Question: How do I lower myself before the friends so as to accept the opinion of the group?

Answer: Imagine that a group of mountain-climbers are making their way up to a summit. I, too, want to reach this summit, and that is why I join them. In this ascent I cannot do anything at my sole discretion. I cannot go back alone, nor do I choose when to have a rest break, who to spot, or who my spotter would be. We ascend together, bound by the same cable that’s holding up all of us.

The same applies to the group. We are too weak to move individually and only advance if we realize and feel that we are bound together with unbreakable bonds.

Initially I decide whether or not to go with the friends. I verify whether they are suited to me, whether they aspire for the same summit I do. Are they the people with whom I can make this ascent? Perhaps there are other groups out there? I am within my right to verify these things.

But after I have verified everything and joined them, there’s no going back for we have already set out. The cable already binds us, as we are ascending to the summit. Now I cannot get rid of them or take a breather somewhere to the side, while they’re climbing upward. I must keep pace with them, step in step, along the same path. We walk together on our chosen path, and I cannot get away from this daily work.

The conditions today differ from those in the past generations. In the past one was tested rigorously before being accepted, but in today’s times of general correction we accept everybody.

And yet the might of the common soul that’s moving toward correction is made up of those souls who realize that there is no other choice. Having undertaken this task, they ascend upward, bound together by cables and following their guide, on the path where nothing can be changed anymore. A person is given time to realize what he’s facing and come to a decision. But this decision is crucial.

The spiritual world is concealed from us, and so we don’t feel the nature of the task we’ve taken on. In reality this covenant with the friends is critical. We choose the group at the foot of the mountain, and once we set out on the path, there’s no going back.

I don’t see how great, exalted, and even perilous this path is. Indeed, in the covenant I make with the friends dwells the Creator. This means I’m dealing with Him; it is He who testifies for us and affirms our covenant.
[24654]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Choosing The Good Fortune In The Group
Laitman.com Post: The Friends Are Always Higher
Laitman.com Post: The Covenant Of Friends

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

Our work is divided into three parts which don’t seem to be connected: the relationships between people, the relationship between a person and the Creator, and the relationship between a person and the friends. When we have attained the corrected state, then all of the above will be united: a person with the whole world, a person with the group, and a person with the Creator.

All of reality must become inseparably merged together so that nobody has a greater or lesser importance in comparison to the others. This is what we call equivalence of properties. But since we don’t know how to arrange all these types of relationships correctly, how to measure each of them, we keep getting confused; so the Kabbalists explain that the most reliable thing to do is to work in a group.

After all, the Creator broke the collective Kli specifically so that each of its parts could work on its personal quality in relation to the others, so while separated from the Light, the relationships with others would replace the relationship of the creature with the Creator. This allows us to constantly examine whether or not we are working correctly.

According to the works of all Kabbalists, we need to extract this main principle: There is no Creator, creating being, or mankind; there is only the group. If I see a group where I can realize the laws of Arvut (mutual guarantee), then I must unite with them; I must do so.

Our unity must be such that no differences or distance will remain between us. We are together as one in the same sensation on the path towards the goal. And we understand that the spiritual world will be revealed only in this connection between us.

Then, to the very essence of our connection, I add the Creator because He defines exactly how to unite so that we do not become a gathering of scoffers, but an authentic group.

We don’t know what bestowal is, but we must demand that the Creator be our witness, model, and the connecting link. Hence, a person, the group, and the Creator become one whole. We will all work until we demand the revelation of the Creator among us.
[25035]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/27/10, “Make Yourself a Rav, Buy Yourself a Friend”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Secret Of The Group
Laitman.com Post: Unification With The Group Leads Us To The Creator
Laitman.com Post: What Do We Gain From Love Of Friends?

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spirituality, Unity - No Comments →

Question: What is punishment? Is it the suffering in this world, a lack of desire to unite, or just an unpleasant sensation?

Answer: This always depends on the person. We need to realize that the four levels of nature – the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking – exist by means of the Light that pours on the desire. Out of these four types of the desire, only the speaking (human) level is able to purposefully respond to the Light.

As the desire grows, the Kli (vessel) begins to feel how it does not correspond to the Light. Nature suffers on all of its levels due to a lack of adhesion and an inability to reach it, and, naturally, man suffers the most. First of all, his desire is bigger and more susceptible, but most importantly, the end of the string is in his hands. He has the ability to go towards adhesion and pull the rest of the levels after him.

The suffering of the human degree gradually brings us to the realization of choice. And once man begins to understand that the problems are caused by his inactivity, it will be possible to speak about reward and punishment. Everything that previously happened does not play a part in this because the true categories of reward and punishment always correspond to the goal: the correction.

Man begins to understand that the Upper Governance operates in the world and uses reward and punishment in order to correctly direct him towards the goal and teach him through positive and negative consequences, just like parents teach their children in our world. Then everything that happens acquires a purpose in my eyes. Punishment, just like reward, is a correction, and the way I accept it depends on me.

However, I will only be able to accept it correctly in a group, the place where the Upper Governance needs to be realized. Reward and punishment are inseparably connected to my participation in the group, the mutual guarantee. I scrutinize reward and punishment as precisely as possible and relate to them the same way: I need them both in order to keep correcting the course time after time. Essentially, they are both rewards.

At the end we discover a simple thing: There is no punishment, and every state is given for the purpose of using it to the fullest extent in order to come closer to the Light.
[24407]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/10, “I Am the First and I Am the Last”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Crime, Punishment, And The Light Of Correction
Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Punishment

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

With each step, we must exercise a balanced approach to the occurring events and not deceive ourselves in how we perceive reality. If, right now, the Creator and the Upper Governance do not exist in my eyes, then it is one of the mandatory states on my path of advancement. After all, the Torah is a practical method based on what I see with my own eyes.

In my feelings, I may or may not see the Upper Governance, but I am not required to believe somebody’s word. If a new egoistic desire overtakes a person, then he places himself first, just like Pharaoh: “Why should I listen to the Creator? Why should I listen to Him if He doesn’t exist?”

Without lying to myself, I must admit that I am in this state and examine myself closely. What instruments will allow me to reveal the Upper Governance under these circumstances, to reveal it with my entire being so that the corrected desire will bring forth the image of the Creator inside me?

Then I will see for myself that the Upper Governance exists and that the Creator had given me that state where I felt that I was the only power. According to the law of equivalence of form, the Upper Force will become revealed to me. And thanks to the corrected will to receive, the Upper Force will emerge in me, and the Creator and I will exist in Zivug (adhesion).

Then I will see that He is the first and He is the last, which assures me that I have completed the act and corrected the broken will to receive (desire) that was certainly given to me by none else but the Creator.
[24415]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/10, “I Am the First and I Am the Last”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Spirituality Is The Measure Of My Equivalence To The Creator
Laitman.com Post: How To Accept The Creator’s Governance
Laitman.com Post: About Diapers And Eternity

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

Question: While forming a group we have to pay a lot of attention to external things, as if we’re taking care of a baby. How can we keep from losing the inner essence during this process?

Answer: Every group encounters this problem and every member of the group asks this question.

We live in a world of material actions. How many hours a day do I spend on satisfying my natural needs, such as sleeping, eating, and washing? How many hours a day do I have to work, carry out responsibilities around the house, and so on? And how much time do I have left for myself and my spiritual advancement? I have maybe one or two hours a day left if I manage to separate from everything else in some way.

That is how our life is arranged. Who arranged it this way? Could it really be the Creator? Why does He make us drown in this material, animate existence? Why didn’t he make us like angels, unburdened by worries about our bodies, home, and children, so the only thing we had to do is build connections with each other?

Yet, in reality everything is very different. Any work we do, even work unrelated to the group, is pure spiritual work. We just don’t know about it or understand it. By carrying out the responsibilities of an employee, a family man, a citizen, and so on, I correct myself. I may not see exactly how I do it, but it is nevertheless so.

I am allowed to devote just a small part of my life to spiritual correction. As I perform this correction, if instead of studying, I work on organizing the life of the group, I thereby support and strengthen the connection in our common system.

Obviously we also can’t forget about having a fair distribution of the burden among all of us. And more generally speaking, this is a vast topic that we will definitely come back to.
[25275]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/10, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Paint Spirituality With Corporeal Pictures
Laitman.com Post: Wake Up And Look At Yourself
Laitman.com Post: To Live For Spirituality

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A, Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Question: How is a congress related to the idea of a form clothed in matter? Isn’t it an illusion of this world?

Answer: A congress is the means with the help of which we wish to create an enormous, powerful desire (Kli, vessel). All who are part of this Kli will take pleasure in the Light that will be revealed in it. To take pleasure means to use this Light for correction.

What is a congress? A congress is the creation of the system where all parts are connected with each other. We hope that we will create such a connection between us, and in it, there, we will discover equivalence to the Light, the Creator. Every person will feel it to the extent of their being connected to this Kli, and that will become his spiritual revelation.

Creation of this collective Kli depends on everybody. It also depends on how well everyone is incorporated into the collective Kli because later, every person receives the sensation of the revealed Light depending on his measure of personal participation.

Everyone benefits from the collective desire inasmuch as they participate in it. This is the law of interaction between an individual and the group, and it is a real action.
[24321]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/20/10, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Beginning Of Practical Ascension
Laitman.com Post: The Convention Holds Great Power
Laitman.com Post: Gifts From The Convention

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

Filed under: Group Work - No Comments →

First, we need to tune into the group and find in it the independent Kli (Vessel), the sixth sense. In the same exact manner, the sixth day of the week rises over the other five days and prepares them for the Sabbath. We, too, need to prepare all of our senses and above their egoism, build a new sense based on the screen and the reflected Light.

A person annuls himself, unites with the friends, and thereby builds a Kli through which he can perceive reality. In this Kli, he reveals the 613 desires, the construction of the soul. In this Kli, in his connection with others, one discovers a net and in this net, all the various desires and relationships.

As he gathers them and puts them into order, he suddenly sees how they become the ten Sefirot, the desires of his soul. In it, in its structure, he begins to reveal the Light, or the Creator, in direct, reflected, inner, and surrounding Light in the reverse and front sides. A person continues to develop this Kli, this sense, to verify and delve deeper into it, ascending by the degrees of self-rejection and interaction.

His Kli becomes more and more complex, more and more perfect, until a person realizes the principle of loving his neighbor as himself. This love builds and forms the Kli, unifying its parts, due to which a person reveals different forms of connection and builds them according to mutual bestowal.

There, in this Kli, in these ten Sefirot, he “draws” the image of the Creator, the universal force of bestowal. Such is our work, and we always conduct it in an environment which becomes the group, the soul, and takes the form of the Creator.
[25147]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/10, “According to What is Explained Concerning Love Thy Friend as Thyself”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Screen Of My Reality
Laitman.com Post: Independent Analysis
Laitman.com Post: Stop Accepting Bribes From Egoism

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Perception - No Comments →

Filed under: Group Work - No Comments →

Question: Why do you compare rising to the mutual guarantee with a narrow opening that we still need to find? Doesn’t investing in the friends mean breaking down all the barriers and boundaries and giving everything, rather than trying to find a single point?

Answer: The passage between two worlds is always narrow. It is like a birth, like coming out of a mother’s womb into the world. It is as though we go through a gorge of misfortunes under the pressure of “labor contractions.” This is in fact that small point which we widen, making it a narrow passage.

In addition, the mutual guarantee is an extremely powerful concentration of thoughts, desires, passions, intentions, and goals of a person, when one suddenly sees that they all unite, revealing his dependence on a neighbor. It is precisely a neighbor, and not neighbors. Everything compresses and contracts into one whole. This point reveals an opening into the World of Infinity to us, but we need to go through it all together.
[24586]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/10, “The Arvut”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Single Opportunity To Initiate Changes
Laitman.com Post: Until The Worm Grows Into A Human Being
Laitman.com Post: Egoism And Arvut

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