The “matter” of our desire is “dust,” and it doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is the level of connection between the particles of this “dust.” So first of all we have to perceive ourselves not just as the desire to receive. It is because this desire takes on 613 different special forms, and in each of them we want to enjoy only for ourselves.

This is quite clear: Everyone wants to enjoy something and this way separates and breaks apart the grain of their desire into 613 particles of self-enjoyment. Of course, no one can count this number and we use it as a figure of speech.

Then the work on our connection with other people begins. These “crumbs” actually remain lifeless, as it says: “From dust you came and to dust you shall return.” What counts is the special connection among the particles, which gives them life.

Scientists cannot understand them and cannot turn the still nature into life. They try to use electric discharge and other means, but a person cannot do such a thing. It isn’t alchemy; it is much more complex since the upper force has to be revealed in an actual form of life. A person can do it only if he summons the action of the Light that Reforms. In order to turn the still nature into the vegetative level, the vegetative level into the animate level, and so on, there should be a portion of the Light that Reforms each time.

Therefore, by the connection among us our murky particles discover life in this connection. They remain in the desire to receive of the still nature, but the mutual connection they create among them, the mutual guarantee, the mutual bestowal, the network they want to build with the help of the Light, turns into the vegetative level and in it flow the forces of life that stem from the source of life, from the Creator. Then from the vegetative level they change to more complex forms of the animate and the speaking levels of nature.

We should understand the basic structure, the essence of this system: The particles remain the same desires that were created as existence from absence, and the connection among them is existence from existence.
[83990]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
A Point That Contains Infinity
Connection Is Life
“Plus” and “Minus” United By Mutual Work

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Mutual Guarantee, Science - No Comments →

Question: How can being on duty during the convention advance me on the spiritual path?

Answer: All those who will be on duty have to be supplied with a radio and headphones so that they will take part simultaneously with all other participants at all the events. We must try to schedule duties during lectures, questions and answers, and breaks, but not during the events such as workshops. Those on duty should rotate constantly.

Question: How important is it to be on duty?

Answer: Actually, this is the most important thing. When I do something for society, it does not even matter how much I hear or if I am physically involved in an event because here, I am doing the right job one-hundred percent.

That is why being on duty physically gives a person a huge push forward. There were many people who came to big conventions just to work, and it was during that work that they suddenly began to feel the emergence of a shared, common, and great field. This is the beginning of the feeling of the Creator.
[83976]
From the Virtual Lesson 7/15/12, “Fundamentals of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
A Dialogue With Pharaoh
The Krakov Convention: An Invitation To The Discovery Of The Spiritual World
The Importance Of Volunteering At The Convention

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: While you were away last week, the world group had some active interactions. For the first time, we truly felt that we depend on one another. How can we hold onto that moment now and not fall back into passivity?

Answer: We must not recall the situation we experienced. The past is burnt. We must not look back like Lot’s wife. What belongs to the past is gone, and we don’t go through what we went through, not in our feelings and not in our thoughts.

Even if you think that you are leaving something special behind, it makes no difference. You must keep away from the best state just as from the worst state.

Under no circumstances should you try to recall it in your thoughts, desires, or your words, and do not try to reconstruct anything. Empty yourself completely of everything that was. Even if you felt good, now, you will feel even better. We must start every day anew and turn over a new leaf.

No one is disturbing you, not me and not the friends, no matter what they feel. The state of things in the outer world also has nothing to do with it. You must enter a new state, a new phase of connection without any burdens, as if you don’t know anything, as it is written, “Each day they shall seem new to you.” We must not compare the current state with what was before. Start everything anew, and only thus will you reach a new structure.

Even if you have succeeded, now it is as if nothing happened. Don’t be afraid to lose it. By being afraid to lose something, you are expressing a contemptible form of receiving. Everything that you have attained and everything that you have felt, doesn’t exist now, and it shouldn’t exist. Otherwise, you care only about your feelings.

The main thing is to detach yourself from the past. Without it, you will not advance forward. You are advancing toward bestowal, and this means burning all the bridges.
[83926]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Related Material:
Every Moment Hides Infinite Perfection
Born Again On Every New Degree
Stop Thinking about the Past!

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Q&A - No Comments →

The Writings of Rabash, Volume II, Letter 8: And once I have acquired this above-mentioned clothing, sparks of love promptly begin to shine within me. The heart begins to long to unite with my friends, and it seems to me that my eyes see my friends, my ears hear their voices, my mouth speaks to them, the hands embrace, the feet dance in a circle, in love and joy together with them, and I transcend my corporeal boundaries. I forget the vast distance between my friends and me, and the outstretched land for many miles will not stand between us.

It is as though my friends are standing right within my heart and see all that is happening there, and I become ashamed of my petty acts against my friends. Then, I simply exit the corporeal vessels, and it seems to me that there is no reality in the world except my friends and I. After that, even the “I” is cancelled and is immersed, mingled in my friends, until I stand and declare that there is no reality in the world—only the friends.

Of course, it is impossible to achieve such a state by my own simple efforts. Only the upper Light can bring us to this state as it operates on us for a long time until it evokes in us the collective desire. Then, we all are incorporated in one network, and then each one feels the society.

Each one will see that this is the center of his life, and this is where he receives the force of vitality and its impression. In this mutual connection, he gradually discovers the Creator’s form since by mutual bestowal, the friends stabilize a field from which, like in matter that develops and discovers, the Creator’s from is depicted and revealed.

Thus, when we attain a collective desire, the corporeal conditions cease to exist. The desire is the only matter from which, by mutual bestowal, we begin to stabilize and to sculpt the Creator’s image by revealing it to everyone. A person sees that outside this general network there is nothing but the friends.

This is why we are in this state in such a world, and through the actions and through the corporeal states, we can attain the spiritual world. Otherwise, we couldn’t do anything.

It can only be this way, through corporeal actions and the Surrounding Light that raises us to spiritual actions, but the impression comes from the general connection between everyone. I believe that it is already among us to some extent.
[83923]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/12

Related Material:
Enter The System Of Bestowal
Give Love
Love Of Friends Is Our Common Treasure

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Love, Mutual Guarantee, My Similarity to the Creator, Unity - No Comments →

Question: How does our connection become the basis for the revelation of the spiritual levels?

Answer: Every level is a world that you feel, a world that is woven by the connection among all the souls. The first connection that has come from the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) gradually diminished until it was shattered and became totally detached in our world. Now, from this point, the ascent in the same levels of connection begins, and it is the only thing you have to reveal.

The “matter” of the souls is the desire to receive and the connection among them is the system we study about. The Ten Sefirot, the spiritual Partzufim, are all the essence of different methods of mutual connection of the souls between them.

On the whole, a whole body is thus formed as we rise to Malchut of Ein Sof, and all the connections are 100% bestowal without any obstacles and deficiencies. Then all the resistance in the transition among us disappears and the connection is immediately fulfilled in infinite speed. This is the state of Ein Sof.

The adhesion indicates a simple thing: What I have at a certain moment, you have too, and vice versa. This communication is unlimited. It isn’t confined to time and the resistance of the ego. The “resistor” among us disappears and our desires cooperate freely and to their full extent.

Question: How should it be expressed in the workshops?

Answer: Our adhesion during the workshops is an effort: We want to unite so strongly, as much as we can imagine, so that each one will lose his feeling of self and we will feel one desire, one thought, one whole. By these efforts, from the point of unity, we think about a solution to the question we were given by the teacher. The solution is within the connection.

Therefore, during the workshop we yearn to find the answer through the unity. Each time we search for a solution, we want to attain it by the unity, without using our logic. After all, we are not going to logically examine the words of the Kabbalists.

Without connection, there is no point in sitting in a circle. So what do we need it for? For an intellectual conversation or a scientific debate? No, the mission is given only in order to create a new quality. Then by feeling the collective quality, you find the solution.

The workshop is only meant to create a collective vessel that belongs to an upper level. We try to reach it as hard as we can, but if there is no solution, it means that we have not succeeded.

There is no point mentioning the connection while we are in the process, it has to be the goal from the beginning. Can we come to a workshop not in order to connect, and in this connection find the next level or at least find the solution to the question that leads to it?
[83843]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam 

Related Material:
The Workshops: Not Just Verbal Debates But An Ascent To Unity
Ascending To The Top Of The Pyramid
A World Structured At My Request

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Mutual Guarantee, Prayer and Intention, Q&A, Unity, Workshops - No Comments →

Question: How can you check that you really understand the lesson from the point connection with the group?

Answer: A person reaches connection out of despair, when he despairs of all his actions and sees that they will lead to nothing, and that he must do something. He thinks about himself, about his entire life, about the efforts he has made in vain, and eventually comes to the conclusion that he only can attain the goal through the group.

The group is a spiritual structure and not the faces that you see around you. It is a spiritual force that is revealed in a very realistic manner, like some safe shelter. It is like a “flying saucer” that as I enter it, I have a chance to succeed and if I am not in it, I have no chance.

A person must understand this clearly in order to keep this thought. He should know that by staying in the group, which he sees as a collection of spiritual forces, he will undoubtedly reach a good result. The group enables him to breathe, and without it, he has no access to the oxygen hose.

However, a person only can reach this decision when he feels despair from his own powers. Our discussions and workshops enable us to reach this conclusion faster. However, what I hear are people speaking about what they have read and not from their hearts.

I give a short introduction, and then I ask a question about it. The question may be a continuation of what has been said; it can be in contrast to it or somehow related to what has been said. However, it is all done intentionally. The answer shouldn’t come from the mind, but from the point of connection that should be attained within the discussion circle.

Then, the answer will be the answer to our prayer. The discussion must turn into a prayer that we all want to clarify and, together, to find the answer. During the discussion, each of the ten friends says something, and thus we complete one another. Each one annuls himself before the others by raising them and respecting their opinion. Thus, we build our self-annulment and the attribute of bestowal that is above all of us.

The group is not a physical assembly, but it acquires a spiritual value. This is because the annulment of the ego and the desire to be incorporated in the friends is already a spiritual action. The topic of the discussion spurs us on to clarify our unity, the connection, and the work. All this turns into a prayer (MAN).

Within the connection in the group that we attain by this prayer, we must receive an answer (MAD). The answer to the prayer of many (MAD) is called the center of the group. We feel collective warmth, a collective feeling, the force that supports us to such an extent that we are scared to come out of there. I don’t want to come out of there. I want to remain inside this center and to grow there. This is the purpose of the workshop, which you have to try to attain with every 15-minute question discussion.
[83768]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

Related Material:
Finding A “Human”
The Workshops: Not Just Verbal Debates But An Ascent To Unity
One Life And Common Prayer For Everyone

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Prayer and Intention, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

In the workshop, everyone must constantly check himself, and the friends should support one another and remind one another of this point so that throughout the workshop everyone will feel the fear of leaving the connection. During all our life, we must hold onto the center of the group, not only during the lesson or the workshop.

However, a lesson or a workshop is the main time to work on our collective thought, which determines everything. Here, we need each other’s support without words, and, at the same time, we have to feel the inner burning. We have to discover some collective field that constantly spurs us on and keeps us “in the air.” It is all up to us.

It is as if you were signing a contract with the friends so that they would constantly care for you and make sure that you don’t leave this field with your thoughts. Pay them so that they will take care of you. This is called “buy yourself a friend.” You have to give the friend something so that he will be motivated to constantly spur you on.

However, how can he spur you on if we are all on the same level, and he himself needs someone to spur him on? Here, the upper providence operates, about which it is written, “the Creator is within His people.”

If we decide that we are committed to spur one another on, the Creator spurs us on. He gives us this power so that at least someone in the group constantly will be in contact with spirituality and will be conscious. This means that “the Creator dwells among His people.”

If there is a connection, it is called a house of assembly for prayer (Beit-Knesset) in which the Creator is present. As it is written, “I came to the house of prayer and did not find a single person?” However, if there is a connection among us, then the Creator will come and find a “human” in it!
[83766]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

Related Material:
Growing Inward And Upward
The Meeting Point Of All Desires
Towards The Center Of Life

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Mutual Guarantee, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

I must understand that in my mutual relationships with others, the positive force is on the outside, and the negative force is inside me. It isn’t by chance that it is written, “Man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

It is a problem of how we perceive ourselves and the world. We naturally imagine that the world is corrupt and that we are corrected. We take care of ourselves, think about what is good for us, and look at everything from the perspective of how to use everything to our benefit. I constantly worry about one thing only: “How can I feel better?”

This indicator, this inner program that is constantly active inside us, is the ego. This program focuses all my thoughts and desires in one direction: to use the world for my own benefit.

If I imagine that my hardware, my “iron,” is the starting point, my abilities, my attributes, the potential of my thoughts and desires that are in it, then the ego is my software. This software of self-fulfillment was installed within me.

My attributes are neither good nor bad, but the egoistic software that operates me obliges me to use them for my own benefit and, at the same time, at the expense of others since this enables me to feel above those who are around me. This is our ego, the evil inclination. The inclination itself is the “iron,” and the evil is the software, the addition.

Now, I must turn this software from evil to good. The inclination stays the same, but I change the method of using it. I see that the endless chase of self-benefit only harms me in the end. The evil inclination is bad for me, but, when I begin with the help of the environment to change it to a good attitude toward others, it actually brings me good, too.

How does that happen? Why do I feel good when I treat others well, and why do I feel bad when I harm others? It is because I come closer to the truth this way and begin to feel that the others and I are the same thing.

It is like a mother who “merges” with her child. It brings us together so closely that we feel as one whole and merge into a new, inseparable system of mutual relationship by stopping to differentiate between what happens to myself or to someone else.

Thus, all of humanity becomes one family. Perhaps not right away, but it’s a start, and we already understand this approach that is totally based on psychology.
[83776]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 7/11/12

Related Material:
Building Material: Our Egoism
Imprisoned By Egoism
An Altruistic “Shirt” For Egoism

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, Integral Upbringing, Mutual Guarantee, Unity - No Comments →

In order to bring a person to the attainment of the true reality that is outside the limits of his perception, understanding, and ordinary feelings, the Creator puts us through a gradual process of development. So we have the opportunity, while living in this world, to prepare ourselves for the perception of the true reality. If we prepare ourselves, then according to the plan of creation that operates on us, which brings us closer and closer to this true reality, we eventually discover it, which means that we attain the revelation of the Creator to His created beings.

But if we don’t prepare ourselves correctly and don’t use our life in order to correct our perception, but try to enjoy it directly in our ego, we feel pain as the Creator gets closer to us. Wherever we operate by using our ego, we feel the general global crisis and different problems in all the areas in life.

Wherever we use our ego, which is not ready for correction and for a change, we feel a crisis: in education, in culture, in the economy, in finance, in ecology, in the break up of the family, in terrorism, and in drug abuse. If we examine the painful points in the imaginary picture of our world and try to find out where the feeling of crisis and pain stems from, meaning the bitter taste of the refreshments on the King’s table, we see that all the bitterness stems from our growing ego.

Anywhere our ego (which was supposed to be corrected but was not prepared for this) is involved, we encounter a crisis and all the problems that are being revealed in the world now. So the conclusion is that we have to prepare ourselves with the help of all the opportunities we have.

If we work in the group, in the study and in dissemination seriously, using all the means that were given to us by the Creator, we will feel a good sweet taste by getting closer to the revelation of the Creator, and not bitterness. It all depends solely on our preparation, on the work that is seemingly our free will.

You were brought to the study, to the group and were given all the explanations as to what you should do; now decide! You are free to do whatever you see fit in the King’s palace, but if you forget that you came there in order to prepare yourself for the festive meal, you will feel an awful taste when it arrives, since you are not prepared for it. So everything is in your hands and it all depends on the preparation.
[83692]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam 

Related Material:
Prepare Seriously Or Have Fun, You Decide!
Don’t Be Embarrassed. Grow!
An Obscure Cloud Over The World

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Free Will, Group Work, Inner Work, Kabbalah Dissemination - No Comments →

Question: Suppose something happened to me and I feel such a sense of shame that I’m ready to disappear. What should I think of at this point? Should I think of the goal?

Answer: That doesn’t help. What does it mean, “I should think of” or not? You must be prepared in advance for all sorts of influences from the environment, books, friends, the group, and other things that are the effect of the common field on you so that you are reminded of the goal. That is, you set up an external “reminder” for yourself, otherwise you won’t remember. You begin to associate the goal with what happened to you. And that’s the main thing. It means that you already know that what happened was intentional and happened for a reason.

Where do I feel the pain and shame? In my egoism. So, I have to rise above it. Or conversely, let me stay with the feeling of shame because it directs me towards the goal. Then I’m ready to experience it all the time in myself so as to not forget about the goal, to be associated with it, and to move towards it. And let my sense of shame be stronger and stronger, so that I will move toward the goal and it will get closer and closer.

It’s here that we begin to deal with the re-evaluation of values, and thus rise. From now on what will dominate the movement, achievement, and attainment of higher states of love and bestowal above the feeling of egoism as evil and everything that’s in it is basically shame.

Question: Is the mechanism that you described suitable for the 99% of the population?

Answer: Not only for the 99%, but for everyone because the desire to receive is the only matter.
[83599]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/30/12

Related Material :
Shame Is The Opposite Of Perfection
I’m Ashamed And It’s Great
Rising Above Our Egoism

Filed under: Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →