Baal HaSulam, “The Peace,” Clarification of the Phrase from the Mishnah: “Everything Is in Deposit, and a Fortress Spreads Over All of Life”: All is in deposit, and a fortress spreads over all of life. The store is open and the shopkeeper sells by deferred payment; the book is open and the hand writes. And all who wish to borrow may come and borrow, and the collectors return regularly, day-by-day, and collect from a person knowingly and unknowingly. And they have what to rely on, and the judgment is true, and all is ready for the feast.

Question: Does the phrase “and the judgment is true,” refer to the trial of the soul?

Answer: Of course. We come closer by the attributes of Din (judgment) and mercy, by feeling “bitterness” and “sweetness.” They teach and develop us so that we will be able to feel the Creator. He is the one who shows us the attitude of “bitterness” or “sweetness,” which means that He speaks the “language” that we can understand. In the same manner, parents have to explain things to a child in different ways, whether they are pleasant or not.

Although it isn’t about the actual “language” of pleasure and sufferings, it is thanks to them that I reach an inner adhesion between the two parts that are seemingly standing behind me.

There is something in the Creator, and He wants to create something similar in the created being. Then He creates in Himself and in the created being a communication system that is His “language,” that uses terms of receiving and bestowal.

All this is so that we will somehow work out the inner mutual connection between our initial parts. They cannot connect without a special “adaptor,” without a “language” of pleasures and sufferings, “bitterness” and “sweetness,” truth and lie, bestowal and receiving.

Then, there, there is no more receiving or bestowal, but rather something that is deeper and more internal that we cannot describe in words.
[102239]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/13, ”The Peace”

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Question: Lately the price of shares on the stock market are sky high again, the Dow Jones has set a new record high. This of course has an impact on Europe and Japan. How can it be that a certain part in the general system is still getting richer while the others suffer from the crisis?

Answer: The stock market has been on the rise for a long time. The brokers have decided that the crisis that started in 2008 has come to an end. “Indeed, how much longer can we wait if it’s already 2013? Enough, it’s time to raise the new digits on the counter…”

Generally speaking, all the “bubbles” are false and unnatural. The whole modern economy is basically false. It has many indices and indicators, but it’s basically the same: First, the brokers lay the false foundation, and then they build their houses on it until the earth swallows them. After all, today’s economy is not a science; it’s not part of nature.

The real economy is the relationships between people based on the principle of “give and take.” As it says, “Go and make a living from one another.” If we were to establish the correct, true economy, then, in the connection with others, in bestowing upon them and receiving from them, I would discover the Creator, the upper world.

In that sense, the wisdom of Kabbalah can also be called “the economy,” since it explains how to receive correctly, how to make a great profit and fill the vessels, the desires to receive, and to bestow in the best way possible, to safely avoid all the damages, the loss of connection and filling, and in general of everything. To sum up, the optimal economics is the wisdom of Kabbalah.

At the same time, the brokers have no idea about nature and its plans, about how the human desires develop and about the relations between people. They have simply decided to create a certain mechanism and to force it upon others so that they will work and the brokers will get rich. Suppose I manufacture pens, and I don’t care if anyone needs them; by using different tricks, I convince people to buy them and by that bring myself pleasure in terms of money.

The traders don’t take into account the major factors; after all, people’s desires change, the conditions change, and the consumers are fed up. In addition to that, no matter how hard you try to curb the natural development of technology, you will not be able to stop it. Today those at the top want it both ways: They want to automate production, but this leaves people jobless and moneyless, so they cannot buy these products. They have to make a decision: If they want people to go on buying, they should give them money. But you cannot give them money since you are laying them off when you replace them with machines.

As a result of lacking the understanding of these processes and lacking a global vision, we come to the recognition of evil. So today, we have to understand the system that connects us all. Only if we are able to provide for one another correctly and safely, will everyone feel good. After all, what a person needs is pleasure.

So, the question is whether the mechanisms we have built can provide us with pleasure. After all, everything about these mechanisms is artificial and false. The highly lauded figures of the stock market have no basis. It’s all one big game of market players. They can also intentionally cause economic crises.

But there are phenomena that market players haven’t planned. Because they are so confused and have no coordination between them, different things are happening all at once, revealing the flaws in the system. It’s not even about being divorced from reality; this whole business had no real basis to begin with since it was never in conformity with nature. It’s impossible to call it capitalism anymore.

Question: It’s as if they have created a kind of virtual reality in which can impose artificial optimism interspersed with a bit of pessimism so that it will appear more real. As a result, the indexes are rising without having any real basis; optimism itself is enough…

Answer: That’s right; it’s a game that they are running according to their interests. It’s the same in every area, including politics: Those at the top pull the strings, and they are operated by the Creator.

Question: It seems that today the ego has become so sophisticated that it can take advantage of every situation. It is equally effective in taking advantage of the market rises and falls and the crises. Will it end?

Answer: It will come to an end when we are able to teach people the method of mutual guarantee and when they understand that they have no choice. Then the hopelessness will be revealed.

Even today it’s already clear that the stock market figures don’t mean a thing. What is worse is if we take into account the economic situation and the rise in unemployment, the stock market “bubble” can lead to an explosion that the real economy cannot create. After all, people are jobless and it’s a very dangerous situation…

The current rise of the stock market can be prolonged for a while. What’s more, from a spiritual perspective, I see it as a positive thing: Let them carry on since it helps us advance towards correction at our own pace.

On the whole, everything that happens means only one thing: We must hurry. We were given some more time to prepare the dissemination of the method of the true correction of the world. We have to try and be ready as soon as possible. Things are moving so that we will be able to advance and prepare ourselves, but the window of opportunity can suddenly close.
[102103]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/13, ”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 13: This is so because in His Eternalness, past, present, and future are as one… On the contrary, that equivalence of form, destined to be revealed at the end of correction, appeared instantly in the Infinite.

About this it says, “First think, then act.” The final form already exists and what is more, there is no other form but it. What we go through is the process of recognition of that final form, from our nature to the Creator’s nature. Thus, gradually, the distance between us turns into the attainment of the Creator above the created being.

By that we gain twice: On the one hand, we remain created beings, and on the other hand, we reach the same status as the Creator. It’s because we cannot be created beings if we don’t have our attributes, but at the same time, we acquire the Creator’s attribute and reach His wholeness.

Question: In what way do the Creator and the created being differ in this wholeness?

Answer: Their adhesion is an equivalence of form. On the whole, adhesion includes two sides that are adhered according to their intentions and are separate according to the “matter” of the created being. The “matter” of the created being has to be different from the Creator so as to enable the created being to feel that he is independent.

Thus, the feeling of adhesion itself indicates the initial difference, because in order to feel it, we have to feel its deficiency. So the created being has to go through a development process and to gather all the Reshimot (spiritual genes) of all the states and then reach adhesion.
[102100]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/13, ”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: Today, many people are misled by “green” dreams, such as “We are ravaging our planet’s resources. Let’s stop and preserve the environment for our children.”

Answer: On one hand, I share this opinion. On the other hand, we see that it is not quite so. Many people’s interests are involved in this issue, and they stay on both sides of the “green” front. Now and then, the fight for a green planet triggers more harm than ecological damages per se.

First of all, we must figure out exactly how we are destroying nature. Does it happen because of our relationships or due to technogenic consequences?

At a certain point in time, Malthusians and demographers screamed that the Earth won’t be able to feed us, and, yet, we have an abundance of food now to such an extent that some governments subsidize farmers who agree voluntarily to produce less food products. In fact, if we were not throwing away lots of food supplies, it would be sufficient to provide for the entire world.

Threats of oil and gas shortages are not quite justified, either, but they help many people earn money on their price fluctuations. Besides that, at this time, we already have developed very effective technologies that provide alternative energy.

As to vast amounts of waste, a new processing industry was created that is quite profitable.

In other words, the current problems are fairly resolvable if we approach them correctly. Baal HaSulam wrote that the Earth has the potential to feed many more people than today.

The problem is that we should organize our society in a proper way. Unless we organize, people will continue starving. Every few seconds, someone dies of hunger. It happens because the world is unable to unite. We simply have no ability to take care of each other.

It means that the root of the problem is not about nature, but, rather, about humans. We must think thoroughly about what exactly must be changed. Let’s stop building external structures and fighting with outside symptoms. Unless we change ourselves internally and educate a new generation of people, nothing will work. We have technologies and agriculture, but the trouble is that each of us takes care of his or herself and safeguards his or her property. One person has water, another has meat, another has salt, the fourth one has matches, and the next one has firewood, but they don’t get together to cook a tasty soup. That’s why people die of hunger.

Question: Does it mean that we simply hide from resolving this problem?

Answer: Our egoism spoils everything. It is the only source of the troubles we go through. Many smart people have tried fighting egoism using different methods and remedies. However, none of these experiments (including the Soviet Union) were successful. Why? It is because, in order to succeed, we need the help of the Upper Force.

The problem is that we must aspire for Nature to change us. For that, we should consent to internal modifications, and agree with the idea that we are not capable of changing ourselves and that only Nature can do it. Moreover, we must appeal to and rely on Nature alone!

In order for us to come to this state of mind, we must unite and try to build a social model that will allow Nature to influence us. Then, Nature will make us smarter and will give us a clearer understanding of what further steps we should take.

Still, it won’t be enough. There is another complicated condition. All of our efforts should be aimed at replenishing Nature. In other words, in essence, we should act not for our own sake. This is a very hard task. Our actions should be focused on the Creator’s sake, oriented to the power of bestowal, that is, Nature. It is our duty to unite with it. We must enhance the power of bestowal in all of reality. This is the goal to which we should completely devote ourselves.

Question: How can we explain these issues to environmental advocates?

Answer: Threats keep growing before our eyes. Global hunger will be triggered by increased food prices. The situation will become worse if we don’t change people and establish new rules of reasonable consumption. In fact, there is an abundance of everything we really need, and, yet, half of the world is deprived of the basic things that are essential for human existence. The situation can be changed only through shifting relationships among people from indifferent and hostile to kind and benevolent.

Accordingly, we must change our attitude to Nature. For that, we should modify a human being, and, only after we manage to achieve it, can we refer to resolving environmental problems.

Nature is one whole. It’s a single complex that consists of four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking. In this hierarchy, human beings occupy the top critical position. Unless we recognize and acknowledge this fact, we won’t be able to begin treating the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature correctly.

It means that we must convey a simple message to environmentalists and “green” advocates: Before anything else, we must change a human being, and then we will be able to improve the rest.

In fact, we destroy nature merely by our thoughts. Therefore, internal modification of relationships among us will work much more effectively than any “green” projects. Nature will revive! We think that nature already has been irreversibly damaged and that it will take thousands of years to heal the wounds of the various ecological systems. It is not true! If we change our thoughts and rise to a higher level of interaction between us, everything quickly will return to normal.
[101652]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/1/13, “The Peace”

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Question: Fewer women than men are involved in the current political-economic mess of the modern world. What can they do for the general health of society?

Answer: Women can obligate the men to connect, to be in mutual reciprocity, and to unite into one whole. Then life in a country and the world will work out. If women can connect, they will be able to bring the men to the same state.

On the one hand, it’s much more difficult for a woman, but on the other hand, what’s important is to start. The moment a woman decides “to go for it,” she will dive into the current and strive persistently in the right direction.

For men it is the opposite: It’s easy for them to jump into the water, but it’s very difficult for them to swim since they encounter endless obstacles on the way that need to be corrected. So let’s ask the women to set an example for us and to give us the power we need in order to connect.

On the whole, only the connection between everyone is the key to our success in every area. It isn’t by chance that we say that behind every successful man there is a woman. The women should push the men to connect and to unite. There are no other means.
[102179]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/13, ”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: Why is the Creator so uncompromising with the created being by setting tough, immutable laws for him? Why can’t He be more merciful, like a father with his son?

Answer: A child can never justify his father’s toughness. He cannot understand the father with his childish mind and see the future results and the benefit that his father’s education will bring him. The child wants to play from morning to night, to eat only sweets, and to watch TV. He cannot justify the parents’ constant demands and so he listens to them reluctantly since he feels his dependence on them and not because he justifies them.

In spirituality everything is much more complicated since we don’t feel to what extent the upper Providence treats us gently. In a child’s world, his oppositeness is not an indication of what he is about to become; if a child is obedient and does his homework and cleans up the messes he makes, the parents cannot come complaining to him since there is nothing more they can demand from him.

In the spiritual world, however, it is different: There you are always a criminal, since you arrive there with shattered vessels to begin with. You are treated kindly and are taught the method of correction; a group is organized for you, just like a kindergarten with a caretaker and with different toys. This is huge help from Above and mercy; all your sins are forgiven and you are given support in every way, just so that you will be able to reach correction and understanding to some extent.

In our world, we understand “education” as coercion directed at the child. But in the spiritual world, coercion is impossible. I can see that a student doesn’t change for years, repeating the same mistakes, falling into the same pits, and I cannot say a thing. I was the same way and it lasts throughout the entire path.

This is our path and there is nothing we can do. Unless a person determines the lesson, the method, his Torah by himself, he will not be able to advance. There cannot be coercion here, only recognition.

Therefore, we cannot complain that we are under the dominance of a cruel father despite all the terrible events of our history. We cannot justify them but later we will see that all the actions of the upper Providence stemmed from love. Although we cannot justify this in our current state, since we are too far from that, when we discover the truth, we will see what great correction it brought about.

“He has given a law that cannot be broken,” means that there is one law. There is a Light and a vessel which are opposite from each other, and this is the law. Later, when they are incorporated in one another, the law of evolution appears by this incorporation, called the law of equivalence of form. It all stems from one thought as one law.

Eventually I have to reach a state in which I want to keep this law by my own will, by myself, as if there is no one else, as if there is no Creator. When I become like the same creator looking at his creation determining the law according to which it should exist, it will mean that I have reached an equivalence of form with the Creator.
[102143]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: What does “the first wife of King Аhasuerus” imply?

Answer: His first wife Vashti symbolizes an egoistic desire that we have to get rid of.

Egoistic desires that we are unable to transform into the property of bestowal are called “unfaithful wives.” “Faithful wives” signify desires that are used to seek the Creator.

What happens to the king’s wives who are unfaithful to him? They are executed, murdered, beheaded, since they tend to receive for their own sake.

That’s why all “unfaithful” desires must be killed; only the desires that “transmit” the Light of Hochma for the sake of fulfilling others should remain alive.

The King’s faithful wife personifies a huge desire through which she nourishes the entire nation, meaning. all human properties.

Question: Who are the eunuchs in the King’s palace?

Answer: “Eunuchs” stand for desires that support the properties of bestowal and receiving. These desires do not directly participate in the processes of giving and receiving; all they do is assist them. These desires are called “eunuchs.”
[101675]
From the Virtual Lesson, 2/24/13

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Question: How does the world of business need to be linked to family based on laws of the integrality of nature?

Answer: We are presently in such a transition where the masses still aren’t incorporated in integral education. Thus, in the meantime, it is hard for us to talk about this subject. However, let’s imagine that tomorrow during the afternoon break, we were to hold a workshop at the factory where a few married couples would take part. They would share ideas about how to solve various problems and help each another solve problems that they face.

The issue is that there are things that, in principle, we cannot change in ourselves, but we can change our attitude toward them. We ask the participants in the discussion to change their approach, to be more tolerant, understanding, compassionate, cooperative, and so forth.

This is the first goal that we need to attain in family workshops. Through discussing all kinds of questions together, people begin to understand that these kinds of problems exist for everyone, and this calms them, reduces the heat of passion by half. When I see that the same thing happens to everyone, then I relax: “What can be done? Everyone lives like that.”

Secondly, people really give each other very interesting advice.

During the discussions, each one suddenly begins to listen to what he hadn’t listened to previously. When both of them, the husband and wife, rise and together express their opinions, then a stronger connection is created between them. They begin to feel the strength as a couple facing all the others. This unites them, gives them a very strong feeling of identification! Afterward, they become something completely different.

Thus, events like these are very helpful, especially as they rise. At the beginning in the workshops, it is possible to talk about all kinds of different things, except for problems that are of a severe nature, like drugs or adultery. In reference to these kinds of problems that are difficult to solve, one needs to approach carefully and over time. However, in the end, finding their solution is also possible through the connection in the integral way.

Integral workshops change people and bring them together.

Question: Is it worthwhile to work together with your wife in the same place of business or to be partners in a business?

Answer: If it is the couple’s personal business, then it’s worthwhile.

As to working at the same company, what happens is that, when people begin to participate in the integral connection, their personal relationships are eliminated and above that, collective relationships begin to rise because they have a space for emotions that are completely different—not flat or linear. Thus, I don’t see any problem with that.
[101467]
From KabTV’s “Professional Secrets” 2/8/13

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Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 10: It is so because He has no interest in reception, only in bestowal, whereas the Klipot want nothing of bestowal, but only to receive for themselves, for their own delight, and there is no greater oppositeness than that.

Question: What is a Klipa?

Answer: The Klipa is something that prevents me from getting closer to the Creator. I recognize it as the force that puts obstacles in front of me.

Actually, what can prevent me?

I want to enjoy, and this means that all kinds of pleasures prevent me; they distract me, take me away from the likeness to the Creator, and keep me from advancing towards unity and bestowal. These are the pleasures that are called “filth.”

So, the Klipa is something extremely pleasant. Let’s say, I like to relax at home more than to participate in the gathering of friends. It is more pleasant for me not to think about the world and correction but about what will happen to me personally. It is dearer to me to take care of my own children, not the neighbors’.

But the real Klipa is when I feel that I advance towards the Creator along a certain path and thus can bring Him pleasure but suddenly I find out that it is more pleasant and comfortable to deviate somewhere, become distracted by something. This is what the Klipa is: It seems to cling to my clothing and pull me back.

We cannot understand all this until we acquire the intention above the desire, until we get out of the desire and begin to act on the basis of intention.

To act on the basis of intention means to apply restriction (Tzimtzum) to the desire to receive. I must be independent of it and be completely free to choose. In other words, independently from the desire, I can decide for myself that I will work with it in order to receive. I have the opportunity to work in order to bestow, but I decide to the contrary. This is what filth is. Conversely, if I have no choice, there is nothing to ask from me. To receive with the egoistic intention is the Klipa that runs through all our ascents until the end of correction. And we are always required to make a difficult decision—how to act, in order to receive or in order to bestow?

We are talking about the work with the Lights and vessels of the egoistic desire, not just about the rejection of the “small” pleasures of our world. I am required to make a decision of a high order when I begin to feel that there is a king, egoistic by nature. This is the flipside of the Creator, and I think that it dominates the world. So it should be, and I decide in these conditions.

Moreover, the decision is possible only if I rise above the restriction, if I am independent. This is when I decide to enjoy for the sake of reception, and turn into a Klipa.

In general, the forces of filth energetically propel a person to the goal. They awaken him in such a way that, like a mountaineer, he must climb above them, overcome them, and ascend to the summit to the King’s palace. And his every move is a rise above filth.

The Klipa is the essence of the material of creation, the desire to receive that took its egoistic form and appears to us in this way. That is why it is impossible to make a step forward without being connected to the Klipa.

But of course, we don’t connect to it ourselves. We always must keep in the right line, and then the forces of filth come at the right time and in the right form.
[102088]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/13,”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: How can we change our negative attitude to reality if this is how we feel it?

Answer: This negative feeling is given to us on purpose. Everything is measured accurately according to the relations between the Light and the vessels. The Creator measures it according to the created being in the shattered system so that we will exert ourselves in order to correct ourselves and thus attain bestowal. Then we will feel the good correct state.

If we didn’t have negative feelings now, we would never feel the state we are in. Our vessels of perception are vessels of assessment: I feel only what I assess as good or bad.

If I see something, then it is a sign that it is important for me: I am either afraid of it or love it, want to get close to it or draw away from it. I feel only what I care about. The attribute of bestowal doesn’t interest us at all, and so it doesn’t exist in our world, and we are all only in the attribute of receiving.

But if, according to nature’s program, we have to reach the attribute of bestowal, then we are given a chance to bring ourselves to it from the attribute of receiving, meaning from the corrupted attribute opposite to bestowal. This is called the “shattering.” There was a good program that worked well but then it broke down. Now we have to learn how to move from the corrupt state to the corrected state.

Thus we will learn the program itself, so as not to exist in it like angels. When I correct the program myself and see all the evil and the corruptions in it, understanding how good it can be if it operates correctly in the system, in its opposite form, then I discover the actual essence of the program, the program planner, and I get to know His thoughts towards the created beings, which is called the “thought of creation.” I am actively incorporated in this program and I acquire the Creator’s nature that is dressed in me. He begins to operate in me, forcing my muscles, my bones, and my brain to move. At the same time, I feel that it is the Creator who is dressed in me, not some unknown force.

First I was operated by my ego but didn’t realize it. Then there was the inner split when I discovered that the ego operates me, that there are two: I and the ego with disparity between them. Then I wanted the attribute of bestowal to manage me instead of the ego. Then, in the attribute of bestowal, I felt the upper root that created both the ego and the good force, and thus I reach adhesion.
[102084]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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