The program of creation gets carried out in us under the influence of two opposite forces. On one hand, we have been advancing by way of egoistic development so far. On the other, at a certain moment, an additional force unfolds within us: the “point in the heart,” a desire to aim at equivalence with the Creator. This desire, albeit unconscious and confusing for now (why, what for, how?), begins to push us forth.

With time, it will emerge in all people. Based on what is happening in the world today, the process will go very quickly. After all, we don’t have that much time left: 229 years until six thousand years expire. It isn’t a long time when history is concerned.

The wisdom of Kabbalah states that there is no need for these centuries either. When the point in the heart begins to emerge in humanity, even in small part of it, literally a few years is enough to correct and complete everything, to reach the final stage of integral correction.

In that case, our whole world will rise to the next level in terms of its internal fulfillment. Nothing will happen to it; we will simply ascend in our sensations, perceptions, and in what will get revealed to us. In our life, we will rise to the higher dimension where we will feel truly infinite and complete.

Nowadays, the points in people’s hearts are “hatching” progressively fast. A person gets more familiar with this new sensation and aspiration and feels as if being drawn to or rejected from something. In beginners, this manifests as good or bad sensations: I feel good or I feel bad.

One falls into depression, after which something gets better in life, some purpose surfaces, and some light glimmers ahead. And then everything is crushed again, followed by the re-appearance of the Light, step by step.

Baal HaSulam describes this in the article "There Is None Else Besides Him": And the benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a need and a complete desire for the Creator to help him since he sees that otherwise he is lost.

In other words, the Creator is wearing us down. He, step by step, over a long period of time, for as long as necessary, keeps “terrorizing” us: a little better, a little worse, and so over and over again. Sometimes, we think that it can’t be better, and another time that it can’t be worse. Then we start getting used to one and the other and begin to realize that it is all transient. But is there an end to it, or is it an endless process? Frequencies change, so what?

And this is where free will steps in, the freedom to move forth. I cannot force my own advancement. I will be going in circles, shifting from foot to foot, state to state, better to worse, worse to better, and so on. I will be able to move on only if I increase my desires and impressions thanks to the environment. My point remains a point. I will never be able to enhance it myself. It will not “expand” and turn into a vessel comprised of the ten Sefirot, in which I will feel the spiritual world.

It will remain a point until I start connecting with others, with those around me. I must keep doing it. Therefore, when a point in a person’s heart gets formed, after a while, he or she is brought into a group. But even in the group, a person does not immediately comprehend what is happening with him and what he should do. What he must do, however, is build a connection with others.
[34366]
From Lesson 4 Berlin Convention 1/29/2011

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Question: Mentally, everyone believes that he is ready and willing to unite with all, but when the time comes to actualize this desire, we fail.

Answer: You fail in only one thing: Each of you separately is ready for it, but together, you are not. Egyptian exile is unlike all others. Why was it through Joseph that they entered Egypt? It was Joseph (from the Hebrew word “Osef,” “gathers”) because he is the sum of all forces and foundations.

Evil is impossible to expose, even if everyone is willing. In order to achieve this, one condition has to be met: There has to be willingness to unite. Joseph’s brothers were righteous, and each of them wanted to serve the Creator, but they were unwilling to unite. They didn’t agree to link together in Joseph who is the ground for it.

But when they were forced to enter Egypt with Joseph’s help, they started to see how much they hated and resented the idea of oneness. And the exile itself was the revelation of hatred toward unification. Only when this hate reaches its full force and one starts feeling its reign over himself (meaning that on one hand, he is subordinate to Pharaoh, but on the other, deeply suffers from it and is unable to accomplish anything), the breakthrough occurs.

But all of this takes place thanks to the effort to unite, having risen above one’s own desire to do so. Thereby, they overcome exile. As to us, we are standing at the Egyptian border, hanging about. The aspiration to be one manifests in mutual inner concern, when everyone is thinking and worrying about our internal unification.

As a result, we feel that there is something between us that connects us, and we all will become as one heart. At this point, we are a spiritual heart, a spiritual desire, where we are connected with the Creator and need the Light that will link us so that from our mutual desire we will be performing acts of bestowal to the Creator.
[34319]
From the Talk on Spiritual Work 12/17/2010

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Question: Sometimes during the lesson we ask questions that demonstrate our weakness that we are not advancing and succeeding as expected. I see that you do not reject such questions, but rather keep trying to answer them over and over again.

Answer: We study that the more a person advances, the more he feels worthless, powerless, and small. Do not feel ashamed because we do not measure ourselves against roosters in the coop but against the Creator.

If I am in a chicken coop, then I definitely feel like a hero. But if the Creator reveals Himself to me, it is only natural to submit myself. There is no shame in it. Neither do I judge such things and ignore a person if he tells me that he is weak. I am well familiar with such states. Weakness isn’t a problem at this point. On the contrary, weakness is the attainment of self in its authentic form on the background of the Upper Light.

But a question arises: Is any desire to reach the goal still left in a person at the moment when he has lost faith in his strength, and does he still passionately wish to achieve it? That’s when he cries out for help correctly.

Obviously, everyone has to experience it individually as well as to explain to all our friends around the world that the attainment of personal lowliness and the awareness of the value of the goal, both of these conditions are mandatory in order to break through the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality).
[34334]
From the Talk on Spiritual Work 12/17/2010

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Until unity becomes a vital need, it will not come to life. We have two options: Either we emphasize the importance of unity among us, or all our other actions except unification will still bring the Light that Reforms, but it will be affecting us negatively, by demonstrating to us how disconnected we are. Then, we will finally unite out of necessity, as a result of pain and suffering.

Suppose I don’t wish to maintain my health and gradually ruin my organism until I start feeling that it is in trouble. This feeling forces me to begin the rehabilitation of my body.

Neither do we in the group maintain spiritual health; we don’t maintain unity. However, we do study, circulate Kabbalah, and perform various different kinds of actions. These acts draw the Light that Reforms. In the end, it will show us what the problem is. If we were not doing all this, we wouldn’t feel there is a problem. So, there is a certain benefit to it: It will help us realize that we are missing the point.

You want to find the Creator. Think about the “place,” the desire, where He is revealed. There is no Light without a Kli (vessel).
[34241]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Excerpt from the speech at the 3rd World Spirit Forum “Toward Integral Consciousness” in Arosa (Switzerland), January 23, 2006:

If the cell of a living organism starts acting egoistically with regard to other cells, it becomes cancerous, kills the entire body, and, as a result, itself. A cancerous cell is continuously dividing. It devours all around it, having no obligations to them and no reactions to the organism’s commands.

As a matter of fact, this is the key to all the problems, not only the cancerous ailments. Our egoism develops such characteristics, although balance where everything lives according to the principle of equilibrium, harmony, and striving toward a comfortable state is instilled in Nature at all levels, be it the still, vegetative, or animate one. One way or the other, everything exists solely to maintain balance and grow toward it.

However, we don’t understand the problem correctly, and our view on the imbalance of forces is erroneous as well. The lack of balance in Nature is necessary in order to bring it to even greater harmony. We always advance by way of two states: balanced and imbalanced.

Initially, we existed in a perfect balanced state between minus and plus. All systems of our organism were working fine, Then, nature created in us an imbalanced state, and the negative outweighed the positive.

Why was it made so? It was done so that we would bring ourselves to a better state. How can we possibly bring ourselves to a balanced state? The negative is given to us from Above, by Nature, while we must balance it with a greater positive force, equal to it. This action is produced specifically by us.

Thus, Nature forces us to compensate ourselves, intentionally making us imbalanced. As soon as we have brought ourselves to equilibrium, it again creates in us an additional minus, from Above, and we must bring this minus to plus, to a balanced state, on our own.

Thus, we advance if we understand correctly that in this manner Nature wishes to elevate us from one degree to the next. At first, our egoism was valued at zero. Then, it acquired value minus one. Next, it gained an altruistic value plus one, and again, minus two egoistic degrees, then plus two altruistic ones, and so forth. This is how Nature makes grow.

If we understand this principle, then we pass through the “minus” states of descent very easily and come out to the states of ascent. Everyone who walks on the spiritual path feels this.

“Yesterday I felt so good. I understood and knew everything, experienced the subtlest sensations. Everything became nice and easy in my head, but today I feel a block. Nothing is clear; I feel nothing, and I hate everything. This is all so stupid. What am I doing? All of these so-called friends….”

For us, right now, it is exactly so. That’s why we should record our states. It will clarify what we are like and how we pass through them. Later, we will gradually realize that descents are given to us so we may compensate for them with ascents. By going through such step-by-step actions, we do advance, but only if we understand what needs to be done.

Unfortunately, people usually do the opposite. Instead of enhancing the plus, they want to annihilate the minus. This is where Kabbalah warns: “Don’t do it!”

Minus is all our energy, all our understanding, all our awareness. The greater a person is in his desire, the higher he stands. He can do more, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. The key is a great desire. Do not ever destroy it or lower it to a vegetative degree.

After all, egoism is our vehicle, our instrument, which helps us move forward. We must not eliminate it, we can’t anyway. We are constantly growing egoistically and have come to an egoistic crisis today, precisely so that we now could start using and realizing our desire correctly.
[34209]
From Lesson 2 Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

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Question: You have said that we shouldn’t suppress the ego, but rather increase the positive. What do you mean by that?

Answer: This refers to a person walking the path of spirituality and engaged in a Kabbalistic group. How then can one increase the positive when he falls?

When I feel sick I take a pill, and when I’m in a bad mood I go dancing. But by doing these things, I don’t suppress or negate my ego in the slightest degree. If you feel ill, acknowledge it as a fact, but don’t beat yourself up. It isn’t you! It is just a little more of your egoism being shown to you. Don’t take it personally.

The negative constantly evolves in a person in order to develop the positive. What is this positive then? It isn’t the annihilation of egoism or balancing it on the corporeal level. In no way should I compensate a minus with some earthly plus. No matter how dreadful my sensation may be, I wish to compensate the minus solely with a spiritual plus. Otherwise, I will be similar to the “reformers” of the world.

Whatever the case may be, I don’t compensate for the negative by reducing it. After all, it is deliberately given to me since nothing is accidental in life. So what should I do? I need to increase my positive relations with the group, the right environment. Why? It is because my entire future depends on our mutual inclusion in one integral system.

If egoism is evolving in me, then this is the only correct decision. My plus lies on my path to the group. If in my entire emerging egoism, I increase my positive connection with the environment, then it is really an altruistic force with which I balance the egoistic force. And it turns out that I rise to the next level through compensating the minus.

Then, needless to say, a new minus emerges in me, and I must become rooted in the group again. But at that point the group seems to even worse to me: “Idiots, hard-hearted dummies. I don’t want any of this anyway, let me go chill out.”

And thus, gradually a person lowers his head, over and over again, and turns to the environment until he reaches a complete connection. Nature encourages us to do the same so that we are together as one integral whole. Hence, the global crisis and complete dependence on one another shows us in what direction we need to correct ourselves.

So, we have agreed not to work against egoism, but to work in order to use it properly. As a result of the minus, we transform it into a plus. Otherwise, we would never have it.

My “I” is a resistor, like the resistance necessary for producing current from a power source. Minus and plus create the tension that draws and forms my reality. Therefore, having reached a certain potential between minus and plus, I begin to see the picture of the upper world on my “screen.”
[34205]
From the 2nd lesson at the Berlin Convention on 1/28/11

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Question: It is known that Rabbi Shimon’s group attained unity among themselves through the mutual writing of The Zohar. Is this also a correct method for us in our time? Should we try to unite by forming small groups, and together taking an article and trying to develop it? Or will this just confuse us since each of us is on our own stage of advancement, different from everyone’s else?

Answer: The authors of The Zohar were also on different stages of advancement; they were not all equal. Each one of the ten authors of The Zohar corresponded to one of the ten Sefirot, according to their nature and the root of their souls. Yet, each of them completely canceled their egos and were able to unite with the others to the full extent of their nature.

This is why each one was able to attain 125 degrees of the spiritual ladder, meaning his own individual final correction (Gmar Tikkun). And together they were able to connect on the highest level possible of the unification of souls, which is why they revealed all of the Light, the upper illumination that descends to us from Arich Anpin referred to as “Zohar” (a special kind of Light).

Clearly, we are not even close to being near these degrees; we are all “dead,” that is, submerged within our egoistic desires. We are not ready nor do we have the desire to connect with one another. We face many struggles and corrections until we attain some form of unity.

But if we try to imitate adults like children do through the games they play, then we attract Light from that perfect state which already exists. These souls, the authors of The Zohar, have revealed and formed it through their ascent from below upward.

A ladder of the worlds (five worlds, each containing five Sefirot, with each containing another five Sefirot, totaling 125 degrees) descends from Above downward, from the world of Infinity. In this way the Light descends towards us from Above downward: Yechida, Haya, Neshama, Ruach, Nefesh (NaRaNHY in reverse order). This is called a concealment, the reduction of Light or worlds (the word “world,” “Olam” in Hebrew, comes from the word “Alama,” “concealment”). In other words, above there is 100% of the Light, and below 0% of it. This is the system of worlds (concealments).

There are souls in our world in which the desire referred to as “man” or “Adam” (similar to the Creator) awakens; it is the rudiment of man in spirituality. Then, this desire begins to grow. How does it grow? It must connect with another nine like it, even to the slightest degree of unification. In this way, they continue to connect even more strongly, until they attain the greatest degree of unity between souls.

Throughout history there were souls who attained unification with one another and they are all connected with others on different levels of this ladder of degrees. All of the authors of The Zohar attained the highest degree together, and for this reason, the Light they brought to this Book is so great that it influences and shines to everyone. This is because they take the Light from Infinity and are able to bring it to us under the condition that on our part, we at least want to rise a little bit towards them.

The Zohar, the entire Light or a part of it, is always revealed to the extent of the degree of unification, the degree of bestowal, and the similarity between the desire (Kli) and the Light. This is why we need to connect as much as possible, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We will receive this Light according to our ability to attain at least the first rung of the 125 degrees.

After all, what do all the 125 degrees represent? The degree of Nefesh also contains all five Lights: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida (NaRaNHY), and each one of them also has its own NaRaNHY. Hence (NaRaNHY) х (NaRaNHY) х (NaRaNHY) = 5х5х5 = 125 degrees.

Since the Light is divided according to the degree of Aviut (thickness) of desire, we can realize our connection, that is, rise above this thickness and connect despite of our ego. The Light will influence us, correct us, and then fulfill us to the extent of our ability to cancel this Aviut, along with our desire to use it to connect.

There is nothing here besides these two components, the Light and the Kli, and the degree of connection between them called the “screen” or an “intention.”
[33583]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/24/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Donkey Driver”

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Question: Baal HaSulam provides a detailed explaination of the influence that SAG (Bina) exerts on NHY de Galgalta (Malchut), just like a group influences a person who has nullified himself before it. But how was NHY de Galgalta able to reach that kind of self-nullification and restriction?

Answer: The same restriction from the world of Infinity operates in NHY de Galgalta. All of Galgalta is the same world of Infinity. It is a restriction by the force of the Light that rules inside of the desire to enjoy and can do anything it wishes to it because the Light created the desire.

The Light wishes to bring the desire to equivalence with itself, but on the condition that on every step the desire will retain the freedom of will. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a creation. The Light would simply make an inanimate imprint or copy of itself, like with a copy machine, and then there wouldn’t be a living creation, a person.

That is why the Light carries out all the actions, but leaves “spaces” between them for you to add your own participation. For example, you come to the lesson and are given an enormous desire to sleep. That is when you must express your own participation, working against this desire. The states that come to you will be such that you won’t be able to overcome them yourself. But you have to organize an environment for yourself that will influence you and help you cope with these disturbances—not with your own forces, but by the power of social influence.

Things are arranged this way on purpose so I would feel the need to cancel myself before the group because that is the only way I can come closer to bestowal and come out of my petty egoism. Just as you wait for the Light to influence you, so the Light waits for you to use the group as a lever and to start doing something with yourself. The group is like an instrument, such as a screwdriver or wrench: Take it into your hands and start working with it! You don’t have any other instruments.
[34183]
From the lesson on Talmud Eser Sefirot on 1/27/10

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Rabash, Shlavey HaSulam (Steps of the Ladder), Article “A Prayer of Many”: It is written in the holy Zohar (Beshalach (When Pharaoh Let) and in the Sulam Commentary, Item 11), “And she said, ‘I dwell among my own people.’ He asks, ‘What does that mean?’ He replies, ‘When Din is present in the world, one should not part from the collective and be alone because when the Din is present in the world, those who are noticed and are noted alone are caught first, even if they are righteous.

We tune into the upper force through The Zohar. We are told how to tune ourselves to comprehending this force, which leads to its perception, its revelation. “Din” is one of its manifestations in the form of justice. A transgression of one or all evokes a corresponding reciprocal action. Under no circumstances should man separate from the society around him.

How does this happen? Different actions and sensations are evoked in us. This gives me the opportunity to keep myself in the society above and in spite these difficulties and sensations, even if by separating from this society I would immediately feel comfortable and avoid problems. Everyone is getting punished, but I can step aside. They even tell me: “You can step aside, this does not concern you.”

And still, even though the righteous did not sin together with the rest, they are judged first when they separate from them. In other words, man is being tested this way on whether he wants to enter the egoism of this world and remain in his comfortable “bourgeois” state, or if he is willing to remain together with everyone in one bundle, even if  this makes him uncomfortable, for the sake of attaining the upper world.

Hence, one should never retire from the people because the mercy of the Creator is always on the whole people together. This is why she said, ‘I dwell among my own people, and I do not wish to part from them.’

The attitude of the upper force always manifests towards everyone together and never towards private individuals. “Among my people” means among those who want to come together.

We need to take this into consideration. When we are in the group, and we begin to feel different frictions, egoistic actions, we need to understand that we are being “played” on purpose. If we still were to join together regardless of these "games" (every time, every moment), we would be raised upward.

But if we were to yield and step away from the problems, refusing to solve them instead of rising above them in unity, naturally we would once again become submerged in our daily life and stop understanding what Kabbalah tells us.
[33401]
From Lesson 2 in Moscow 1/16/2011, “A Prayer of Many”

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