

The more you work with the environment, the more you feel that your friends are greater than you. It simply can’t be any other way, since you begin to see the group as one whole. You feel that through the friends, you receive Light, and you see that they are already corrected, that they have transcended the Machsom (barrier), and that you are left all alone here below.

But if you don’t feel that the friends have advanced much further than you, then it isn’t the right approach to correction. If you don’t envy everyone around you, seeing that they understand and feel more than you, it’s a sign that you are not on the right track.

This envy is intended to stimulate and to push a person as a result of his right attitude towards the group. God forbid that he should ever want to see them as inferior to him. When he sees that they are higher than him, he wants to adhere to them, to be in contact with them. His ego pushes him to connect with them, like a child who is impressed by adults asking them: “Take me with you! Help me be like you!”

With that, he turns to the Creator, since he discovers that the Creator is there within the friends, more than in him. It’s a very concrete and qualitative revelation, as it says: “I have learned from all my students.” You see that only if you incorporate in the group and annul yourself, it is there that you will find your spiritual state. If you don’t feel that, it’s a bad sign in the work.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: What is a “union” (Brit) in spiritual work? What should it be, in the direction of what efforts?

Answer: Forging a union is connection and agreement between us, that we will constantly maintain the unity we have achieved and apply joint efforts so as not to disrupt the union.

From where can we take the strength to support it? Only from above, not from anywhere or from anyone else.

You can listen to Kabbalistic songs and read Kabbalah books; it will not help. The Creator, nonetheless, will burden your heart to such an extent that the lessons, meetings, and gatherings will help; nothing will help other than addressing the Creator through all of this.

The burdening of the heart happens due to the addition of egoism, and now you must bring the Light into it. Then, it will become your next degree.

The Light is neither in you nor in those who surround you. You will be able to draw it to yourself only through the environment and, thus, rise. The burdening of the heart is given for this. This is a condition of ascent.

From this moment on, you need to accept this as a law: The left line is a constant weight that affects the feelings, heart, emotions, memory, and various external circumstances, which begin to flash before your eyes, breaking into you.

You need to control yourself all the time because this is the Creator who presents everything to you so that you will ask Him to give you the force to rise above His tricks, as it is written, “Come unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart.” If we have a problem, this is Pharaoh (our mutual egoism), and to fight him, we need the Creator.
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From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 6

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Baal HaSulam, “Letter 50”: “The head of the pleasant future that is expected, God willing, is approaching us. And so I yearn and long for your being near me in your body and soul. (which means that you will come near me and not that I will come near you, which is impossible and also useless).

How sorry I am that last Tishrei, was a great time of good will, but you were not near me at the time…so the sorrow that I felt all of last year because of that goes without saying. The reason for that is pride that crept into you, and to the same extent, the unfounded hatred among you… clearly that if you hate a member of the group, it is a clear sign that you don’t feel absolute love towards me either.

These words were written according to the law of love, the law of adhesion, like in a family where there are not small ones or great ones, but rather, the law of love ties everyone together and is equal for everyone. So, each one should rise above his criticism, according to “He who faults another does so through his own flaws.” Through the eyes of love, no one will seem inferior to others. If you connect according to the law of love “above reason,” you will be able to connect equally with everyone correctly.

If there are some differences among the members of the group, it is a sign of a flaw.

There are good times and bad times, and there are comfortable times and less comfortable times. Although, on the one hand, Kabbalists are above time, motion, and place, and they go through different periods according to their individual time, the general periods also influence them. Therefore, there can be general good times and bad times.

There are times of general awakening from above or times in which it is easier to be awakened from below. So, we must try not to miss such opportunities that are given from above to connect the awakening from above to the awakening from below. Otherwise, it will seem like disrespect.

There are two directions in getting close: each member getting closer, without any discrimination, and every student getting closer to the teacher. Here, everything is examined according to our image, which is a result of our pride and to what extent we can advance in “faith above reason” and understand that it is the Creator who is sending us all these obstacles.

Everyone sees everything the way he is allowed to see it, and he never sees the truth, but by our exertion in “faith above reason,” we draw the Light that Reforms, and by that are rewarded to see the truth.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/23/12

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We are definitely approaching the home stretch before the end of the preparation period, and I say this with pride. It is not easy, and of course, it is not us but the upper force that affects us, doing all these “exercises” with us and leading us to the finish. He who is worthy, will pass it, and he who is not worthy… Only by all of us adhering together, will we be able to pass.

Everyone passes the Machsom: “babies,” “children,” “elderly,” “women,” as well as those who have the force to overcome (Gevurah), men (Gvarim). It all depends on adhesion: how much everyone is able to stay together with everyone. I hope very much that we will accomplish this.

A special year awaits us. I think that we are given it as “extra time.” In the past we did not have time to finish a few things, and we have to correct them now. It seems to me that we really can do this. We can try to make the last steps to convince ourselves finally that everything depends only on our unity. May it develop and become realized.

I urge everyone not to lose the moment; do not let the “wheel” continue spinning, catch it and realize what we are responsible for. This is truly a unique opportunity.

After all, we are cared for with unprecedented, unlimited, boundless mercy: “If you couldn’t do it once, then try again and again…” The upper management operates kindly; the current period is far from extreme: There is no deprivation, no war; everything seems not so serious. We sometimes teach small children in this way, enough to threaten them a little bit, to make them pay attention to what is required. Our modern attitude cannot be compared to the Holocaust, expulsions from various countries, murders, “pogroms,” etc. In front of us a “red carpet is rolled out,” do a little bit, and that will be enough.

I hope very much that you will understand this, and we do not cause the attitude from above to change, that we are considerate, receptive, and sensitive to what is happening, that we are “good children” and understand how the Creator treats us. Hence, we will understand what to do, and will do it.

We are going through a special transition period that covers the whole world. Today, everywhere there is a feeling of uncertainty, helplessness, and confusion. Just imagine what those who “have power” feel: impotence, fog, and confusion. No one understands what is happening; no one has any real plans or ideas.

We must become organized between us, just inside for the time being, not trying to shout to the world. The main thing now is to unite our inner strength, unite before The Flame in the Desert Convention. Then, our sparks will break out into a big fire and light the entire “desert” of this world.

We can do this. This is our mission; we are directed from above. We are required to do only a small effort, and then of course we can bring the Light to the desert. Good Luck!
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From a Talk During the Meal 12/21/12

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Question: In the popular book The Secret, author Rhonda Byrne outlined the methodology: The universe is joy and bliss, and in order to be acceptable to it, we have to be joyful and happy. We have to ask the universe to give us everything we want and behave “as if” we have already have it and are very happy about it.

Answer: It’s good comforting advice. Kozma Prutkov used to say: “If you want to be happy—be happy.” By the way, it’s very true.

As children, we imagine ourselves playing in our next developmental step; if we do so, then we are being pulled up to it. The question is: How do we envision our next phase? Is it a step of bestowal, love, and connection with the rest of the world? Is it about liaisons with everybody who are a part of one indivisible, integral whole? Or it is a stage of receiving overall energy, universal love, and mutual understanding? If we visualize our next step for the sake of uniting with and bestowing to others, then imagining this state is very beneficial for us.

Comment: The authors of The Secret do not explain this. They know nothing about it. So the people who try to live up to the advice given in the book complain that they constantly forget that they are happy, and they frequently become upset about minor things.

Answer: This happens because they don’t have a methodology, and they do not participate in group trainings.

If they had the correct group training, then they would naturally move in the right direction, not because of the guidance that is detailed in the book, but due to the correct training. Visualizing ourselves as happy through bestowal and love, by building a system of mutual connection among everybody is actually the correction of egoism.

Even if the authors of the book created groups that I just described, they wouldn’t be able to provide pertinent guidance to them since they have never experienced the sensation of the upper space, the next dimension, the level that is called “Man.” They simply won’t be able to direct these groups; they don’t know how to work with them. All they would do is provide them with a psychological practicum, nothing more.

Comment: They are trying to talk about absolute, unselfish love without having any idea of what that is.

Answer: They can copy us as much as they want. They are only helping us by gradually preparing people and setting up various types of analyses that will eventually facilitate people’s understanding of our methodology.

I wish them luck. Why not? They somehow “evoke” people to search for a way out of their animate state; at least they lead them somewhere. I don’t think that anything that occurs in the world is wrong. All that exists is a necessary step for something else…
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 11/3/12

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