Question: Where does the point of our unity touch the rest of the world? Why is the correct intention not enough? Why do we also need the physical action of dissemination? What mechanism activates the people whom we address?

Answer: We are in the common system consisting of five “layers” of Aviut (the thickness of desire).

Overall, our world belongs to the zero or root degree of Aviut, more precisely, its rudimental part. In the language of Kabbalah this is called the root of the root of the root, or Malchut inside Malchut inside Malchut of the world of Assiya. Its desire is perceived in the form of matter that exists below the speed of light.

The electromagnetic phenomena, gravity, physics and chemistry, biology and zoology, and matter that we perceive and recognize, all of this is essentially desire of the lowest degree, separated from the Light that governs it. From the point of view of the person who attains, there is no Light in this desire.

This is why I work with matter. After all, a person must go by what he sees before him. And before me there is the still, vegetative, animate, and human nature of the material world, which is accessible to my five senses. This is where we start: not just from afar or a neutral point, but from the opposite place.

The matter of desire descends until Malchut of the world of Assiya and continues its journey down, into the egoistic area of the spectrum. 125 degrees of descent apparently are not enough, we fall even further in the five layers of egoism.

And the lowest is not just anyone, it is Israel. It was on the height of bestowal, and this is why it fell to the very bottom. On one hand, Israel is the “smallest of nations,” but on the other, it is “stiff-necked,” meaning the most egoistic. Consequently, it experiences the most ills, is distanced the most, but at the same time is able to use this world better than others.

Then, the Light causes “vibrations” and strongly influences Israel, and it begins to awaken. But coming back is no less easier, especially given the intermixing that took place over thousands of years, which also needs to be considered.

“Why do we need to care about others?” I am being asked. “Why do we need this connection with the world? Would it not be better to take care of ourselves?”

Where have you seen a head in proud loneliness? Why would you need it if not for the benefit of the body? It is written that Israel needs to become “a kingdom of priests” for other nations. They are not able to receive the method of correction on their own, but they will be able to do it through Israel, by being connected with it, through the breaking and the intermixing.

Thus, “Israel” is essentially a calling that obligates establishing connection with others. And this is only possible through contact on the material level of our world, the lowest degree of desire, which we perceive in this form today.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/2012, Questions and Answers

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We should be very happy that we have come to the most important work, the most important analysis that exists in all the worlds, even in the spiritual ones. Baal HaSulam writes that there is no happier moment in a person’s life than the moment when he discovers that he is unable to exit his ego and no effort of his own can help him. Then he comes to his first prayer, his first cry for the Creator.

This first cry is birth. An infant cries as soon as he is born into the world. And this means that a person was born.

Let us hope that we will attain this cry and become Human. This is why the effort we make towards it is called birth pangs. And we must be happy that we have come to this. After all, who do these birth pangs reach? We have to be happy and serious at the same time. But joy has to come from the status, the mission. This is where spiritual life begins.

When an infant is born, adults are happy even though he is crying and screaming. Likewise, the Man within us (the one who did all the work and all the analyses) rejoices, and the infant, now being born, is still suffering from the pressure, sadness, and the perception of disturbances. They both must be together.
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From Lesson 1, The Arava Convention 2/23/2012

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Question: If we intend to receive only for our own sake and wish to come out of this intention and bestow, what can we give? We have nothing to give because we only wish to receive….

Answer: We can give our desire to bestow to the group. This is enough. The fulfillment comes from the Creator, and the desire to bestow comes from us. I have nothing to give, nothing to bestow. I will give you what He will give me to give to you. This way we examine the connection between the Partzufim: The upper one, the one who receives first, gives to the lower one what it has received from its upper one.

We only need to build the intention between us, for me to desire to bestow instead of worrying about what I can bestow.
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From Lesson 1, The Arava Convention 2/23/2012

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Question: According to our reason (“within reason”), we don’t value the friends: We disregard them and we hate them. However, with faith above reason we must accept society’s opinion that it’s worthwhile to see them as great in order to get inspired. So it turns out that I can force my material body to smile and play, but it doesn’t yet enter my feelings. Is this called faith above reason?

Answer: If you feel hatred towards your friends and yet must arrive at the state when you begin to feel love towards them, this is not called faith above reason. It’s the same as when someone brings me a culinary dish that I am unfamiliar with and I don’t like it at first. I don’t even understand how people can eat such a thing. However, if I keep trying this dish every day, after a month it’ll seem to me that there is nothing more delicious.

It’s as if I have been told: “Check above reason that this is delicious, try once, twice, and then you’ll taste it thoroughly and will be convinced. Then, you will ask for it yourself.” However, this is not the kind of faith above reason about which Kabbalah speaks. We don’t value this kind of faith at all. If I am simply following my friends’ advice, this is how the whole of humanity acts; all of the commercials are built on this, convincing you to accept faith above reason that you need this thing and to buy it.

This is not faith above reason but is simply getting accustomed to any new thing that is still unfamiliar. We are drawing it closer and begin to love it within reason; we acquire a taste for it.

However, in faith above reason relative to the Light, I want it to be as elevated as possible in my eyes, meaning higher than all of my doubts. But I want those doubts to remain in their full height. My feelings and reason don’t agree with it, but I want to be similar to it to an extent that’s higher than my agreement with it. This means that I am connecting to a higher Light.

Let’s say that there is a wise man, the more I don’t understand him and simply realize that he is wise and decides things in a completely different way from my reasoning, the more I am impressed by him. Meaning that we should develop our faith above reason relative to the form clothed in our matter, relative to the Light, the Creator, and keep holding on to it.

The Creator suddenly clothes in me and says: “Let’s hug like brothers!” And at the same moment when I am about to hug Him, I must raise Him higher than me, exalt Him even more. Otherwise this is receiving within reason, receiving for the sake of myself, shattering.

Do you feel where the border lies here? This must always be above my reason, against my desire. And in this form I will be ready to connect to Him.

The difference between how I feel Him inside of myself, unite with Him, have contact with Him, and how I raise Him above myself, this difference is created by the screen. And then, even if I receive from Him, I receive it for the sake of bestowal. He reveals Himself each time and shows me that it’s as if He is the same as me, while I constantly want to see Him higher than myself, raising Him ever higher. This means that I am protecting myself and I take care so that I always have the screen.

Faith above reason is my protection from receiving for my own sake. One can speak about this endlessly, while on the other hand, there is nothing else besides this. You must unite with all created beings, beginning with Adam HaRishon, like one man with one heart, and the Creator must constantly remain on the very top of the mountain for you.

If I intend to attain this within myself, to unite as equals, then this is called within reason. However, if I aspire to constantly retain it above myself, this will be above reason. What is important here is my tendency, my aspiration, so that the Creator will be above me. I don’t connect with Him simply, on equal terms, like two friends who feel themselves as equal, but I always retain Him being above.

That’s why I wish that there always remains something that I don’t fully understand or feel. This will mean that I am aspiring ever higher and higher. As long as a person has questions and doubts, it’s thanks to them that he keeps developing.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/2012, Writings of Rabash

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We see that in their explanations Kabbalists always return to the same principles. There aren’t many rules in spirituality. One and the same state of ascents and descents, as well as their reasons, comes back to us in different ways, but essentially, it’s the same principle all the time. We don’t receive a new force until we reach a true deficiency.

A servant of the Creator is a person who constantly looks for new ways to come closer to Him. This coming closer involves the acquisition of a new vessel, the desire to bestow, which goes against our desire.

A person who begins to study doesn’t really understand yet what “for” or “against” the desire means. It goes on until he begins to see that to acquire spirituality is actually both easy and difficult. A lot of time passes until he begins to hear what it is about.

It is a kind of latent, internal period that transpires secretly within, whereby a person participates in spiritual work rather passively. He still imagines spirituality as something pleasant to his egoism, an acquisition that will give him knowledge, greater power over others, and will fulfill his desires. This is actually what he comes for, having lost his hope to fill himself in this world. This is why he decides to receive spiritual fulfillment.

Everyone thinks that way. Otherwise, why study? This is how it is arranged from Above, by nature, so as to attract a person. And even if you tell a person something else, he doesn’t hear you. But this beneficial lie holds a person during this period in the feeling that he is about to acquire more and more in his desire to receive, in his ego. He doesn’t really hear what he is being told, and although he repeats the words “the desires of bestowal,” “faith above reason,” he does not truly realize what it is.

He ascribes to these notions his own internal interpretation, and he is unable to perceive otherwise. This goes on until eventually, thanks to the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah and some light blows here and there, he begins to somehow understand the true meaning of such concepts like the desire to bestow, love of the other, and rising above egoistic goals.

He begins to hear more and is ready to reach bestowal. First, it is a general, theoretical agreement, something abstract: bestowal upon the whole world, humanity, the Creator… These concepts are rather vague; they are distant from a person himself, his circle, and actual realization.

This is why he is ready “to bring contentment upon his Maker.” But when it comes to practical actions and him needing “to love the other,” the friends, he is not ready for that. Again, a lot of work is needed here.

And again the upper Light operates upon him, changing his vessels, until he actually begins to hear that bestowal is realized within the group. The Creator demands that we actually realize the love of others, as much as we can.

This is of course a lie, but it’s a start. By that a person becomes a servant of the Creator—if he actually performs actions that eventually lead to the desire to bestow. Of course, a person does not create this desire to bestow himself, it is not a direct consequence of his actions. He as if plants the seeds and sees that nothing sprouts. And then again he starts with no results, which brings him many disappointments.

At the same time he sometimes sees some partial success: a bit more understanding and feeling. Eventually, however, he comes to “those who sow in tears” and sees that his work doesn’t really lead to anything but the demand, a request, a prayer, to the Creator. When he comes to this state, it is called “a prayer of the many,” and it opens up the gate of Heaven. All the gates are closed except for the gate of tears, which opens up. This is what a person discovers.

“Gates” (“Shearim” in Hebrew, comes from the same root as the word “assumed” – “Meshuar”) and  indicates the way a person imagines the expected reward. He wants to receive something in all these gates, anything but bestowal, and about bestowal he cries only because it is clear to him that he cannot reach it by himself. He also doesn’t really want to attain it until he understands its importance.

So a person actually sheds a lot of tears until he builds the gate of tears, until he finally finishes building it by wanting bestowal and not being able to reach it. And this is why he is forced to turn to the Creator. Until this time he had no need for Him, but now he sees that the Creator is necessary.

So as a result, he wants bestowal and he can receive it only from the Creator. He comes to all this in the group because it’s impossible otherwise, and then he “reaps the fruit.” The Light that Reforms comes and connects him with the friends, and within them the Creator becomes revealed. Then a person “rejoices” in the fruit of his spiritual work. This is the path of the Creator’s servant.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/2012, Writings of Rabash

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The authors of The Zohar attained the spiritual degrees and describe them to us, arranging them so that the flow of the impact of the Light from the description of our state will benefit us as much as possible and help us realize the state we are in.

They are in the system called the world of Infinity, a corrected, working system. However, it is concealed from us, and we don’t know where we are. We are like babies who don’t know what state they are in, in what world, what is going on, who is taking care of them and how. It is as if they receive everything ready made, but they don’t know where it comes from. They have a world of their own that they can feel, and they live in it.

We, too, are still detached from the actual reality; we are in a kind of fogginess, concealment, like in a dream. If we can picture the spiritual state to some extent, no matter how accurate it may be, and try to be in it, we summon the Light that Reforms from that state.

But it isn’t enough to just imagine some spiritual state, even if this view is more authentic: that humanity is united together, in the desire to bestow upon one another, in mutual guarantee, in different correct forms of connection, and even in the desire to reach the comprehensive property of bestowal, the Creator. It isn’t enough because all the descriptions that we try to imagine are nothing more than our imagination, they are no different than our earthly fantasies.

If we want these images to be realized and to take on a more realistic, sensible form, we need a force that will influence this imaginary picture of the upper degree and will turn the fantasy into the actual spiritual reality, a force that will realize it in practice. This force is called the “Light that Reforms.”

This is why we read The Book of Zohar, since reading it, we summon upon ourselves the Reforming Light in the most beneficial and strongest way. It doesn’t matter what we read. What’s important is to what extent we want to be in that feeling, in that intention, in that state, like the authors of The Zohar who tell us about it in words that are beyond our comprehension. But if we want to be in the same circle with them, it works, it influences us. This is how we attain the power to develop.

In our world, a child who makes efforts summons the developing force from nature as it is arranged for him by the system. Be it a young puppy or a small child—the same law applies to everyone. They are both little beasts, animals.

In the spiritual world, however, everything follows the intention. There we have to make great efforts to draw the Light that Reforms. This is called “engaging in the Torah.” We start reading The Book of Zohar by our free choice, with the help of the friends, the group, and great inner work and preparation, wishing to draw from it the Light that Reforms.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/27/2012, The Zohar

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The most important thing is to start feeling that there is no world separate from us, and that the entire world is one group. The group consists of many parts: desires and thoughts, which we need to bring closer and work with each one of them.

All of nature, other than people, depends on our state, on the degree of shattering and confusion in our human thoughts and desires, on how far we are from participating in the work of the common system as its partners. The entire world, except for man, is its imprint, its consequence. The parts that exist around the inner desire called “man ” or Adam, are merely its copy, an addition that ascends and descends together with the movements of a person who works on connecting himself into a single system.

We are already able to see that the development of humanity, together with everything that happens to it, is headed in this direction. The world is advancing toward this goal, subconsciously carrying out the program of creation. Right now, we are in its very advanced stage, at a special transition between subconscious and conscious realization.

This is why we are experiencing a crisis in the world on every level. In our state, we also feel it on the human level. The rest of the world is experiencing the crisis on the animate, vegetative, and still levels. The purpose of this crisis is to bring us toward the realization of the entire process that is happening to us.

By the same token, the world we perceive is the projection of our consciousness. It does not exist on its own; it is imaginary, illusionary. Our consciousness will continue to rise, and we will begin to feel how parts of a divided, broken desire connect together—that’s the extent to which we will perceive the world through this desire in particular. We will sense all the other parts that surround its matter only as the shadow of this desire that temporarily exists in our perception and gradually keeps disappearing.

This process that we experience is unique and incredibly important. Most significantly, it drives us to discover the engine that moves the entire process of development, its program. After this, we will discover the upper force, the Creator, who arranges all this so that we will begin to know Him at the end of this process, as if He were coming through a fog, a cloud.

It is as if we are regaining consciousness, taking certain actions after being unconscious. It is as if we are coming out of the fog and now are able to connect separated and broken pieces of perception between us, turning them into a single image and thus forming our understanding and perception of the Creator. The image of the Creator manifests within us, as it is said: “Call yourself by His name.”

In this way, we acquire a quality of connection, mutual bestowal, a very strong connection and understanding, like being one person. This is called love. The separate parts that we are, where every part has its own function in the common system, merge into one whole that exists for a single goal: to reveal the upper force and let it manifest within us.
[71034]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/26/2012, Writings of Rabash

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“Commandment” in the language of Kabbalah means correction of the desire created by the Creator. Desire develops with the help of the Light that influences it during the four phases of the expansion of the Light. At the end, the desire “inflates” into an enormous size and obtains everything that the Light is willing to give to it: love, fulfillment, and abundance.

In the beginning, the desire was as tiny as a drop of semen. Then, with the help of love it is “blown up” into a huge ball. So, at some point, when the desire senses love, it suddenly starts to realize that its own nature is opposite to it. It then immediately gets “deflated” and returns back to its starting point.

What happens to the love felt by the desire? It turns into trepidation and fear, that is, into its own limited world. The desire cannot cope with what it received from the root through the four phases of the expansion of the Light and thus restricts itself.

It makes an effort to handle the situation, obtain similarity, and merge with the previous sensation. After all, this sensation is in fact the attainment and revelation of the Creator and His Essence. So, the desire tries to “inflate” again and become similar to Him, more and more. At first, it performs correction in the five Partzufim of the world of Adam Kadmon (AK); later, it proceeds with NHY de AK in order to obtain the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) in the world of Nekudim, the place of the world of Atzilut.

It then becomes unable to continue this process, and the shattering occurs: The desire begins to realize that its properties won’t allow it to attain perfect love. However, on the other hand, the desire acquires a certain sensation and understanding, and it builds the worlds of Atzilut (A) and BYA.

Thereby we attain the relationship we used to have in the world of Infinity, in other words, we attain love. This is what we strive for, constantly checking and measuring the level of love we have managed to attain.

This is why the Creator made the group: I have friends; I have somebody to love. “Practice with your friends and check the results you received,” He says. “When you achieve correct interconnection between you, I will reveal Myself within you.”

The Creator broke the collective vessel, and today we are a broken group. By doing so, He gave us a chance to sense and to reveal Him through correction we perform between us. On our side, our readiness to love is called the “vessel,” and on His side, His readiness to love is called “the Light.” At the end, they meet: Our corrected vessel is the “divine Shechina,” the “assembly of Israel,” and the Creator settles in it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/2012, “Introduction to TES”

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Question: There are closed and open groups. A closed group is where new members are not allowed, and naturally the group is against people leaving it. And people are absolutely free to join and leave open groups. What are the elements of a program of integral learning: is it a closed, open, or a mixed program?

Answer: Our practice in regards to this is very interesting. Our groups are constant. But when they go hand-in-hand, they can mix and there is absolutely no difference felt between them. When we have common events, our group, connected together, speaks the same, thinks identically, and there is absolutely no difference between them, everyone understands each other.

Every group advances independently without mixing with other groups but unites with others from time to time during our conventions and our other large events. New people are basically not allowed in the group. This introduces a very strong imbalance. A group needs to advance on its own, everything needs to be in harmony in it, and when new people come, they need to be formed into a new group.
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From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” #9, 12/15/11

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Question: Certain models of behavior need to be discussed in every organization, the things that are permitted and the things that are not allowed. Some organizations call it a charter. What should the charter in the groups of integral learning consist of? What should its essence be?

Answer: First of all, what binds us is the image of our future state; it is what we strive toward. This image needs to be well promoted to the entire group and each one of us on such a level and such strength that everyone would really develop the desire and strength to achieve it. We constantly must think about elevating this goal so that it would be many times more important than anything else that could appear in us, any other egoistic goals and directions.

A person must receive constant support from the group and his family. This is essential. When someone in a person’s family is against his studying, it causes enormous problems; we see that he often fails because the influence of the family is enormous.

In our times, we understand that a person is essentially lonely. Nature did this on purpose to make his journey toward integration easier. A person does not submit to some family, clan, or village regulations; we are all seemingly “suspended” and this makes it easier to realize all this.

So, we need to make sure the group accompanies the person every hour of his life, not only when he is physically present in it. Today, this is very easy to achieve through media and communication tools.

Moreover, every person has an MP3 player. He can record lessons, discussions, songs, and plays. When he comes home, his computer has the same and additional information from lessons and group meetings. He must work with it and be in constant contact with it. We need to make films, video clips, and so on.

All of this is an enormous amount of information that must go through him and gradually brainwash his so-called brain (you cannot call it anything else), and he willingly agrees with it. We do not hide what we are doing: We are reprogramming him.

Regarding a charter, the main things are those that benefit the society. However, those things that are necessary for the existence of every one of us come first. In other words, feed the “beast,” and then do whatever you want with yourself.

The basics that determine our life are food, shelter, family, and sex. These are followed by the social desires wealth, fame, power, and knowledge that are egoistic additions to life’s necessities.

We need to transfer them to a new dimension: Wealth is the fulfillment you will receive in the group. Fame and power are the universal approval you will receive from the group for being in it; you feel that you are a necessary element of the entire integral system they depend on. Knowledge is the natural knowledge of all of nature, the entire process we experience.

So, the charter needs to clearly contain the explanation of this layout of a person’s inner values that are necessary for his existence, both as an animal and a social element. First, we make sure a person does not worry about his corporeal existence. It must be guaranteed to him at a reasonable level.

Question: Does a person need to live according to the laws of the charter, starting with the very first days, or can this appear after several months, once he is ready?

Answer: This appears after some time, once people are ready and able to realize the need for this format of existence. Relationships in the group must always be friendly and cheerful. You must show the others that the goal is important to you.

We understand that every one of us happens to experience descents and ascents, different states. However, at the same time, we must introduce only positive influences within the group. The negative influence will disappear on its own under the influence of the positive potential that we accumulate in the group to the point of attaining the state of “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #9, 12/15/11

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