Question: My question pertains to dissemination. At school, I talk with my classmates about Kabbalah. There is an impression that they are interested in it, which creates a certain contact between us, but as soon as they go home, the contemptuous attitude of their families and environment toward Kabbalah spoils everything. How do we get those families to see the importance of the goal?

Answer: I am not sure since I never dealt with this. After all, we are talking about love of friends and love of others not with the outsiders, but with those who have already joined us.

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches that we must spread it passively, forcing no one into it. I need to provide a person with certain information: Why the world is suffering, what the cause of it is, where we are heading toward, and why crises occur.

We also try to explain to him that all of it is happening due to nature’s program so as to demonstrate to us that egoistic evolution on the rising exponential curve has reached its final point and now we are headed for the downfall. This means that we will feel pain and problems (possibly serious ones) since our egoistic development has ended, and we need to rise above the ego.

This is the kind of information that we need to spread in the world. But if I start talking with people about it, it will take many hours to explain things to them until they comprehend it. This is why we spread the wisdom of Kabbalah in a passive way, via books or the Internet, and those who become interested in it and feel that it meets a certain need in them will find us.

We are in the field of the upper force, in the field of Light. And if a person does have an inclination for a personal correction and sort of gravitates to unification, to spirituality, which equates to love of others, bestowal to the Creator, he or she will find our sources. There is absolutely no need to come to them, apply pressure, and start huge propaganda.

You may talk with friends about Kabbalah, which is not prohibited at all. But if you see that afterward they immediately forget or lose interest in it, or if they quickly change their mind, even if they initially agreed with something, all of this is a sign that this wisdom most likely isn’t for them.

If I were in your place, I would give them a book to read that would, in your opinion, suit them best. Collect a small library at home. I suggest everyone does the same.

All those who study Kabbalah must have a complete collection of our books. Additionally, keep three or five books most suitable for beginners and lend them to others to read one by one, and after they are done, get them back. And then you will see if they do show any interest or not.

A book has a unique power. And even though I usually read and work with a text on a computer, I still keep a book in front of me. It has a spiritual root, which a computer does not.

But what I really appreciate in this young man and praise him for is his desire to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah. He is so great! And we should follow his example.

Each of you should check what you can do in dissemination since the more you spread the wisdom of Kabblah, the more internally enriched you become. And in correspondence with how many people receive the knowledge of the spiritual world or spiritual fulfillment through you, the same degree of spiritual fulfillment will pass through you as well. It is as though you give birth to them, and they become your children afterward, which stimulates your growth.

And a person who didn’t bring anyone closer to the wisdom of Kabblah and didn’t impact anyone spiritually in this world is similar to someone who never gave life to anyone and has no continuation. Each of us must become a disseminator.
[40872]
From Lesson 5, WE! Convention 4/2/2011

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Question: You said that nature will force us to change if we don’t wish to do it by choice. What change can our small Kabbalistic group make in the world if the majority of it don’t want to think about anything whatsoever?

Answer: It’s much easier for the majority of the world to change than it is for us since they don’t have free will. You do have free will because you possess an egoistic heart and the point from another world.

There are two forces in you, and that’s why you are in constant argument and struggle between them. This pertains to you but not to the whole world! They are fine: When they feel bad, it’s bad, when they feel good, it’s good, so what spiritual world are you talking about?

Without these two forces, there is no free will to choose between them; there are no upheavals and descents; there are no thoughts how to move forth; there is no faith above reason. Reason and faith above reason? Malchut and Bina atop of it?! Most folks have no connection between these two worlds. The connection between them exists only in us, in every one of us! It’s our problem, and the rest of the world doesn’t have it.

Hence, as soon as you make a choice, you impact all the other souls who don’t have free will; you “pour” your choice, will, and yearning into them and lead them on like a shepherd who leads a herd of a thousand cows. Obviously, it’s easier to be a cow than a shepherd since he has to know the way. But it’s not up to you; you will have to become a shepherd!
[40895]
From Lesson 6, WE! Convention 4/3/2011

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My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Advice and Principles for the Week

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Question: I am getting an impression that all my friends fell into a “sleeping mode” now. What can I say to them to wake them up?

Answer: If they feel that you need them, they will wake up. It all depends on the person himself. He must trust that the group is willing, but that he is the only problem. As soon as he opens his heart, he sees that he is connected with all hearts, burning and alert. Don’t say anything to them, say it to yourself.
[41219]
From the evening meal 4/21/2011

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Question: You said that when we read The Book of Zohar we should focus on unity. But how is it expressed? What action should I be thinking about? After all, the very word “unity” doesn’t strike a chord in me.

Answer: A feeling of unity builds up in a person very gradually, over the course of many months, until he begins to sense a certain “taste” in unification with the friends and finds some type of reality in it.

We experience on ourselves all the actions in the process of which, during millions of years of evolution, the vegetative degree formed from the inanimate one, the animate from the vegetative, and the human from the animate. But we undergo similar states at an enormous speed.

You ask about the state you haven’t obtained yet. You are trying to tap where this sensation of oneness may unfold, the feeling of unity and bestowal, when you step out of yourself, your ego. But nothing is really clear to you.

This is a sign of attainment. You start approaching the state which you seek and don’t know how to find: “I am looking for my brothers.” I seek unity and don’t find it. Does it even exist? What is it? How do I get hold of it?!

This is “the void before the revelation.” You are already standing at the threshold of it. And so it is, always. The question about the state you don’t possess is the very state that precedes it. You must simply go on, give the Light time to do its work. If you are present in the group, at the lessons, disseminate, and do everything you can, give the Light a chance to do the job.

As described in the “Introduction to The Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 133: “ And only the heroes among them, whose patience endured, defeated the guards and opened the gate. And they were instantly awarded seeing the King’s face, who appointed each of them in his right place.” Just be patient! If it takes ten years, so be it. Another ten, big deal.

And those who think they are smart “jump off the carriage,” and in ten years you see that they don’t have anything. You can say: “But I don’t have anything either, do I?!” You possess great desire, an understanding that you are lacking unity.
[41222]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Only through unification can we attain the Creator’s revelation and spiritual life. But without the environment, I can never correctly envision spirituality: as bestowal and love toward others.

I need to build an environment for myself which will develop in me this “artificial,” unnatural desire: a yearning to unite with others. Indeed, this is a lie to my ego which doesn’t see any self-benefit in this action. And when the environment begins to cultivate in me this new desire and new values, only then will I discover that there is a force that opposes this unification: Pharaoh.

Before this I couldn’t even imagine that uniting was this difficult. I didn’t desire it all that much; rather, I was kind of neutral to it. But the more my environment inspired me with this idea, as a good advertisement does, to aspire to this artificial objective which I couldn’t even feel before, the more I began to sense the obstacle in my way, the special force that impedes this unification.

This force is willing to offer anything I want, all the pleasures of life in this world. It appeals to me: “Tell me what you want! Money, honor, power, knowledge, traveling, any pleasure your heart desires!”

Consider the infinite new ways humanity has found to fulfill itself in recent years, which hadn’t existed in all the centuries of our history. Today we manufacture 30-40 times more of all kinds of goods that serve no practical purpose. Every six months to a year I am forced to replace all of my stuff with new models: computers, furniture, clothes, and so on. These things obscure the real picture, and it’s all Pharaoh’s work, only at the corporeal, beastly level.

But when we reach the desire to unite, the true, unrelenting Pharaoh reveals himself, draining us of all our efforts and turning them to his benefit. This force reveals itself, willing to give me anything I want, anything except unity!

And here we begin to understand Pharaoh’s goal and why he is so staunchly against unification in particular. Firstly, he wants us to truly feel the need for the Creator, the upper force, to help us. And secondly, he wants our desire to unite to grow to its full, ultimate potential, which will raise us to the heights of the Creator Himself.
[41262]

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Baal HaSulam, Letter 10: “If a student goes into exile, his teacher is exiled with him.” But how can egoistic claims overwhelm the student in his studies and work so much that he would stray off the spiritual path, despite his connection with the authentic Kabbalist teacher?

It is all due to the fact that during the descent the student thinks that his Teacher is also in descent. And it is truly so since he can receive help from the Teacher only in the extent that he values his teacher’s greatness.

Therefore, his teacher is presently low and weak, according to how the student views him, and this means that the Teacher falls together with the student. The beginning of the Egyptian exile starts with that “a new king rises over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph”—a new power in the mind of everyone who fell from his previous degree (and so did the teacher with them).

Hence, they “don’t know Joseph (the righteous man)” and imagine him being similar to themselves. And this is the beginning of bondage since otherwise, the righteous man would protect them from slavery and exile.

This passage doesn’t discuss historical events, but rather a person who is living his “spiritual history” right now. From the moment he starts seeking the purpose of life, he is led to a place where he can grow spiritually and realize his life’s purpose, unveil its secret, meaning that he finds a Kabbalistic group and the teacher.

And then, everything depends upon how much he values what he received: the group, Kabbalistic texts, and the teacher. And his “Egyptian bondage,” the exile, unfolding of his ego, starts with his ignoring the teacher.

After all, the teacher shows him the way. Otherwise, a person of this world would never attain the truth that is hidden from us; there is no chance to find it on one’s own. All souls are arranged according to the chain: AHP of the upper one descend into GE of the lower one, and only by cleaving to the former can we advance.

Hence, the Egyptian exile begins when the student ignores the teacher, which is a natural development that he must undergo. First, he doesn’t feel what happened at all and that he is veering off the path. He thinks that he is totally all right: He is advancing, understands and feels more, and can make his own decisions and judge, knowing what steps he is making.

In other words, he has an opinion about everything based upon “common sense” and “logic,” while he forgets that it’s all well and good only in regard to his personal egoism and not in relation to the “teacher, the books, and the group,” where one should always progress by way of “faith above reason.”

It is said that they no longer felt Joseph (the righteous one within), meaning that a person no longer registers his point in the heart which previously linked him to advancement, the spiritual path, and bestowal to a certain degree. And he severs the ties with spiritual progress completely since he has nothing to lean on if the teacher who was leading his way is gone.

A person thinks that he continues to evolve, while this development only pushes him deeper into the bondage that he is yet to discover. There is nothing we can do; these are the necessary stages one has to pass through.
[41106]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/2011, Baal HaSulam’s Letter 10

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The Zohar, Chapter “Bo (Come unto Pharaoh),” Item 196: The Egyptians would come and see the bones that the dogs were carrying from place to place and breaking them, and they would put them in the ground so the dogs would not find them. This is the greatest canceling of idolatry on their part …when they hid the bones of their gods in the ground.

Question: What is implied under “the Egyptians hid the bones of their gods in the ground”?

Answer: Usually, a person wants to “bury” his efforts which he views as unsuccessful and to forget all about them. We, however, must resist this failure: “I’ve succumbed to the evil; I couldn’t handle it and failed. True! And now, based on this evil, I do good yet again.”

If I know that I don’t bury anything of my efforts, I merit the support of the group and the Creator in order to go on. Otherwise, I return to the zero point again, and only out of necessity, having found nothing good in this world, prefer to stay in the group. In other words, what really does motivate us? What is the level where a person makes his calculation? It is always at the level of the corporeal world. And that’s why he doesn’t move ahead.

But we should always make calculations based upon the constantly growing evil. Despite the fact that I lost to it and see all the miasma of my ego, all my evil, I keep going forth. But how can I go on? That’s when I need the group, its support, the Creator, so He would give me strength.

Thus, with each new step, a person advances. Otherwise, he stays in the same place as if he just descended into Egypt. We must strive to feel all these inner states, properties, and desires. I know from my own experience: It’s impossible to come out of Egypt if you haven’t recognized, been in, and lived them yourself.

You don’t need to be a smart aleck to do this. Just yearn for unity with the others, mutual bestowal, support, and guarantee, to all of these signs of oneness. In response to these efforts, we will obtain the correct internal meanings.
[41112]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Question: Do all our intentions go straight into Pharaoh’s mouth, feeding him?

Answer: It all depends on what these intentions are. Pharaoh is a special force, the ego that unfolds against the Light. It is a reserve of egoism, the desire to receive, which we must construct.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is no “Pharaoh” without “Israel,” meaning the strive toward the Creator within man who works in order to unify with the others and come to bestowal. Thus, in the degree of his aspiration toward bestowal, a person builds Pharaoh, cultivates his desires (Kelim) within, from which he later flees and which he afterward corrects, getting rewarded thereby.

The entire work in Egypt lies in arranging Pharaoh and making him great, powerful, and wealthy, meaning in growing our ego from the tiny point of our natural egoism to the Creator’s status. After all, what does this whole egoism give us? It gives us the desires for food, sex, money, fame, and knowledge, a tiny ego of our world, a corporeal ego, which has nothing to do with spirituality. This earthly ego doesn’t even require correction.

Beginning to work on our unification, we discover resentment, alienation, indifference to our oneness. Essentially, this is the revelation of evil, but only if a person sees it as such. After all, he can say that he can’t unite with the others and that this work isn’t for him, before he even starts it. And some do start but get weakened, fall, and “die in the land of Egypt.”

But there are those who do bear it, thanks to the understanding that there is no option. They keep at it, over and over again, although they see that they continue to lose. And try as they might to unite with the friends, strengthen the group, regardless of their efforts, they see that nothing works. On the contrary, they experience a desire to criticize the friends and remove them from their sight all together. And once more, they overcome this flash of egoism.

Thus, time after time, all that a person earned, all his efforts are consumed by his ego, Pharaoh, which grows and rejoices. A person himself builds all these properties within, but through his own efforts. Afterwards, he arrives at the state when he can’t stand his ego any longer. And that is when he receives all Pharaoh’s vessels (Kelim), desires.

In other words, Egyptian exile starts solely with the person’s work toward unification with the friends. In fact, what does Israel merit after they flee from Egypt, when the Creator frees them from it? They merit unification at Mount Sinai (the mountain of hatred), all as “one man with one heart,” if only for an instant, until they sculpt the “golden calf” and fall yet again. But those downfalls are of a different nature now, into the gold that they carried out of Egypt, the “Egyptian vessels” they took with them, in order to retrieve them from it and reform.

But still, what did they want during all those years of exile? They wished to create oneness between them that they finally reached at Mount Sinai. And without these moment to moment efforts to withstand Mount Sinai, the “400 years of Egyptian exile” will not have passed for you.
[41115]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/2011, The Book of Zohar

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Question: In the light of the upcoming Moscow convention, you said that it’s time we got used to virtual congresses and felt an even greater connection sitting behind computer screens. What does it mean?

Answer: Conventions are a leap forth. But in addition to them, we must maintain the connection between us daily and constantly enhance it. Thanks to the conventions, we create impulses to unification, and during the intervals in between it is vital to sustain a permanent connection and strengthen it day by day.

There isn’t another choice; we must reach a “round,” global, integral world. It isn’t mere words. We can’t break the connection after the three days of convention; the connection must underlie the world’s daily agenda. This is what’s required of us.

Hence, we have to cultivate such relations between us that will let us maintain the connection even virtually, without our seeing and hearing one another. That’s why the Internet emerged in the first place: It is meant to help the entire world link in a wholesome interconnection and move on from the corporeal, virtual unity to the spiritual one. And we are to employ this medium.

Therefore, I suggest that our future conventions should be small, for about a thousand or two thousand friends who gather in the same region. And the rest will participate in them virtually, which won’t spoil anything for them at all. On the contrary, everybody lives in one collective state, and the “virtual” participants don’t feel any slightest weakness in uniting with the participants at the physical site.

It will allow us to have many conventions a year; besides, we will be able to maintain an unbreakable link every day of the year. Let’s stop spending much money on two huge conventions a year, after which we still experience a downfall and descend into the previous state. I wish to transfer emphasis from the physical to internal convention, and from the latter to the daily inner interconnection. It is extremely important. Otherwise, we won’t be able to build the place of the Creator’s revelation between us.

[40975]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/2011, Baal HaSulam’s Letter 10

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