We can attain everything we need to attain, as Baal HaSulam says, with the help of The Book of Zohar. A person who understands the power of The Book of Zohar doesn’t leave it for a single moment all his life. This is because The Zohar is such a great and powerful source that is unlimited in its intensity and in its influence on every one, and it is about this book that it says: “thanks to The Book of Zohar the children of Israel came out of exile,” and not by any other means.

So if we feel that we are in exile, (we will have to feel that, and it isn’t simple at all), we have to turn all the unpleasant feelings in our desire to receive, so that they will serve as an example for unpleasant feeling in the desire to bestow, which we haven’t attained yet and which we yearn to attain.

We can do that if we connect all our desires to receive in the group, and by that begin to switch all the yearnings, the anxieties, and the hopes from the desire to receive to the desire to bestow. This is how it happens if we focus them on the group, on the connection between us.

So we have to first clarify where I am, in what state, what is important for me, what I lack, and what my attitude is towards the group and the Creator. I have to bring all the internal states of my vessels, my passions, my goal, anxieties, and hopes into the group. I enter the group with all that, and then they all take on a different tone; it is as if you enter an elite military unit where everything you had before takes a totally new direction. By the incorporation in the group, all your deficiencies and desires turn into a power pool where you accumulate forces; you receive them from the environment and you can act. This is the switch from darkness to Light, as it says: “and the darkness shall illuminate like Light.”

So when we perform such an internal makeover, by connecting among us and being incorporated in each other, we can thus receive the Light that Reforms instead of the Light that previously just opened our vessels, illuminated from a distance, and as a result we felt different negative feelings. Now, however, we rise above the unpleasant feelings to the connection among us. We don’t want to erase the feelings, we don’t close our eyes and ignore them, but we see the way to advance forward. It is good when there are unpleasant feelings, since they spur me to connect with the group. I come to the group with them and want its help not to dismiss them, but to turn them into a power that moves me forward, that brings me closer to “There is none else besides Him” from where all the unpleasant feelings are sent. Then I will be able to be together with everyone in an act of connection and revelation. Thus we will reach the feeling that we are bringing contentment to the Creator.

We have to try to imagine the state that we are bringing Him contentment in our corporeal life, how unlimited this feeling is, how it raises us above the animal level to the human level, to the level of the one who bestows; what unlimited pleasure there is in the act of bestowal compared to receiving. This is because by that a person is in equivalence of form with the Creator, connecting with the source of unlimited energy. So by bestowing upon someone, a person feels that he has transcended matter.

So let’s read The Book of Zohar with the intention that the Light that comes from it can bring us correction instead of the darkness that it makes us feel first.
[85520]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/14/12, The Book of Zohar

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Shamati, Article 138, “About Fear that Sometimes Comes upon a Person”: …And if one sees that fear overcomes him, he should say that there is no such thing as chance, but God has given him an opportunity from Above, and he must contemplate and study the end to which one has been sent this fear. It appears that it is so that he will prevail and say, “There is none else besides Him.
But if after all that, the fear has not departed from him, one should take it as an example and say that one’s servitude of the Creator should be in the same measure of the fear, meaning that the fear of God, which is a merit, should be in the same manner of fear that he now has. That is, that the body is impressed by this superficial fear, and exactly in the same way that the body is impressed, the fear of God should be.

When fear comes upon a person, he should understand that it is sent from the Creator so that we will change the animal fear that is felt in our ego to the fear of God. In the fear we should look not at our desire to receive but at our desire to bestow.

A person’s role is to take this example from Above, although he cannot fulfill it by himself and it is later fulfilled by the Light that Reforms. He has to at least to cope with these clarifications. This is why he has to prepare the environment and himself, in order to be ready to receive the problems and the fears that will come.

It all begins from fear, since the desire to receive feels only pleasure or sufferings. The greatest sufferings for it are the fears: from the smallest fears to the greatest threat.

If the desire is opposite from the Light, the Light summons a feeling of darkness in it. Here we should understand that in answer to this egoistic anxiety that we feel now, we have to draw the upper force with the support of the environment, the society, and prayer. We have to summon the Light that Reforms so that it will turn our vessel of receiving into a vessel of bestowal.

Then we will still feel fear, but it will be fear from not knowing when we can bestow, connect, and resemble the Creator when we can adhere to Him, to give Him a chance to reveal Himself to the created beings. Thus we will turn the darkness into Light and the night into day.
[85509]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/14/12

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Question: What do you consider to be the most important thing? What is your last address to everyone on the eve of the convention?

Answer: I beg you, from this point forward, no matter what you do on the eve of the congress, all the time think that you are doing all of this for the sake of people around the world coming together physically and virtually and reaching unity, equal to the first degree of the upper Light.

It will be much easier after that. This is similar to how a child is born, as birth is the most dangerous, most difficult, most complicated process. And to this day, when a woman gives birth, we do not know what will happen and how. There is something unpredictable in the birth of a person.

It is easier afterward. A child is born, and you start to work with him: to feed, swaddle, take care of him, giving him everything he needs, etc. The most important thing is over.

The same happens here. We have to go through childbirth, and then everything else will go more easily. It is much easier! It is much simpler! It is much clearer! We will have to be both in this world and in the spiritual one—in the world of bestowal in addition to the world of reception. It will be clearer to us what Kabbalists write about. We will start to adapt to what will be in our feelings.

Therefore, let us make every effort to be born in the upper world. And then move on together.
[85591]
From a Virtual Lesson 8/12/12

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Question: During the course of integral education when we begin our practical work, it becomes clear that people don’t understand what it means to “rise above one’s self” or “to unite.” They ask to be shown how it’s done and where can they see an example of such behavior?”

Answer: It’s impossible to see. Maybe it’s possible to draw something abstract so that there’s something to strive towards, but nothing more. Through the training the group develops a common sensation. This is somewhat of an exit from one’s self, from one’s instincts. This exit from one’s self assumes a couple of stages.

One is to “enter” your conversation partner. This is a basic psychological training that is used widely for various purposes. I begin to sense, to study the other person because for some reason it’s something I need to do or it’s of interest to me. Or I may simply want to rise above myself and treat a person with kindness, like relatives treat one another.

However, even when I try to enter another person’s feelings and thoughts, then his heart and mind (his feeling and thoughts) become as though my own. Let’s say that I’m able to obtain closeness to him and his inner environment, but all that I’m doing in reality is substituting my “animal,” my own instincts and rules of conduct for someone else’s, but I don’t actually rise above our general animal level.

We have to imagine something totally different. The exit from one’s self should not be into another person. When I train to sense another person, these sensations shouldn’t ultimately be aimed at sensing all that is within the other person: his subconscious thoughts, instincts, and reflexes. I’m not interested in the “automatic mechanism” that operates within him. Rather I’m interested in each of the friends’ aspiration to ascend above themselves. I try to connect to their aspiration to ascend and reach the next level, which is the human level. I try to be together with them and each one of them tries to do the same in regards to others.

Through this we create a commonality. We create thoughts and desires that are detached from our animal qualities and are aimed at rising above our current level. We wish for our communication to consist of love, understanding, and to be above our world and our life so that each one of us would vanish in this new commonality, in this new picture of a single desire and single mind.

We have to imagine this and to constantly cultivate it in such a way that the sensation of our commonality appears as the heart and mind of the group. This will be of utmost importance to us and our “I” would vanish within this. My desire to ascend would hold the people around me and everything that pertains to my instincts, reflexes, and habits would fade away as something totally useless and nonexistent at the moment. I wouldn’t use them to the point where I would gradually get used to living in this new commonality that I’ve created above my own self.
[85077]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” 2/29/12

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Question: How can we keep the feeling of workshops during the breaks, meals, and so on, at the upcoming convention?

Answer: We must prepare such external conditions so that they always keep people in this state. A person comes to the convention in the morning and leaves in the evening. During this time, he must go through many spiritual states and, in the evening, leave not as he came in the morning. He goes to bed and literally turns off.

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it is the same thing; that is, these are three days of very serious work. We must do everything to ensure that the entire convention is held at this pace and in such a sequence that people are constantly moving forward. Even the breaks and meals must influence him in this way, forcing, moving him forward.

A convention is a very serious event. Alcohol is absolutely prohibited. We must rise to a level where it will not be necessary. We have enough adrenaline at the workshops. You will feel that you are all together, in “one skin”; the Creator will clothe into you.

Question: How can I see the world as one creation? How can I see unity above the breaking?

Answer: It should be opened to you not mentally, not in the mind, but manifested in your feelings. The internal connections of the world will be revealed, and you will see this within yourself.

Question: How do I feel the common need, Hissaron?

Answer: This arises out of a total inclusion into each other because all of our left, meaning all kinds of egoistic feelings stem from the mutual inclusion.

Question: What Kli, vessel, would you like to see in front of you?

Answer: One ready to do anything for the sake of unity. Nothing else is needed! With this, we come into accord, in balance with the upper Light. It is manifested in us, and that’s all. The implementation really is not easy, but the principle is very simple: There is a force that will work in you if you give it this opportunity.
[85263]
From a Virtual Lesson 7/29/12

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Question: Could you give a specific example of a correct family relationship? I do not yet fully understand it.

Answer: For example, the wife thinks that her husband is not supporting her; she feels lonely. However, she needs to treat him and speak with him like she feels his support one hundred percent. Instead of becoming upset that he gives her no support at all, she thanks him for being so helpful and supportive, and how will the husband respond?

At first, he will be shocked because he thought that she was going to start fighting with him. He will think that she is being sarcastic, but this situation is not just turned upside down, here we have an opposite that comes from another opposite, and from another opposite. This is because she sees faults in you, then she applies them to herself, and tells you what she would have actually seen in you if her egoism was not getting in the way.

Question: I do not understand how I can say the opposite from what I feel!

Answer: Please understand that we do not see the world. We only see ourselves! Every person has a filter before their eyes that only allows me to see what is good and what is bad for me.

This is so that I could distance myself from the things that harm me and become closer to the things that are good for me. I see the world very selectively.

I do not know and am not familiar with the real world, which exists outside of me on the other side of my hands that I am using to cover my eyes. I do not understand it and do not know anything about it.

It presents itself to me the way my egoistic desire paints it, but when I begin to perceive this egoistic desire as an enemy and I wish to see the world as good, then I wish to remove these egoistic, distorting glasses, and to do this, I speak well about all the things I see as bad.

This does not mean that I am lying to you because I treat you as a mother treats her child, and I like all of your qualities. This is how I will see you once I remove the egoistic glasses because only a perfect world exists outside of me.

Question: But I am still wearing these distorting, criticizing glasses!

Answer: However, you wish to see beyond them. Rise above your knowledge. Your natural egoism is soldered in these lenses. This is why you only see faults in your partner when you look at her.

If these were regular glasses, you would simply take them off and throw them out, but these lenses are implanted in you, and this is why you must accept everything that is bad as good. Remember, you are looking through distorted glasses.

“Love covers all transgressions.” This means that there will be no crimes left, only love, instead of them. You love everything in your partner. You simply do not notice any faults in her because habit becomes second nature. Try as hard as you can until it becomes a habit!

Let us decide that, from this moment on, we will behave at home as if we were both perfect and there are no contradictions between us, like we really want to do as much good as we can for one another and be like one body, not physically, in bed, but emotionally, internally. You will see all this materialize after a multitude of these kinds of exercises.

However, naturally, here you cannot do it without social pressure from the environment. You never leave this never-ending seminar. You simply exist within it, and then you will suddenly see the nature inside and outside you begin to change. You will see the world to be different, as well as yourself and all your relationships. Everything will change. As it is written, “I saw an opposite world.”

This seems to be a psychological exercise, but there is a lot of depth to it. We need a collective force to influence us and help us begin these exercises. However, there is a very important condition here: The teacher in this group needs to come from the community of Bnei Baruch.
[85259]
From “A New Life” 7/12/12

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Humankind develops from small to large egoism. Sometime ago, a person naturally discovered that he needs a family; moreover, the bigger the family, the more secure he is. This way, he instinctively started to unite with others, as he came out of a barbarian state.

Families would grow and become tribes, and they expanded so much that people who used to be distant, became close. Villages and cities appeared, family ties gave way to more extended formations, a nation, living in their own country and connected by their belonging to their common destiny, a common mentality.

However, family ties also kept their power, remaining necessary for existence until recently. Only during the last decades, we have destroyed these boundaries, providing people with services, which allow him to no longer feel the need for a family. This led to the crisis in the family institution because marriage no longer promises the same benefits. At the same time, the feeling of belonging to a nation is very important for a person.

However, we continue to develop, and today, like it or not, a new feeling is growing inside us, which now encompasses the entire globe. This is because modern technologies and communications have made the world small and accessible. Today, it is charged with great interdependence, distances become smaller, systems become unified, and we are approaching the state of a single whole.

This way, if before the notion of a “family,” though weakened, still extended all the way to the borders of the country and was as wide as the nation itself, now it encompasses all of mankind. Migration is increasing, nations are mixing, borders are being erased; today, everything is moving in this direction.

What can we say about the people of Israel in this connection? Its foundation was laid by a group of Kabbalists, created by Abraham. These people were not connected in any way, except for a single thing: At a certain stage of their inner development, they felt that unity was the way to attain the Creator.

The other residents of Ancient Babylon also strived towards the Creator, but in another way, they were building the Tower of Babel egoistically, wishing to become like Him. These ambitions kept growing over the course of all of history: “We will control our own lives, we will play with trade and production, we will conquer the cosmos, we, we, we…”

However, even back then, certain Babylonians already wanted to attain the essence of life, and not just to keep pleasing themselves in every possible way. After all, the purpose of life is the attaining of its essence. And this is why, when the crisis arose and the Tower of Babel was destroyed, these people heard Abraham and understood that there is a method that allows penetrating the essence and revealing the upper force.

And today we are in a similar situation. Individuals, among the modern “Babylonians” of the world, gather into the group of Bnei Baruch in order to reveal the Creator. They are called the “people of Israel.”

In addition, there are the “corporeal” people of Israel, the descendants of those who once came out of Babylon with Abraham in the first global crisis. The Reshimot, the “footprints” of the path they have traveled, remained in them, and we must take care of them. This is because every one of them has “marks” from the previous ascent and the breaking that followed.

This is the reason people hate them: On one hand, by breaking, they have passed sparks of bestowal to the entire world, and on the other hand, everyone feels that they are unique and that a certain darkness comes from them—unique as a consequence of the sparks, and darkness as a consequence of the current situation.

We will still reveal a lot along the way, but one way or another, today the time has come to turn to the nation, the descendants of the students of Abraham, the descendants of the Ancient Babylon. As Baal HaSulam writes in his newspaper The Nation, they themselves must awaken a national connection in their environment. And this connection can only be based on a single thing: the principle of loving one’s neighbor as themselves. The Jewish people were initially founded this way, and could they structure themselves any other way today? All the attempts only demonstrate that without their foundation, this nation is like a sack of nuts, ready to fall apart and spread around the world at the first opportunity.

And this is why Baal haSulam writes: “This is why I stated that we need to arrange for ourselves a special education through widespread circulation, instill in each of us a sense of national love, both from one person to another, and from the individuals to the whole, and rediscover the national love that was instilled within us since the time we were on our land, a nation among the nations.”

If the nation fails to acquire their foundation, it will not manage to stay within the borders of the country and lay its roots there. This is why the entire world does not agree with the return of the Jews to their land; it does not yet feel like they have the consciousness of a nation, which must live in the land of Israel. Jews are able to live anywhere, and many do not yet feel like they pertain to and are interconnected with their nation. This vice is felt in them and the entire world, which reacts accordingly.
[85427]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Let’s speak about the Jewish people in first person.

We have to rise to the common basis that connects us; we cannot keep the mutual connection among us like other nations; we need the connecting force, which means the upper Light. The people of Israel cannot exist without the Creator that is revealed among them. In the past, the moment the upper force disappeared, we were shattered and dispersed all over the world and ceased to be a nation, since a “nation” is a collective vessel.

As for nations in general, the evolution period “shuffled all the cards.” There is no longer an accurate division; there are no clear roots. So any person who wants to join and to participate in the fulfillment of the principle of “Love thy friend as thyself” belongs to the category of “Israel,” which means that he yearns for the Creator (Yashar—El, straight to the Creator). All the others belong to humanity in general.

Today after this general mix when the world has become a “salad,” only the upper Light differentiates between us. Like a magnet, it draws upwards individuals who belong to Galgata ve Eynaim from the masses. The others remain below, in AHP. It is the Light that reveals the vessels and then we have to work in these parts.

So in order to fix among us the connection that is typical of a nation, we have to be on a spiritual height. Otherwise, without the Light, this connection will simply be impossible. It isn’t by chance that Baal HaSulam speaks about the special education that we need, in the newspaper HaUma (The Nation). Other nations don’t need such a thing.

So we have to connect into a group that works in order to become one whole “as one man in one heart.” This is the condition for the existence of the people of Israel. We cannot keep this connection on the corporeal level, on the basis of our common history and geography. On the contrary, it’s been ages that the history and geography no longer connect us. The only thing that can unite us and bring us to mutual love and connection is the Light that Reforms. It isn’t just any connection but a spiritual connection.

We are simply not made for corporeal connection, since we don’t belong to AHP but to Galgalta ve Eynaim. We cannot be like other nations; we don’t have the forces needed for that, we don’t have the matching inner attribute. We cannot take an example from them. The only option is to correct ourselves.

This is because we live by opposite laws: When the shattering is among us, we fall into unfounded hatred instead of brotherly love. There is no such thing among the nations of the world. We, however, feel repulsion towards one another. If it weren’t for the hatred that we feel from our neighbors and from the whole world, we would keep ourselves as far apart as possible from one another. We wouldn’t get married and we wouldn’t want any colleagues. The shattering force would operate among us

Only the general hatred towards us brings us together, like nuts in a sack, like a herd that still has hope to be saved. Otherwise we would be ready to dissolve, to assimilate in a distant place where we could live a good and comfortable life.

So we cannot compare ourselves to other nations. After all, they were not on a spiritual level; they were not shattered two thousand years ago and did not fall to the corporeal level. It is a false hope that we will unite like all the others and become a nation. What we call the “State of Israel” exists only temporarily, in order to enable us to reach true connection. Otherwise, there is no reason for its existence.

Everything that seemingly connects us today comes from the outside and will easily fall apart. Give people a chance and they will easily settle somewhere else. They may have some sentiments, but there is no connection. This is because we have not corrected the shattering, so there is no way we can connect. We need a special education, but instead we are descending lower and lower…
[85424]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How can it be explained that the crisis is a consequence of our corrupt relations in the group?

Answer: There are two systems: the outer and the inner one. For simplicity we can define the outer system as the “Creator” and the inner, meaning us, as “creation.” The Creator is acting upon us and we are developing under the pressure of various factors. However, afterwards comes the time when we have to react with responses showing the Creator that we want to advance.

And here is where the problem occurs. Today we have to demonstrate our maturity and desire to join the Creator. Our “childhood” has ended. In reality the childhood ended back in the 15th century, at the time of Ari. Since then we are required to react to the influencing factors as adults, in a special way. We have to start growing independently until the inner sphere expands in its scale and properties to the size of the outer sphere. However, we are behind the schedule.

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Question: Do we have to be humiliated before we reach connection?

Answer: We are low with regards to our ego, but not with regards to the goal and the Creator.

Question: But still, why do we develop by suffering?

Answer: How else? If we feel good, we won’t move forward. On the contrary, such feelings block our way. This is because “goodness” is pleasure and fulfillment, and if I am content, I don’t move. This is the natural reaction of my egoistic desire. On the other hand, when I feel bad and it hurts, I immediately look for a way out.

A person is a feeling element. Pleasure prevents him from any action; it prevents movement for an unlimited time. If a person feels good, he won’t move, if you “prick” him by sufferings or even by lack of fulfillment, he will immediately begin to look around searching for a new source of pleasure. If the dissatisfaction exceeds the threshold, a person begins to move.

On the development level of the still nature, by being motionless, he doesn’t fill himself and only develops new desires, until the sufferings grow and oblige him to move to the level of the animate. The plant knows how to open up to the sun and to absorb nutrients, to breathe, and it seems to be calm, but once again there is something missing and even more than before. This obliges him to move and to exhibit greater activity in order to enjoy.

This is how our desire to receive is created: It is enough to feel pleasure or pain and by balancing them it undoubtedly reaches the goal. Nothing else is required from it. This process depends on the size of the desire and on its uniqueness and its diversity. Suppose, I am a great egoist; the egoistic fulfillment overcomes me and conceals me under a load that weighs thousands of tons. I can’t do anything other than to enjoy. In order to come out of this situation, I need to receive thousands of tons of sufferings and one kilo more, which means to totally empty my vessel and add some more negativity to it. Only then will I move from my place.

Thus two opposites meet: The more advanced I am the greater my desire. It hangs over me thus demanding greater work and curbing the process, so we have no choice. The desire responds only to pleasure or to pain and so we have to go through them.

But what is the use of these falls? Give me pleasure, and I will immediately freeze in my place, give me some deficiency, and I begin to move. It can be compared to an engine that runs on AC power: if you connect a constant current to it, it will stop. This is because the consistency doesn’t fill the deficiencies and the fulfillment in an alternating order of being emptied of your fillings. So what is required of me if the response of my desire was given to me from the start? How can I break out of this closed circuit?

This is why the mind develops by the desire as a separate parallel system. It accumulates information in its archive, identifies the causes and the goals, and evaluates the phases that it has been through and weighs the future states. Today, in the last the spiritual phase of our development, the cognitive element is the important one. Until now we have been pushed forward by our feelings and now the time has come to develop in our awareness.So our connection brings everyone wisdom by enabling us to exchange data and by providing great experience and a deep understanding. Thus we can avoid many troubles since the current state demands that we develop very quickly, and in several decades, if not before attaining the end of correction. So just imagine what afflictions we will have to go through.

So, the key to our development is education, understanding and recognition, and in activities that make a person feel and understand that feeling. A qualitative development is required here. On the whole, it’s very important for us to disseminate this wisdom; this is the uniqueness of our generation.
[85098]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/9/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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