Question: Virtual space (the Internet network) is made of people’s desires which populate it. Is there an analogy between the Internet and the spiritual world?

Answer: So far, we can’t analyze spiritual analogs of the Internet because this network lacks any order, even an egoistic one. It is ruled by “egoistic anarchy” where everyone is doing whatever they please.

On one hand, it is good since it helps this system to get organized as quickly as it may. But on the other, in this transitional period, there is no order whatsoever. Yet we should fear a possibility of any restriction on it. The Internet should evolve absolutely freely in this mess until it straightens itself out.

Humanity will get more and deeper engaged in this system in hope to receive fulfillment there. After all, the Internet seems to have it all! We are approaching a state when a person will not want to go anywhere and travel anymore: Why hassle when the Internet has everything I need? Why get out of the house when I have the Internet? Why study and learn something if I can always search the Internet and get all the answers?

The Internet system will respond to all personal needs: We will work, socialize, live, place food orders, and do everything else there. The Internet will give us everything except one thing: We will not get fulfillment in it. This is what it will eventually reveal.

And that’s when we will have to do something with the system itself since this is a system that connects people. Above it, there is nothing else left! This is the last and the highest degree of humanity’s material evolution. Therefore, this system will have to assume a form which will, indeed, respond correctly to all personal needs, that is, will teach how to work for the sake of bestowal.

A person who lost faith in this world withdraws into the virtual one. But when he loses faith in it too, we have to ensure that he or she finds the wisdom of Kabbalah there and from it, through the virtual world, arrives to the spiritual world. Being present in this virtual space ourselves, we have to demonstrate that there is no way out: One can search the entire Internet, but he won’t find happiness there.

The problem is not in lack of connection, but rather that it is a wrong type of connection. Connection has to be based on bestowal. And since a person who lives in the virtual world is a regular Internet user and to a certain degree feels this interconnection between people, then it should be even easier to explain to him or her that it is the type of communication that determines everything for us. All we need to do is to just find simple enough words for such explanations and create a Kabbalistic Internet society which everyone can link to.

It doesn’t obligate a person to anything: He or she may come in whenever they’d like and look at anything they are interested in. The person is not required to disclose their name, go some place, drive somewhere, spend money, or enter a new group – just click a button and he is there.

If we can build such networks that will make a person feel that he bestows to others on the Internet, he or she will gain a special fulfillment. In the virtual space, it can be arranged very fast because it is very flexible. The realization of the evil inclination can occur just as quickly and develop an awareness of what egoism we live in. The Internet is a marvelous instrument for the kind of revolution that we need to make in order to switch a person from the tracks of reception to the tracks of bestowal.
[33692]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: If the realization of evil occurs due to the lack of unity, then how does a woman experience this realization if she doesn’t do any practical work in uniting? How exactly should she feel unity?

Answer: This is just like within a family. How can you explain the entire family life in detail and what the relationship between the husband and wife means?

A man and a woman are two images that compose all of humanity, and together they have to create the image of a single soul. This is why the group must consist of male and female parts which have to unite with each other in their work and mutual support.

There should never be any insistence if a husband or a wife does not wish to partake in this. There is no coercion is spirituality, therefore, there shouldn’t be any pressure. But in the group the mutual help from both sides should resemble simple family dynamics.

Without women it’s impossible to advance because they are the carriers of natural desire and, therefore, are closer to nature. Without men it’s also impossible to advance since they’re the conductors of this upper energy that’s passed on to the female part. It means that we depend upon each other in our spiritual development just as we do in our corporeal life.

Our connection in the group should be like a connection in the correct family unit, where we complete each other. We already see families in all parts of the world where the wife, the kids, and the husband are all taking part in this process. We’re organizing virtual schools.

I would like for the women to be a lot more active. I don’t understand why the women’s part of the groups suddenly quiets down, becomes less active, and exists along with the men but slightly beneath them. I don’t understand this.

I have many women helping me with translations and with processing the materials. I have more faith in them then I do in men because women are more devoted to their work and they won’t let you down. For this reason the women’s group should be “heard” more.
[33805]
From Lesson 3 in Moscow 1/16/2011

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Question: How do we raise the value of the goal in the group, the importance of the morning lessons, assignments, and the interaction of all group members between themselves?

Answer: There isn’t another question or problem except for the one single issue that Rabash describes in all of his articles. Baal HaSulam merely outlined it as he didn’t have such a burning issue regarding the groups. He had with him only five or six individuals.

When I first came to Rabash, he also had six or seven students his age. I was 33 while they were over 70. “How do I advance like this?” I asked him. He replied: “It won’t work for you; you need a group.” So, I started giving lectures, leading discussions, and brought him about 40 young men. Our entire work likes solely in unifying our yearnings for the Creator, towards the revelation of a singular force of Nature. The work is grounded on unification.

Alone, you cannot disclose anything. All you have is a mere point in the heart, which is your desire for the Creator which has been evoked in you. You must place the group between you and the Creator. As a result, it will become that “platform” where you feel the Creator. You cannot experience Him in any other way! Otherwise, this dimension remains empty for you, and you cannot fill it up and feel its fulfillment. Therefore, all our work lies solely in this.

“Quarrels” in the group? It’s very good that you have them. But they should be not for the sake of reconciling and relaxing afterward. They are needed to invite the Creator! It’s the only reason why He instills all the problems between you. Nothing else!

There are “quarrels” of other types, which are not connected with relationships between the friends, but rather with family, children, lesson schedules, group development, and the circulation of Kabbalah. That is another story; it is our regular life.

But our internal relationships, common work in building interconnection that is destined to reveal the force that fills the space between us, this can be done only with His help. This force manifests in two different ways: It either transforms our desires by unifying them and making them common, or it fulfills our collective, transformed desire. But it is still common!
[33819]
From Lesson 2 in Moscow 1/16/2011, “A Prayer of Many”

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Question: What should we do in order to reform the negative attitude among the friends into an understanding that everything is initiated by the Creator?

Answer: It’s very simple. As soon as I feel there are some problems between us, specifically between us, I can immediately call on and directly draw the upper force which will make peace and harmony between us, as it is written: “He who makes peace in heaven makes peace between us.” I as if can make or force Him; I can understand why it is occurring between us and why He does it.

Generally speaking, you can make claims to Him only so that you get corrected. As to what happens between us, I should say: “All of this is my fault, and no one else is to blame in any way.”

Suppose I feel tension, some kind of conflict, between you and me. It is not because you are corrupted. Sages say that everyone who judges another does so in the degree of his own egoism, in the extent of his own corrupted nature. Looking at you, I always see you as bad when, in fact, it is my own reflection in you.

Therefore, I must always demand correction. Until I see you as perfect, I am not transformed. And all of this pertains only to our interconnection, the goal of which is to come to the Creator.

One can feel this only when he enters the group which enthusiastically works with this, understands that this is where the purpose of its existence is contained, exists solely to work out within all possible interactions, and comprehends that while doing so, it transforms all of creation and plows the soil for others.

After all, we are part of the integral system, its root, the “cap.” Today, we are the groundbreakers in the new generation that will be the first in mass to unveil the upper world. In other words, we lay the groundwork for the rest of humanity.

What takes place among us should be treated creatively, as in a laboratory. We should view ourselves as experimenters and relate to ourselves, to egoism that arises in us, as if it’s something supplementary or foreign that we should experiment on. We should treat it just like the Creator does: from the side.

As soon as I start treating my egoism as something aside, having fully risen over all problems that will have appear in me, then will I exit Egypt. And afterwards, I start unveiling the Creator, but not all at once since it’s not that simple. In the beginning, I am in the process of the correction of my desires. This is regarded as “forty years of wandering in the desert,” but it is something totally new. In truth, I battle with egoism in the desert in order to conquer it and create between us the property of bestowal, the attribute of Bina.
[33822]
From Lesson 2 in Moscow 1/16/2011, “A Prayer of Many”

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Question: I am certain that each of us wants to build an environment that would be pushing him or her forward since that is all we talk about. On one hand, we desire such an environment, while on the other, we discover our inability to choose this environment even though everybody wishes for, seeks, and hears that it is necessary. How do we get out of this state?

Answer: You are asking me how to “walk the talk,” to move to the inner action in the heart? Ask the Creator! There is no chance it will just happen on its own. You need to keep begging.
[33651]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Two Points”

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Question: Who belongs to the human level of development, and who to the animate one? Does this depend on the region where a person lives?

Answer: This has nothing to do with any corporeal parameters. The still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature exist in all the people living on Earth. And every person must reach his perfect state at the end of his or her development.

The key issue here is one’s aspiration towards it, which absolutely does not depend on any of us. All souls are gathered together in their initial state, in the initial informational record, referred to as Reshimo in Kabbalah. And every one of us has a place in this hierarchy of souls.

For this reason, when the time comes and a point in this global mechanism must begin its development, the person who possesses this point feels a certain pressure, and this pushes him forward. And the only thing that depends on him is the speed of realization of this Reshimo and its kind: good and fast or slow and evil. Nothing else is up to him.

So, in every region there can be people who are already striving towards spirituality. And this does not depend on one’s location or quality of life.

In Europe we have found a lesser number of people like this so far; the most are in South America and Russia. But, generally, they live everywhere: in China, Iran, Japan, Africa, Australia. We have students everywhere; they are of different races, nationalities, and social levels. And we are not able to foresee which ones are yet to strive ahead, how they will do it, and when. This is completely unpredictable.

We do not know the order of development of every part of the common soul. Just like an embryo in a mother’s womb develops in a certain order, the parts of the single collective soul of humanity, all of us, also develop in the same order. Every individual soul also develops according to the same image and similarity to the collective soul.

Question: Can we say that if the question about the purpose of life has appeared in a person, in other words, that if he has acquired a point in the heart, it means that he is already working with the “human” level?

Answer: Yes, if he has acquired a point in the heart, and he is beginning to ask about the purpose of life from within it, he is already working on the “human” level.

But he can “conserve” himself on this level for many years. Practically, he will not be able to do anything if he does not find himself in a group, near authentic sources, and next to a teacher. Regrettably, there are people like this, and it saddens me to see them. They were with us, and then they stepped away and froze. I hope to see them back soon.
[33127]
From Lesson 1 from Moscow 1/14/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”

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The convention in Berlin is about to begin. Our intention has to be simple: I wish to unite with the others and through this unity, receive new, additional, greater forces that will help me see the entire reality within. I wish to feel that all that was not mine is mine, everything external is internal, and that the Creator is also within. I wish to unveil everything within me and treat the creation as my internal world, even if it’s egoistically for now.

Question: So, instead of exercising the principle of “There is none else besides Him,” I should say: “There is none else besides me?”

Answer: True, there is none else but you. The Creator, the friends are all within me; all of it is me. One should tell himself: “The world was created for me.”

You may object to this: “I bring everyone within, but still treat them egoistically. It is as if I have found my children. Previously, I didn’t know they were mine, but now I discover it is so. Then, naturally, I will love them, if only expanding my egoistic Kelim (vessels) and considering what advantage it will give me. So, I am simply cultivating my will to receive, aren’t I?”

Don’t worry. While you’re at it, you will also feel the force of resistance, and then unification with the friends will not become another dab of selfish desires. To the contrary, it will be done above your egoism. Oneness is formed one degree higher.
[33773]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Everything occurs within a person. On the spiritual path, he starts realizing that there are no forces outside of him. The forces of nature, the strength of the group, everything is within him, and he treats it all as relevant to himself. In this case, the group enters, the friends’ forces appear within, and the person sees more clearly that everything depends on the degree of his qualities.

For example, this weekly chapter of the Torah (“Mishpatim”) tells us about judicial precepts. It prohibits marrying under certain circumstances, laying with beasts, stealing, judging unfairly, and so forth. All of this refers to the internal “lawsuit”: A person must build correct relations with his “beast,” “thief,” and “another’s wife.” Everything is within.

While arranging the forces of my soul, I continue to see the external world, but at this point, I realize that the forces of all external objects reside within me. I come to such a conclusion, becoming more aware of how my attitude changes and draws the real picture within me. I start viewing the external world as a copy, a projection, of my inner properties. It is I and only I, within myself, who changes the picture of the world by altering combinations of forces, properties, and desires.

I become more and more aware that this picture is formed and painted solely by me. As a result, its entire image changes as well. There is no other; this is the only way I see it.

A person works within with his desires, intentions, thoughts, and attitudes. This is precisely how Kabbalists advise us to relate to everything we have within. A person breaks himself down into 613 parts, desires, and sees that his inner world, as well as the outer one, does change. As soon as an attitude changes, so does the world.

Everything is now inside a person, and he finally sees the authentic picture. Time after time, he asks for the new forces of bestowal in order to reach the true form to the best of his ability.

One always has only one instrument to ascend to the next rung, his environment: the teacher, Kabbalistic texts, and the group. He constructs a place out of them where he receives the forces to change and the form of change, advancing therewith.

Thus, gradually, thanks to this work, all the enormous desire for pleasures transitions to the area of the property of bestowal, in parts, piece by piece.
[33744]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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We get together, listen to a lesson, and do something without much desire for it or even with an opposite desire. After all, I enter the group and perform various actions so that I may feel good.

However, these actions were suggested for me by Kabbalists. I read their books along with the others, and while I’m at it and despite the fact that I expect it to do me good, I nonetheless start wishing for the friends to feel good. It almost seems like I get “corrupted” because I turn away from what I want. This is how Kabbalistic material works on me in the beginning.

The changes occurring in me seem very odd. I neither desire nor comprehend them. In the beginning stages, I am totally confused and don’t know what is happening, but, eventually, I start agreeing with and even anticipating them.

I start wishing for such changes to visit me and begin “moving the hands” of my intention clock. Previously, I egoistically wished to be in the group, study, and participate in everything so that I may feel good. Now, however, I do it for the changes within me. I want to turn myself to desire aimed toward the others, their good, the thoughts about the others, and stepping outside of myself.

All of this is also permeated with calculation for personal benefit so far. After all, bestowal is closeness to the Creator, an opportunity to break free from our tiny world, and so forth. Still, we start seeing alterations in our intention and expectations. This is described as going from Lo Lishma (not for Her Name) to Lishma (for Her Name), meaning from egoistic intention to the altruistic one, making small steps as beginners do.

Afterwards, I tear even farther away from calculations for personal benefit. I want to fall into a trance, withdraw from myself, stop sensing myself, and soar above egoism and personal calculations to feel free.

Again, it is I who feels good being free. It is as if I am drugged, drunken, and unrestricted by my egoism. Still, at this point, I am already aware of the evil and understand that egoistic desire prevents and pulls me away from the goal.

Finally, a person starts putting effort into working against his Pharaoh, in spite of and above it, desiring to rise to bestowal.
[33747]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can we discuss love for the Creator if we don’t know what it is?

Answer: Love is an expression of desire. Frankly, no matter what we are talking about, we discuss only what occurs within the desire and the derivatives thereof.

True, we don’t know what love is. What should we do then? First, we receive a demonstration of what we have. All properties and forms are programmed within us as reception. Based on them, through mechanical efforts in the group and the study, the reforming essence of which we don’t comprehend, our natural properties gradually start transforming.

Why? By way of which force? What happens to us? We don’t know. We just “watch” the changes that are occurring in us. Today, I don’t think as I did yesterday, and I don’t desire what I did then.

But doesn’t any person change day to day? That’s right, but we are talking about qualitative alterations. Yesterday, I wasn’t attracted that much to bestowal, love of others, and connection with them, but today, it is a bit more appealing to me, a little clearer and more acceptable in my eyes.

How did this “supernatural” transformation happen to me? I honestly have no clue. This is why it is called a miraculous force, Segula (remedy).
[33751]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/2011, Writings of Rabash

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