Question: In what way is Hanukkah, which is related to the date of the Maccabee’s victory over the Greeks relevant today? What is its symbolic meaning?

Answer: This holiday symbolizes the fact that eventually unity wins. This is the reason that the Maccabees won, and we have to act in the same way.

The meaning of the holiday is very simple: If the people of Israel unite and draw the Light, they win. It isn’t by force. All the evil forces cannot be beaten but only by unity, although many are close to this approach. In essence, this is our message in mutual guarantee, but it leaves out one key factor. After all, our enemies are also united and even more so than we are.

In fact, Israel can win only if its unity draws the Light. Then through Israel it is passed on to the enemies and changes them from enemies to supporters. This is the real victory.

Thus the war takes place on a totally different dimension. We don’t operate external factors but rather nature’s internal forces and by that win the battle. Here we mustn’t forget that we are dealing with a force that holds all matter and suddenly begins to operate in an opposite way.

The force of receiving, dominance, and cruelty rules our world. In our world, the strong take over others and use them to their advantage in their understanding and feelings, according to their own concepts.

But there is a small, weak group, small and weak according to usual standards. No one takes this group into account, although it can be like a magnifying glass and pass the Light through it—the great force of bestowal. This force will illuminate not the group itself, but its enemies, and then they will calm down, and be corrected; for example, they will suddenly feel that they have to deal with something else in a totally different place.

The nations of the world think that Israel makes the world go round, and Israel really can do that—for the good of the world, of course. If it doesn’t do that, then it is bad for the world. So it turns out that the people of Israel always bring the world either good or bad. By that they have freewill: Like “switchmen,” they direct the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity) one way or another, determining by that its influence on the world and the form it will take.

The question is whether we can dress this Light with the right intention of in order to bestow, or whether we don’t have the right intention. It depends on us, on the Bnei Baruch organization (BB). The Light drips, and we are with it—but are we holding on to the right intention?

If we do, the Light that Reforms reaches everyone and the world is corrected. Then, of course, our enemies also disappear, or, in other words, the hostile desires and forces disappear. This happens if we are united, since then we give the Light the right attire of unity.

If we are separated we don’t give the Light that goes through us the right “wrapping” and it turns into darkness for the world, to its opposite from. It is bad both for the world and for us, since humanity turns back to us, feeling that we are the source of all its troubles.

This response will continue until we finally understand that there is no other way and that we have to correct ourselves to make ourselves and the whole world part of the Creator and to bring Him contentment.

[95287]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/12, Writings of Rabash 

Related Material:
The Spiritual Meaning of Hanukkah
The Nations of The World Are Telling The Jews: “Do Your Job!”
Correction From An Inner Need

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Holidays, Israel, Mutual Guarantee, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A - No Comments →

From the article by Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 68: We must know that all the inclinations, tendencies, and properties instilled in a person, with which to serve one’s friends, all these tendencies and natural properties are required for the work of God.

To begin with, they were created and imprinted in man only because of their final role, which is the ultimate purpose of man, as it is written, “he that is banished, be not an outcast from him.” One needs them all so as to complement oneself in the ways of reception of abundance, and to complement the will of God.

We need all the details of the relationships that unfold between friends. We should not retouch, cancel, hide, or suppress anything or prevent it from developing. All aspirations have to awaken, open up, and develop in everyone. Precisely these bad and good inclinations (no matter which one) with respect to the relationship of a person and his friend we afterward will have to turn into the relationship between a person and the Creator.

This is why the one who does not develop his relationship with his friend is not ready to become even one step closer to the Creator.
[95392]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Only By Studying Others One Can Understand Himself
Don’t Psychoanalyze Yourself
Why Personal Freedom Is Essential

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

Question: How is it possible after the convention to continue feeling that I have no individual abilities, but only the abilities of the group?

Answer: Before you didn’t have any individual abilities either, and you were part of the group, but now it is clearer, and accordingly more is demanded of you. The more that is revealed to you, the more you are demanded to participate, mentally, emotionally, and actively in overcoming.

It is very clear that by very small efforts, we have already discovered that within our collective vessel an illumination is emerging. The problem is that we attained this by physical connection between us and not by spiritual connection. In the meantime it is a very big deficiency.

In addition, it happens thanks to the fact that I am incorporated in the group using the force to connect with them. This means that there is still al lot of work that has to be done on the part of our group in order to reach a true inner connection among the friends. Then the Light that is equal to this connection will arrive.

In the meantime it is lacking within the group and among the groups. We have to connect more strongly with one another. I think that this convention has shown everyone that we are closer to one another than we thought. All the groups felt close and people understood that we have no choice but either to advance toward an even greater connection or leave.

We will soon see how this happens: There will be people who will come gladly and there will be those who will leave cursing. This is how the clarification is done.

We now have to fulfill what we felt in the convention. In order to fulfill that, a person needs constant self-control with regard to his attitude towards the world that is managed by the Creator. Am I aware of the fact that I am in a world that is managed by the Creator? Do I perceive the world as a place where by focusing on the fact that everything is done by the Creator I will eventually find the Creator in this world?

World (Olam – also means concealment in Hebrew) is concealment on the one hand and the revelation of the Creator on the other hand. The world is concealed because I don’t reveal the Creator. But because I intend to reveal Him, to identify with Him, and to receive everything that happens as the absolute good and benevolent and there is none else besides Him, then by that I accept this concealment, and then the concealment of the world becomes a revelation.

This is all I have to say about this. Don’t expect anything beyond this and don’t think that as we advance I will have new words. But the same words will be clearer to you. If someone else begins to read, it would mean nothing to him, just like people who read the Torah and understand it literally. These are ordinary words, since in spirituality there are no words.
Besides, it is forbidden to reveal more than is allowed. We have to understand that the teacher is an educator who has to do his job.
[95274]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/11/12, “Questions and Answers Regarding Novosibirsk Convention”

Related Material:
After The Convention A New Day Begins
Close Your Eyes And Stay Connected!
Let The Inner Convention Begin!

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

Question: You said that during the evening of unity in Jerusalem you simply didn’t have words and the strength to speak because you didn’t feel a desire coming from the group. What is required of us here and now? How do we form such a desire and supply it to you so that you have the necessary words to share with us?

Answer: This was indeed a very interesting and touching revelation for me. I usually never have trouble speaking because I live in what I say. And generally, just as any one talking about his family or interesting job, I speak about what is most important to me endlessly and in combination with anything else. But I suddenly discovered that I was unable to speak. And it happened even in advance of the event, for a few minutes before, I simply couldn’t understand what was happening to me.

In Jerusalem, there was a serious meeting with a large audience. About a third of it, 1000 people out of 3000, were people who came just because they were invited. They weren’t our students, our friends. And I really wanted to speak well in my presentation. Because with my students, those who yearn to know and are involved, with them I am in contact.

They are walking by my side: in ascents, descents, better, and worse—all together we experience the path. But in this case, with so many new people attending, I wanted to show them what we are doing, what we offer… and I didn’t have any strength to speak; I kept looking at the clock: one minute, two minutes passed. And I wanted to try to talk for at least half an hour; I didn’t know what to do with myself. And then it became clear to me: I wasn’t prepared well enough to talk with these people. It had to take place on a totally different level, at the level of unity with the group.

Normally, I speak on my own behalf. I mean the students do give me their support and I do feel them, I sense our common, collective union, but I still speak for myself. Here it wasn’t the case. Here, I needed the readiness of the group so that during those minutes when I’m on stage, the friends would really feel like they are right next to me, fully. That is the desire I felt, that need.

In other words, the support has to be not just in sympathy, but in mutual aid: “The friend went and we are supporting him.” No, I am there with him! I am with him now at the same time! I had never felt such a need for oneness.

I absorb the energy of my students in order to supply them with what they want. I sense their desire, all kinds of nuances, fluctuations in their mood, and generally, various spiritual states. And even though it’s not the friends’ fault since I hadn’t prepared them for it, at that very moment all I wanted was for them to be “in me” consciously on their part. That is what I was lacking.

Truly, we have climbed to a totally new degree where we must do everything together. There aren’t “me” and “you” anymore; together we work on creating a power of our unified desires, our aspirations toward revealing the world so that we feel real strength in this unity. If I say something, you are with me; and if you hear it, I am with you.

This is the kind of mutual inclusion we need, and that’s what we learned two days ago in Jerusalem: Our connection is becoming mutual. And I am very pleased with it! This means that a lot of my students are rising closer and closer to my level and we are now able to communicate with each other at this degree.

I hope that we will continue to interact this way with each other and further, representing one integral whole. There is no teacher, lecturer, or students who listen; rather there is one thing in common, the whole desire that wants to reveal the purpose of life! I think we can do it.
[94963]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/7/12, Lesson 1

Related Material:
Passing The Wisdom From A Teacher To A Disciple
Make Yourself A Teacher And A Group
“Things That Come From The Heart, Enter The Heart”

Filed under: Conventions, Mutual Guarantee, Q&A, Unity - 1 Comment →

Question: Why is Israel geographically surrounded by enemies who pressure it from all sides?

Answer: Only so we would rise to the next level, the level of our complete interaction. This is the state the world is waiting for as an example from us, because it doesn’t have the solution to the general crisis, just like we don’t have the solution to the conflict in the Middle East. If we solve our problem with unification, then analogously, the world will gradually solve the problem of the crisis.

Question: So what’s happening in Israel now will happen in the whole world as well?

Answer: Undoubtedly! Because we are the ones who have the method for universal unification. Two thousand years ago, we lived according to this method. Back then we were the first to realize it inside ourselves, that this was what our state’s existence was based upon. And now this nation is not in accord with these principles by which we should exist, because we need to live in overall unity between us, rising above our mutual egoism, rising above our current nature.

Question: Then how should Israel coexist with its neighbors today?

Answer: By paying no attention to them. If we start to focus on our own unity, then we’ll see how quickly, in the span of a few weeks, we will create a positive field within and around ourselves. They will stop bothering us, and the entire world will begin to feel goodwill towards us instead of hatred.

Question: So we don’t need to take any defensive actions?

Answer: Defensive actions are needed, but they’ll only help temporarily. We should do that in parallel, but only in order for us to have enough time to reach that force of unity that’s called “mutual guarantee.” It exists on a level above all the other forces in our world because it belongs to the level of “Adam – human.” Currently, we exist in the state of still, vegetative, and animate nature. Nowhere in the world has a society been created that exists as one whole. But we can accomplish it, and today the world needs it, since it doesn’t have a solution to the crisis.

This issue can only be solved through mutual connection, the correct unification amongst ourselves. Only then will we reach a balance with nature and all its properties, because if a person unites with others correctly, he develops within himself a new property, a new force that lifts him and favorably affects all other levels of nature.

This isn’t a simple unification that we’re accustomed to imagining, but a very serious and sober understanding that without unity, we won’t find that force that will balance our egoism.

We need a positive force that will balance out the negative force, and then through the help of these two forces we’ll be able to advance and also push this equilibrium through into the world. Then the world will gradually exit the crisis; it will begin to understand that through this balance between people, through mutually complementing each other, they can deal with everything that is happening around us. We call this mutual guarantee.

People become united with their hearts and thoughts, realizing that they belong to one single whole. And then the upper force appears in them, and it really releases all tensions, removes all conflicts in the world, and brings everything into a state of balance.
[94702]
From the Talk About the Situation in Israel 11/22/12

Related Material:
What Can We Count On?
Exiting A Dead End
What Does Everyone Want From Israel?

Filed under: Israel, Mutual Guarantee, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

It is impossible for anyone to calculate the measure of work that he needs to invest in order to move to the next stage. It is impossible to say about an ordinary person, who meanwhile is living his normal corporeal life like everyone else, how many corrections he will need in order for the point in the heart to open in him, the spiritual spark. Also it is impossible to say how many actions he will need to make with this spark in order to reach the first revelation, meaning to connect it with the other sparks.

In the first degree we are connecting our suffering, and then in this measurement of suffering that was connected, finally the spiritual spark is revealed, meaning, a valuable question is reveled in a man: What is the meaning of my life? This spark directs him to the goal, to the answer for the question, “What is the meaning of life.”

After that, he again begins to work in the group that changes him, because he is not able to change by himself. Man finds himself under the influence of the environment and he changes, because it changes. So in the period of preparation, he tries to put himself under the influence of the environment in the most beneficial way for the fastest progress to transfer from the path of suffering to the path of Light, the Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah.

With that ends the preparation period: preparation for the covenant of self-annulment for Arvut (Mutual Guarantee), rising above the thoughts and disturbances in order to achieve connection of our sparks.

The whole work is done through the influence of the environment upon a man. Therefore, it is impossible to calculate in advance the toil that is demanded from him and the precise situation or state that needs to happen so he will receive the revelation. This is because the revelation depends on the state surrounding him.  This state is not coincidental, but to calculate it one needs to know and take into consideration the whole system, and this is impossible from our degree.

From a higher degree it is possible somehow to calculate it, but here there is an additional condition. Each degree includes four phases, a whole HaVaYaH, and in order to rise to the pure calculation, one needs to raise the HaVaYaH. That is, only from the world of Yetzira, one can observe the world of Assiya. And if one exists in a high degree of the world Assiya, it is impossible to calculate what will happen in a lower degree of the same world, because your corrections in the degree of this world (in the Light of the Nefesh) is still not determined.

But due to a man strengthening his connection with the environment, he progresses. Finally, the concealment disappears and he comes to revelation.

Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” Letter 54: It is true that after the Creator sees that a man completed the measurement of his work and finished everything that he had to do in his power of choice and strengthening in the Emuna (faith) in the Creator. It means that he proved that he yearns for the quality of bestowal that is called Emuna. And then the Creator helps him and he is rewarded with the attainment of the revealed Providence, it means the revelation of the face.

This help from the Creator cannot come before he finishes his measure of work. It is worthwhile to remember this always, so as not to request revelation, that is, one needs to request from the Creator help to complete the work and not for the revelation. This is a result of our work. A corrected Kli (desire) is felt as the revelation of the upper world. The revelation does not come from someplace outside the man himself, by becoming corrected from not being corrected, by finishing his correction, in this state that until a moment ago was not corrected, suddenly he feels the corrected state that is called redemption.
[94598]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” 

Related Material:
The Measure Of My Exertion
Living For The Body Or For The Soul?
Awakening The Dawn

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

Question: When we speak about the unity of the Israeli nation, to what extent do we expand this concept?

Answer: It includes all the Jews. After all, they are the descendants of Abraham’s group that took upon itself to be one whole, “as one man in one heart.” It isn’t a question of religion; the Jews simply have a Reshimo, a spiritual gene, because they already fulfilled mutual guarantee in the past. We may say that after the exile of the Jewish nation and its mixing with others, this Reshimot now exist in everyone. It is true, and yet this is the obligation of the Israeli nation.

People with a point in the heart that pulls them upward (•), no matter where they live, join the Bnei Baruch organization (BB). There is also the part called “Israel in this world” or “Jews,” who at the moment have “quiet Reshimot,” points in the heart (•) that have not awakened yet, which, on the contrary, pull them downward. After all, they are using the force of bestowal in order to succeed in their dealings in this world.

Finally, there is the part called the “nations of the world”: They have a point in the heart (•) hidden even more deeply that are hardly noticeable, which pulls them even further downward. As a result, people with points in the heart who have awakened are drawn to correction by themselves; the people who belong to “Israel” must be corrected, and the “nations of the world” are left in a state that cannot be envied, meaning that they depend on the levels above them that are responsible for the correction.

This is why we need to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah among the Israeli nation. Otherwise we would keep silent like Kabbalists in previous generations. A new era has begun and although dissemination is a burden that none of us wants, we have no other choice. Baal HaSulam wrote about it in the article “Messiah’s Shofar,” in The Nation newspaper, and in other places.

Question: What will the rest of the development of people from the second layer be like?

Answer: They won’t be able to do anything on their own; they will have to join us and to learn to help us actively. They will understand in their mind and their feelings that they must participate in the correction. Their point in the heart has not awakened yet and they are aware of the need for it rationally, simply because otherwise there are troubles.

Then they will turn to us: “We must unite, help us do that!” and we will help. They will not yearn for the Creator, but for a secure life. We are pulled upward by a desire, while their desire is to manage in this world, yet at the same time they are able to unite. Only later will the spiritual spark awaken in them, and also in the “nations of the world.” After all, it says that at the end of correction they shall all know the Creator from the smallest to the largest.

So it all depends on us, meaning on our dissemination to Israel and to the extent that we ourselves are united. This is what Baal HaSulam says in his article “Messiah’s Shofar“: The dissemination of the wisdom in the masses is called “a Shofar.” Like the Shofar, whose voice travels a great distance, the echo of the wisdom will spread all over the world, so even the nations will hear and acknowledge that there is Godly wisdom in Israel.”
[94604]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/12, “Exile and Redemption”

Related Material:
Correction Begins With Those Who Have Awakened
Who Is Responsible For Correction?
From Internal To External

Filed under: Crisis, Israel, Kabbalah Dissemination, Mutual Guarantee, Q&A, Unity, World - No Comments →

Opinion (Darryl R. Schoon): “The bankers’ bet that sufficient credit can reverse an economic contraction is no longer on the table. This does not mean central bank credit will tighten. Just the opposite will happen. Monetary easing will continue until the very end. Central bankers are trapped. The end game is now underway. …

“The world has entered a paradigm shift of immense proportions; and the collapse of the bankers’ economic world is a part of that shift. The bankers’ credit fueled a 300-year global expansion which transformed the world. The bankers’ credit, however, has now become debt which increasingly cannot be repaid. …

“Prior to capitalism, the underlying economic dynamic was supply and demand. … After gold was removed from the global monetary system in 1971 and after initial inflationary concerns were addressed in 1980, embedded constraints on monetary and credit growth no longer existed. The attendant rise in debt is noteworthy—as will be the consequences.

“What central bankers did not anticipate from the explosive growth of credit was the resultant levels of massive debt. Fixated on growth, central bankers miscalculated the inevitable effects of the unrestrained increase in monetary and credit aggregates on their heretofore successful ponzi-scheme of credit and debt. …

“There are only two possibilities left in the bankers’ end game. Either deflation’s growing momentum will pull today’s faltering economies into the ever-growing maw of a deflationary collapse or the continued printing of money to stave off such a collapse will end with the complete debasement of paper currencies in a hyperinflationary blowoff. …

“We are in uncharted territory; and, unlike most, I view the collapse of the current economic paradigm as a necessary and ultimately beneficial rite of passage, a prerequisite for the better and more highly evolved paradigm that will follow. …The end game draws near.”

My Comment: The simple linear egoistic world of the past is over! The world has become round, interconnected. It has a right to exist only with deepening mutual guarantee, striving for connection and the development of love, in spite and above everyone’s egoism, according to the principle: “Love will cover all transgressions.”

We are trapped, and Kabbalah offers the only way out, with “little loss.” All the other attempts to save the current paradigm, the attitude to the world, social and economic relations will lead to the same result of everyone merging into a community of equal and loving people, but through a world war.
[94871]

Related Material:
Let’s Declare Ourselves Bankrupt And Start All Over Again!
The Two Possibilities To Exit From The Crisis
There Is No Way Out Of This Deadlock

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Kabbalah Dissemination, Mutual Guarantee, News - No Comments →

Question: In our world, people strive to win: I am ahead of everybody; I am the greatest; and so on. When does a person win and when does he lose in the world of common integral mind?

Answer: Let’s remove the entire perception of our world as selfish and hence totally unrelated to the next state—the human degree. This means that everything we experience in our world as food, sex, family, wealth, fame, power, and knowledge is an empty zero at the next level.

The next state is a filter through which only purely altruistic processes may pass, meaning actions excluding any personal benefit, aimed solely for the benefit of others. You have to become one with others, feel their desires as your own, in order to be able to fulfill them.

Question: What is considered winning in the integral state, and does it imply losing?

Answer: There could be victories and defeats, yet all of them lead to winning nonetheless because a defeat is merely a discovery of some flaw, a lack of certain instruments that can help you become corrected and move on.

Question: What are these tools?

Answer: They are forces, properties, the power of bestowal, your connection with others, communication with nature, comprehension of the spiritual environment you are placed in.

Basically, there is only one tool—the property of bestowal; but it has many, various functions.
[94740]
From KabTV’s “Foundations of the Integral Society” 3/11/12

Related Material:
Unity Always Prevails
The Right Investment
Double Win Or Double Loss

Filed under: Integral Upbringing, Mutual Guarantee, Q&A, Society - No Comments →

Opinion (Anatoly Wasserman, political consultant): “We are experiencing a crisis, connected with deep conditions. The deeper conditions are, the deeper the crisis is. Now, the causes are not only not resolved, but the real reasons that led to the crisis are not really understood.

“This means that we cannot get rid of these causes, and they will continue in the future, as long as we do not understand them. And in order to understand, it is necessary, among other things, to drop the economic theory, which for political reasons was proclaimed the only true and acceptable one. As long as we are told to consider this theory exclusively true, we will not get out of the crisis.”

My Comment: Insight comes gradually. All that was said to politicians, sociologists, and in general to everyone in all our materials is starting to become clear to them from their failures, losses, crashes, and coming disasters, until a world war.

When the realization and acceptance of the need to change society, through the method of new integral upbringing, to match to the new laws of nature and society, the law of integral interaction (mutual guarantee), depends on in which way we reach the next stage of development: a long path of suffering and war or a short kind, peaceful path.
[94774]

Related Material:
Five Global Shocks Of The World Economy
One Millionaire For Every 500 People On Earth
The Economy Is A Copy Of Social Relations

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Integral Upbringing, Mutual Guarantee, News - No Comments →