Entries in the 'Prayer and Intention' Category

I Am Asking For My Brothers

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen everyone annuls his ego and tries to connect to the others, it means that everyone is trying to be incorporated in one another. Of course, we discover on the way that it is impossible to be incorporated and attain connection by ourselves, and then a prayer is born in us.

Everyone must reach a certain degree of bestowal upon others and be incorporated in them, but eventually, everyone must reach the level of “Jacob” that is called the middle line. Thanks to our collective efforts, we attain our root, the network that connects us all. This is called wanting to bestow upon Malchut from Yesod.

When we reach this state, we raise MAN, a prayer, so that the Surrounding Light will connect us correctly. Then, under the influence of Yesod on Malchut, we attain Keter, and then the Creator is revealed in our vessels.

In this process, we connect into one Sefira of Yesod from all the different Sefirot that represent each of us as everyone annuls himself. Through the general annulment, we reach Malchut and bestow upon it, and by that become a vessel for receiving the Light of Keter, which means that we reach the attainment of the level of Keter.

This process includes all of reality until the end of correction, but our mission now is for each of us to try to ascend above himself and be incorporated in others. By that, we are incorporated in the collective effort. This should be our preparation now before the convention. In this collective effort, we discover the prayer of many in which everyone is aware, understands, and feels the effort of the friends who want to connect, and I want to help them.

I feel what a great desire they have to connect in order to bestow upon the Creator. Therefore, as it is written, “For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say: ‘Peace be within thee.’” This means that I ask for the friends so that they will reach the corrected vessel in which they will be able to bestow upon the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/04/13, Writings of Rabash

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Pray For Everyone

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “A Sage’s Fruit:” It is forbidden for the individual to leave the public and ask for himself, not even to bring contentment for his Maker other than for the public, for he who leaves the public and asks for his own soul individually is not constructing, but rather is bringing destruction to his soul, and one needs to gather all his might, the general of Israel, in all his turnings to the Creator, in prayer and work, and integrate himself in the root of the entire Israel.

It turns out that I do not want to do anything good, even for the Creator, if it is not for the benefit of community, through the benefit of community, and in connection with community. If there is something sacred, then first of all, it is community, all of humanity, and if I understand the importance of community, then based on this, I can reach the importance of the Creator.

Our common soul is already broken in our perception. However, praying for oneself, a person turns into impurity; that is, he descends in the negative state that is much worse than the original one.

Why would it seem so? After all, a person who “leaves the public to ask for himself individually” does not do it at the expense of others. He just says to the Creator, “I want to be corrected, settled. I want to reach bestowal. So, please give me strength to bestow and bring You contentment!” Does he really cause the “destruction of his soul?” How could this be? He is praying from his heart. It is his sincere feeling for which he cannot be responsible. The heart is crying; What can you do?

However, no, I must make all kinds of external actions to make my heart want something else, and this is within my ability. Our work is carried out from the heart, above the heart, so that it does not call for evil and wrong things, so that it does not ask for itself even if the person wants to be corrected and bring contentment to the Creator. This request is already impurity, the destruction of the soul.

That is why I need the actions that will set before me the only task: unity. I am not able to turn with the correct request on behalf of my own heart, which is broken and disconnected from the collective. I cannot bring contentment to the Creator unless I unite with others because I will not have the true desire to bestow, and from what place will I turn to Him? From my own “self?” It is impossible because it is cut off from the whole and lies beneath all the spiritual degrees, below the spiritual ladder. I am not standing even on the lower edge of the ladder that goes to heaven, to Malchut of the world of Infinity.

So, the main thing for us is to unite. If I constantly care about unity then everything that comes from this will be correct. Conversely, if I do not think about unity, then even the best intentions, the most correct words and complete devotion is the essence of impurity, the destruction of the soul.

This is the most important thing for us during the days before the convention in St. Petersburg. Preparation should direct us at the only action, to unity, and everything, no matter what, will be good in it.

“In all turnings to the Creator, in prayer and work,” we, first of all, ask for unity for the collective, oneness all the time and nothing else. Thus, we “integrate ourselves in the root of the entire Israel,” that is, the center of the group, aimed directly at the Creator (Yashar El). All our efforts are directed to its unity and interconnection.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/13, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”

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I Want!

Dr. Michael LaitmanRabash, “What is the Order of Wiping out Amalek”: And what is more, we see that a person needs to prepare himself in order to enjoy the pleasure that is dressed in the vessel. This means that he can enjoy the Light of the pleasure that is dressed in the vessel to the extent that he prepares himself, which is considered external. This means that we cannot compare a person who drinks water when he is thirsty to a person who drinks water when he is not thirsty. This is because the vessel of receiving pleasure is measured by the yearning for the pleasure.

We know that the difference between “I shall hasten it” and “in its time” is only in the preparation. Eventually a person has to perform the action by himself and say: “I want!” and when he wants to, things will open up for him!

There are two ways of attaining the demand of “I want!” Either by blows that don’t leave a person any other choice and which obligate him to recover after each blow or problem and wake up from his reluctance to do anything. It’s because he is confused and can’t find the powers in him to connect with the friends in order to build a vessel, and it’s only the blows that force him to take a step forward.

But it isn’t just taking a step. He sees that this step is beneficial in both a spiritual and a corporeal sense. The corporeal benefit is that he gets rid of the blows and the spiritual benefit is that he recovers and begins to feel that he has a goal, a process, and a chance to feel something of the path of “I shall hasten it.”

Thus he gains twice: He gains new abilities and a new taste corporeally and perhaps also spiritually. It’s all given to him after the blow since there are two opposites in the blow that he receives from the Creator, in the blow of the Light that operates on a person in different ways and towards the goal. We study that in every state, even in the lowest one, there are ten Sefirot, the Light of NRNHY, Reshimo (spiritual gene) of dressing, and Reshimo of Aviut (thickness).

So we must try to understand that everything depends on our preparation that brings us to the demand of “I want!” We have to reach a state in which we have no desire left but one and that this desire should be the greatest. There are two ways of reaching that: “In its time” (through the path of suffering), or “I shall hasten it” (through the path of the Light). But it’s impossible to come out of Egypt without the desire of “I want!”

On the other hand, a person feels great despair and helplessness in his own powers and at the same time confidence and faith that the Creator can save him, which means that everything is in God’s hands. This versatility has to strengthen a person and not break him the moment he exits.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/28/13

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Convention Preparation Is Like Getting Ready To Enter The Holy Of Holies

Dr. Michael LaitmanTherefore the student is committed to strengthen his faith in the Creator before the study, which means that he is headed towards bestowal. He must be sure that he has done everything possible to prepare corporeally since he has the environment that the Creator has arranged for him.

The Creator has brought a person to the environment and now he has to strengthen himself in it and to establish the right relations with the friends. Accordingly, he will at least have the powers to perform corporeal actions and this is already enough to evoke the influence of the Surrounding Lights. Thus, he begins to fulfill himself correctly.

If a person has doubts about the reason that he studies and why he comes to the lessons and gets up in the morning, then by setting for himself the goal to acquire the Light of faith during the day, which means the force of bestowal, there is no greater Mitzvah (commandment) he can perform. It already includes everything and there is nothing else we can acquire during our whole lifetime. This is the purpose we were created for, this is why we exist in this world, and our whole life revolves only around it.

Everything is ready and waiting for us and so the preparation for the study is an essential precondition in order to receive everything that has been prepared for us. We have reached a stage in which we have to pay attention and to focus all our powers, our thoughts, and our persistence on this one thing; we have to see that we are united around this one goal understanding that the preparation for the study and the preparation of every action we make is actually what determines its quality and its height, which means whether it will have a positive or negative impact, whether it will be good or bad for us.

We may perform an action that seems good from a corporeal point of view, but if it’s accompanied with the wrong intention, the quality of the actions will be the opposite. We know that before the destruction of the Temple, the position of the great priest was sold for money. Did the great priest do something wrong in the corporeal sense during the Yom Kippur ritual? He did everything correctly but his intention was to receive respect, fame, and wealth in return and so he entered the Holy of Holies and died.

This means that everything stems only from the intention. We are ready and can work on it consciously together in a special united manner so that it will be the main issue and goal every moment in our life. We should use every moment correctly!

We have already reached this point and especially now when we are before the convention in St. Petersburg, all our actions to get there should be with the right intention. It’s very important, it’s the guarantee for our success.

So like Baal HaSulam says: The student is committed to strengthen his fate in the Creator before the study. This means that we are committed to strengthen our yearning only for the force of mutual bestowal in every action in our life. And it makes no difference if during the day we have to do our basic daily chores that are not directly related to attaining the goal, to attaining the spiritual force, since that’s the way our life is arranged. These actions, which are very far from the goal must also be done with the right intention, since after all, we do them in order to reach the desired state. Every action should be done only in order to attain the force of bestowal, in order to exit the current desire and to acquire a new desire.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Dr. Michael LaitmanOur entire way of preparation consists of: on every level, every step, everything is determined only by all the preparations. Why is preparation so important and not the action itself? The point is that the action is performed by the Light that Reforms, but the preparation for it, in order to spur the Light to perform this action, is a person’s job.

According to this principle, every level is divided into two parts. The first part is the preparation, the agreement, the self submission of a person who must totally accept the action of the Light, which is expressed in his deficiency, in his prayer, in raising MAN. If the desire, the prayer, which means his preparation, are right in their quantity and quality and they match the change he has to go through, he thus creates the opportunity and the place for the Light to operate. Then the Light comes and performs such changes and corrections in a person that afterward can dwell in him.

When the action is completed, a person is given the opportunity to do the first part of the work that he has to do again: submission, self annulment, accepting the yoke of Heaven, wanting the Creator to perform the next action on him. When he completes the preparation, which means that he attains a sufficient deficiency that is correct and whole that the upper Light should perform the action, the Light performs the action. This means that a person rises to the next level.

Thus he advances step by step. Everything depends on a person’s preparation since the upper Light is always ready to do its work. The Light is in absolute rest and its only goal is to bring a person to adhesion with the Creator.

So we have to make sure that we do what is up to us and that we prepare ourselves in the fastest and most efficient way, not thinking about how we should correct ourselves. The correction is the Light’s work, and we don’t even know what it has to do. Our job is only to clarify what we have to do in order to prepare our deficiency.

This preparation is also divided into several parts: the preparation, self annulment, the recognition of the greatness of the Light that Reforms, and the recognition of the greatness of the next state to which the Light brings us. We can imagine all this by our environment and the exercises we do in it by working on the connection between us and by using all the means we were given.

All the means that we were given actually belong to the preparation, which means to the work we have to do. If we feel that we don’t have the vessels, the powers, the strength, it is because we try to do what is not our work but rather the Light’s, the actual correction. So it is indeed not in our hands and not in our powers to do it.

But if we focus on what we should do on every level, which means the preparation for the demand, for the request for the action of the Light, then we have all the necessary means to do so.
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From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/13

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No Preparation – No Convention

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We already know that thought has tremendous power. The power of collaborative mental support has been documented in scientific research. At the convention we are all in one thought aimed at the common goal. Are our efforts registered somewhere or do they just “dissolve into thin air”?

Answer: First of all, all our deeds—good and bad, right and wrong, true and false—are “registered.”

In general, as we know, the created being goes through three states:

  • In the first state, Malchut of the World of Infinity is before contraction.
  • The second condition is the entire process through which the following things happen to us: the descent of the world, breaking, development in this world, and ascent back.
  • In the end, we come to the third state , to the same Malchut of Infinity but that is completely corrected and is 620 times greater than its first state.

Thus, the descent from the top downwards and the reverse ascent is considered a single state. And this is the second state, the preparation to the third and final one: the end of correction. However, we attain the end of correction in each individual action as small parts of the general system gradually joining into one large “integral.” In fact, this “integral” is a qualitatively new sum of small “sectors.”

A question arises: How can we make each step in order to achieve the correct result in every part? Answer: Only by preparation because the main thing for us is the work towards the final correction, collective and individual.

So, now we have to work on the preparation. Less than three weeks are left before the convention in St. Petersburg and we must prepare properly.

No matter with which group I will be attending this convention—I am preparing in such a way as to disconnect from the whole world, from all outside influences: no radio or television, no books, no external activities. For three days, my friends and I are going into the “deep underground,” no matter where we are physically. I form a “bubble” for myself with my friends, hide in it from all the interferences of the world, and open myself to the influence of the convention.

And all this must be organized in advance by connecting to the group in which I will spend these three days or with those who will come to St. Petersburg. I have to prepare myself for detachment from the world; I have to be ready to connect with the group, dissolve in it, and surrender myself like a fetus in the mother’s womb. If, suppose, my friends and I are at a mirror convention, then we receive nourishment, the Light of life, from St Petersburg like through the umbilical cord.

In short, getting ready for the convention, I have to create the same conditions like the embryo has in the womb. I not only have to see this picture in front of me, but feel it. And it affects my entire spiritual path, my chance to achieve something in life.

The friends who are coming to the convention must understand: They are in the place that needs to be isolated from any external influences. Let the city run its own life, let the atmosphere radiate its “emanations” on everyone; this is where we need to work.

This convention can become unique and can gain unprecedented power if we just prepare for it properly, if we isolate ourselves from the surrounding impulses that are literally “in the air,” if we detach ourselves externally and internally. I hope that all the participants will clean themselves of external influences and will arrive already prepared so everyone becomes the “womb” for each and every “embryo” in the collective body, and that everyone wants to receive nourishment from the teacher, and through him from the upper root. In the end, everyone needs to form this state according only to his conditions.

Here is the preparation: I imagine the participants, myself, imagine how I will get nourishment in detachment from everything external, adhering to the mother’s body, nullifying myself before it. I have to constantly think about it, live it to such an extent that it becomes my habitual state. Then, having arrived at the convention, I will automatically flow in the right course.

And besides that, we have to make the organizers understand what is required of them. We do not care about beautiful banners on the walls and other decorations. We evaluate the organization only by its ability to make us the “womb,” a group in the full sense of the word. Thus, the true organizer is not the one who manages the activities but the one who organizes this spiritual “isolation,” this spiritual world, in which we live for three days.

The convention in St. Petersburg costs us huge efforts and money. So, how can we let it take its own course?! We could spend all those millions of dollars on dissemination. Still, it is worth it providing that we will understand that everything is determined by preparation. Otherwise, it is not worthwhile to fly to St. Petersburg even for free.

That is why I warn you: Now we are required prepare correctly. All our friends regardless of where they will organize this convention must think about this, must get together, unite, and discuss the preparation, not relying on anyone. We all decide how to create the right spirit, how to form the “womb” in which we will attain true spiritual realization. This is extremely important.

Otherwise, in spite of all the invested efforts, we will come back as after a “festival,” a “party,” but not a spiritual action,  with an even greater feeling of emptiness.

It is no coincidence that I in advance talked about the success of the convention in Krasnoyarsk; the friends prepared for it for six months, while in a great inner tension. They invested themselves fully and also financially. The tent itself, in which the event took place, cost them two million rubles. In addition, they were collecting money to bring people from remote places. Many were on the train for a few days or even a week; they had to make their way along the local roads. And some felt an impulse during the convention and arrived here for a day and half. This is real investment…

So, no preparation, no convention. If a person has not prepared himself, I would return the ticket if I were him. Arriving unprepared causes your friends’ descent and it will hit you like a boomerang and much stronger than it hits them. In this case, you should not be there. It is said, “Keeping sinners apart is good for them and good for the world.”

As for the mirror convention in our new Israeli center: If it is just a little get-together to decide on a place, organize duties there, and watch what happens on the screens, it will be a loss—wasted efforts.

Everyone must bring the right intention to the convention according to his degree. This intention is accumulated “by pennies” for the decisive day. If you do not do this, I recommend you do nothing: It is better to sit at home and watch TV. You will not hit the target without efforts, without intention; on the contrary, you will steal power from the friends, instead of adding strength to them.

It’s not about external signs; a desire should burn within you so that now we all together raise MAN, a request for our correction. What is it? We want the Light that will unite us to come. In our unity, we want to reveal the upper force and feel how we bring it joy. A person aims at the group and from the group at the Creator. This is “Israel” (ישראל), which means: “straight to the Creator” (Yashar-El – ישר – אל).

We need the same convention as in Krasnoyarsk only with a new Aviut, i.e. a new depth of desire. Take the example of Krasnoyarsk and create the same in St. Petersburg. These two conventions are like one. In the language of Kabbalah, we can call them “two heads of the Partzuf:” Rosh de Hitlabshut and Rosh de Aviut. Accordingly, the addition that we have to feel is the addition of the Light that Reforms. In Krasnoyarsk, it was a pure, “transparent” desire, aimed upward, relatively ready for anything, and in St. Petersburg there will be the “egoism of a big city” the thickness of desire. But we must not wallow in it but raise ourselves to the state that was in Krasnoyarsk. Throughout the convention, we need to “hold ourselves in the air,” above egoism, above reason. And this is what we should prepare for.

We will have to work not in the thickness itself; this is impossible and not necessary. Our task is to rise more and more and now during the time of preparation. Preparation is a potential action: I have not yet come to its realization but already act to the best of my abilities.

For example, preparing to become an engineer, I study, work on projects, go through on-the-job training, and only then acquire the profession.

Thus, in the period of preparation I carry out the same tasks that I will face later, but I perform them in special pre-conditions. Preparation is already an action, not a fantasy, not dreams about a bright future. Already now I keep in touch with the friends try to connect with them. We constantly discuss the upcoming event and its realization—current and future.

Imagine that you are organizing this convention for a few thousand people. You are in charge; everything depends on you, rather on your group of ten that must take care of the most important thing—uniting the hearts. And now, act, as one man with one heart.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam 

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True Gratitude For The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You say that “it is impossible to thank the Creator when I am crying.” What does this mean?

Answer: I cannot cry from pain and simultaneously thank the one who causes me this pain. The sensation of pain suggests that you cannot thank Him, i.e., you might be doing this but superficially. You understand and are aware of this in your mind but not in the feelings.

You need to work on your feelings so that you can feel pleasure instead of pain while correcting the egoism. If the obstruction comes from the Creator, then it should be turned into happiness, joy, and pleasure. This is what we are engaged in. This is the correction of our Kelim (vessels).

But as long as you feel at least some flaw in your state, it is not called that you thank the Creator. In principle, He does not need to be thanked. When you feel good, this is your unconscious gratitude to Him. And if you also attribute this to Him, then it is complete gratitude. It’s very simple.
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From the Convention In Krasnoyarsk 6/14/13, Lesson 3

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Don’t Hope, Act!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I correct my ego? What should I do with the pain it causes me?

Answer: Simple, think only about how to do good unto others and rejoice at their joy. This is the only way we can transcend ourselves.

Question: But I am a human being! If I am cut it hurts. How can I think about others if I feel pain now?

Answer: Try to be in him instead of in you despite the pain. Is there any other way?

When you reach the state that you want to be in someone else instead of yourself and to feel only him and even the group, since there everything is “spread out,” and everything is selfless, and you cannot do that, the Creator will help you.

He will come to your aid, since here you are already asking for a change that you cannot perform by yourself. Then He will come and take you to the next level.

It is an anti-egoistic action. In the meantime you are not asking for it yet. When you cry out not because you feel bad in the exile on Egypt, but because you cannot bestow since you are in your ego, you will be awarded with the exit to the upper world!

However, you shouldn’t just hope for this, but act! You should clearly understand what it means to exit the ego, what the revelation of the Creator means, and what spiritual birth means.

If you want to perform anti-egoistic actions, it means that your suffering shouldn’t interest you anymore! You should only be interested in bestowal: “No matter what I feel, I cannot bestow, and that hurts. It hurts!” Then you are allowed to enter the upper world.
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From the Convention In Krasnoyarsk Day One 6/14/13, Lesson 3

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A Reminder About Correcting The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: This is the key to understanding the weakness of world-reformers throughout the generations. They regarded man as a machine that is not operating properly and needs mending, meaning to remove the corrupted parts and replace them with good ones.

And that is the tendency of all world reformers—to eradicate any harmful and bad in the human species… and it is true that if the Creator had not stood against them, they would certainly have by now cleansed man entirely, leaving only the good and useful.

But don’t we want to correct the world? So, what makes us different from others?

Comment: Only the Light that Reforms corrects and we attract it.

Answer: True. We do not make the correction but draw the Light so that it does its job. We seem to open the valve which was blocking its path. That is why we do not belong to those “world-reformers” about whom Baal HaSulam writes. After all, they want to do all the work themselves.

This is a fundamental difference. Take a look at what happens to the world: No matter how much people strive to solve its problems, all is in vain. In fact, it is necessary only to allow the Light to correct the human being and accept the result. Do not do anything else—only let the Light work. Any additional action is not just unnecessary, but harmful.

This is what we should understand and then all our deeds will be aimed at bestowal. By adding the correct intention to them, we allow the Light to work on the world, on the entire still, vegetative, animate, and human nature; the Light will adjust everything according to our strengths, our desire, to the opportunities that we open before it.

We do not interfere in the process of correction; we do not know what is good or bad, what the order of actions is, or how to implement it. We just want to open the path to the Light and that is all.

Of course, we would like to know more, to understand what is happening, participate in work, take part in the process, to be active… However, all these impulses should be directed only at one thing—to let the Light in.

If we act in the wrong direction, if we want to perform this work ourselves instead of allowing the Light to do this, then we are only causing a bad addition to our activities until we learn the lesson and understand what is required of us.

That is why, if we want to advance, in principal, we have to focus on the correct intention and actions and only those that give the Light the opportunity to correct.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Connection That Changes The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In what intention do we need to be to correct the world during the upcoming convention?

Answer: If we are connected with each other well and strongly, with the intention for our goal, in common mutual bestowal, this will definitely reach the world, and it will start to change.

The fact is that we are connected together through the same inner system. What we study in Kabbalah: Sefirot, Partzufim, the worlds—all these are connections between us. They are not somewhere in outer space: This is our real connection.

Revealing it in the groups of ten, we suddenly see that there are the circles of the worlds between us that connect us, how we influence these connections, and they affect us, and the Light is manifested between them—this is the manifestation of the Creator, His revelation.
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From the Virtual Lesson 6/2/13

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