Question: How do we become a lower Partzuf that annuls itself before the upper one and requests to be created in the spiritual world during the congress?

Answer: Our upper Partzuf is the group and only there does the Creator get revealed. We transform the group into Malchut, the Shechina, while the upper for it is Zeir Anpin, the Creator. We need to induce the state in which our connection with the upper force is revealed.

It’s quite doable and very likely to happen. Illumination from this state will certainly be granted to us, and we are already receiving it, everyone according to one’s degree. But when we truly connect, then instead of a personal illumination, we reveal the Light.

It will also be revealed to each person in the degree that one has achieved unity and exerted oneself. But it will be a clearly defined portion of Light and not some external illumination. I am confident that not only at the men’s but also the women’s congress we can feel such illumination. Our group’s annulment before the upper means that everyone renounces oneself in full force for the sake of unity and inclusion in all the others, and will lose one’s material self there and exist solely under the spiritual influence.

We studied in the article “600,000 Souls” that there is only one soul, everyone attains only it, and plugs into the very same soul. In truth, there is no division and only the force of the shattering is causing us pain right now because we think each of us has his or her own personal soul. We imagine it only because we haven’t reached complete attainment yet and remain in confusion, fog, and loss of awareness. Therefore, at the congress, we wish to plug into this one soul.
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From 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Now, after the “Flame in the Desert” convention we will go through many states. We have attained a certain level of connection, unity, detachment from matter, the importance of annulling ourselves before the friends, different inner spiritual discernments that are close to a real spiritual level.

We have no control over the process we are going through, and we advance according to the order of the Lights and vessels. We are between them like between a millstone, and different forces constantly operate on us advancing us towards the goal, according to our understanding, agreement, will, and support of their action.

Eventually, all the work of the “millstone” is only according to our agreement, that can be under the influence and pressure of sufferings, or by the help of the Light that Reforms. We don’t do anything by ourselves; this work is called “God’s work,” but we have to agree with the actions and want it to take place, although it is against our basic nature.

Since this work is against our nature and we feel it as very difficult, against our will, it allows us to become free, to have freewill and to transcend our nature.

Now after our convention, we go through very special states, and we must use them as quickly as possible to rise above them a few steps ahead. Therefore, these days are very important for whoever participated in the convention physically, mentally, and virtually. We now have to process everything we have received in the convention correctly, as much as we can, and to continue our advancement forward quickly.

The processing of the states is in clarifying the importance, who do we attribute it to, is it important that we have somehow discovered the connection with the Creator, with the spiritual space, with self-detachment, with the new space in which we can really live and after which there is an opening, and if I am born there, then I am born in a new reality, in some matrix, in a new dimension; or do I sink into the current of ordinary life and return to my ordinary animal life?

It is very important to rise above our matter, above the desire to receive that actually pulls us “by our feet” back into the abyss of the ego the moment we want to rise a bit. We, however, have to try and rise.

This effort can succeed only if we operate together, like in the convention where we attained a new level only thanks to the connection for which we have received powers from Above and felt that there is something above nature.

This is how we should continue now, so that all the forms of the egoistic desire and the thoughts that cross our mind will immediately be incorporated in the new ascent. Then we will constantly, every minute, rise higher and higher and will not wait until all these awakenings that the Creator is sending us in the form of the “hardening of the heart,” as an addition to the egoistic desire, as strange thoughts, as blurring and fatigue, will add up to a “big account,” and then we would have to go through them through the path of sufferings and different blows.

On the contrary, every moment we have to go on and on and thus “one penny is added to another and they make up a big account.” We shouldn’t wait until these “pennies” accumulate by themselves; it is much more difficult and disrespectful in the eyes of the Creator; in the eyes of the Creator it is respectful when you don’t leave Him.

So while reading The Zohar we have to connect and to think about how to receive help from Above in order not to break away from the great appreciation we feel towards self-annulment, connection, love, self-detachment and adhesion to the Creator.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/21/13, The Zohar

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Question: What made the great success of the convention that has just ended: the special work during the convention or the preparation for it?

Answer: During the convention we don’t do any work. The convention is not meant for working; it is a “gathering” of all the efforts we made before. We have worked for many years, and the convention is the fruit of our work.

Everyone has received a whole measure from the convention, but it is revealed according to his understanding and his awareness. It is like a small child in our world that is full of different modern devices, machines, etc. but who only sees his few toys. This is what he can perceive in the meantime in his mind and heart; this is what’s important for him.

We have received much more than what each one reveals now. A new and very important level has been revealed, but each one is impressed by it according to his exertion, according to the desires and the thoughts he has developed for this level. Therefore, one perceives it like a two-year-old, another like a four-year-old, a third as a ten-year-old or a fifteen-year-old. There are those among us who have perceived it in its full form, which means that they already feel the complete feeling of the first spiritual vessel that should open up now.

I hope that very soon we will advance towards this revelation and acquire it. The spiritual development is like the corporeal one, and it grows faster according to our advancement. See how slowly humanity is developing, having been in the first state for thousands of years, until it reached to the age of slavery, and then it went on very quickly to feudalism, and even faster to capitalism, and much faster than that to the postindustrial society. The pace of development increases exponentially and more and more changes take place in a shorter time.

The same will happen in our spiritual development, the main thing is to continue! And not to just forget, but to continue this level that we have attained: the same level of clarification, connection, and self-annulment. Just don’t leave what we have attained: hold on to it like a tick, or like a bulldog, and advance further.

Learn from the snake that actually symbolizes our nature in the way it swallows its prey deeper inside it until it swallows it fully. We too have to reach this level, not to leave it, but rather hold on to it very strongly until we swallow all of it.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/13, Shamati #26

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Question: I see that Pharaoh steals all the fruit of my labor and I ask myself: When will I finally reach the point of desperation regarding my own strength? I feel as if I am driving a car but somebody else is behind the steering wheel.

Answer: That’s right; you are not the one steering your car. You are only in charge of your desire to advance. As to how many times you will have to repeat one action, that can’t be known in advance. But the pace depends on you: how frequently your states will change and how quickly you will be able to pass through them. Suppose according to the root of your soul you have to pass through 8000 states until you reach the first spiritual degree where your will to receive will turn to bestowal because of the Light the Reforms.

You have to pass through these 8000 actions, but can do so in two years or you can stretch it to 20. That’s your choice since you have freewill in to what extent you will hasten your advancement. But you will certainly pass through all the necessary discernments, whether it is in this or another lifetime. It all depends on you.

You complain that the Pharaoh is stealing all the fruit of your labor, but that is why it is written that all the beautiful cities built by the sons of Israel in Egypt were inherited by the Pharaoh. It is as if Pharaoh stands behind you, stuck to your neck, and collects all the fruit of your work. This is what leads a person to the point of desperation in the work and to prayer. But you cannot give up!

Besides, every time when you move forward and exert more effort, you still gain wisdom and attain the method and new meanings. You get absorbed by darkness, disappointment, helplessness, and indifference. You get sick and tired of everything and lose faith that there will be a breakthrough any time soon—these are the worst states that can be. Each more advanced state brings even greater descent, desperation, apathy, and realization that it’s impossible to reach the desired.

It goes on like this, until reaching the very last “impossible,” which is regarded as crossing the Red Sea, when you have completely lost faith that man is capable of it and that the Creator is. You decide that it just can’t happen; you are shown that such is your nature and nothing can be done about it and all you have left is to return to the trivial life.

And then one makes up one’s mind to still leap over this impossibility, and a person is shown the condition of how to connect: what it means to become one man with one heart in reality. And if he agrees with it, he receives his first spiritual degree.

The first degree he receives only as a single point regarded as Moshe, and it pulls (mosheh) him from egoism, from exile, while in the rest of the will to receive the “golden calf” becomes revealed against it.

Afterward, a person enters the desert, where problems await him each step of the way and it’s infested with snakes. It is no longer one great serpent, one big ego, but rather, a multitude of little wasps that keep biting a person from every side, his various egoistic attributes. Yet, they help him to keep moving forth on the spiritual ladder, acquiring the property of bestowal.

Along this entire path, I see only two vital qualities guaranteeing success: nullification of oneself before the teacher and the group, and endurance, patience, and tenacity in any circumstances, no matter what may come up. These are the two attributes with which you, like a stubborn ram, keep breaking through, leaping in one direction, regardless of what is going on, despite any internal and external obstacles. And this speeds you up and makes you succeed.

Otherwise, don’t waste your time; it’s better to go enjoy life. But the majority hang in the middle between one and the other state, and sadly, they come to the finish line empty-handed.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/13, “The Prayer”

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Question: Any qualitative breakthrough is always hard in terms of awareness. For example, the theory of relativity, essentially denied the very foundations of customary perception; thus, it wasn’t immediately received and understood and only with difficulty. How will an integral understanding of the world spread in the general system of humanity?

Answer: Really, Einstein suggested a revolutionary approach to understanding spatial characteristics. Until then, people lived in the usual three dimensions and couldn’t immediately understand and agree that everything depends on perception, that “the reference point” could change and enter another coordinate system.

It turns out that the three axes are not fixed in a monolithic structure, but can move relative to each other, depending on the observer. For example, I see the system in motion and you see it at rest. Accordingly, we see different phenomena, different pictures, and don’t understand each other.

Thus, it was difficult for people to grasp the theory of relativity, and only after a few years was it indirectly confirmed when physical experiments and studies predicted its results. But still, even today, there are only a few who really grasp the essence of this approach and the results that follow from it.

Many are satisfied with a superficial understanding at the level of formulas and not through a deeper, inner emotional interpretation. Since, in order to “feel” this theory, one needs to be able to disconnect from our reality at least a little bit. It seems to me that Einstein himself had the beginning of this feeling that accompanies the exit from the regular axes system.

On the other hand, our problem isn’t as great. We don’t disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah and its application, but rather, we disseminate integral education to the general public. We show people how beneficial integral relations are and how it helps in solving all kinds of problems. For that one does not need to go to different axes and experience internal revolutions.

We suggest simply connecting and working on ourselves through workshops, discussions, and communication between us, and from that, it will be good for us. Thanks to that, people will finally feel what constitutes the “round” world, and by that, they will understand what nature wants from them.

We don’t give them tasks that are impossible to execute. On the contrary, subconsciously each person understands that integrality, without a doubt, does not cause evil, and that connection and unity of forces and desires, and closeness between people, will necessarily bring benefit.

And in the meantime, if they don’t want this very much, well, perhaps after a few more troubles and problems, they will have the desire. We are speaking about realistic and achievable things.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/13, Shamati #66

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Question: What is the difference between the pleasure that a man experiences and a woman experiences in the state of the common integral mind, or is it the same?

Answer: Every person has his own pleasures because everyone has his own root and his bonding with others. They are strictly subjective. Therefore, it is impossible to say how men are different from women in their state of pleasure and fulfillment.

This difference can be explained in the image of what exists in our world. After all, there is a difference in how a man perceives our world and how a woman does. A man somehow is capable of feeling what another man experiences. However, he is unable to feel a woman’s experience. He cannot understand her because she has a completely different view of the world.

A man and a woman are two worlds. The same applies to spirituality. Being a male part in the spiritual world, it is impossible to imagine the experience of a woman’s part. You can attract and include her desires in yourself in order to fulfill them, however, not instead of her, but for her.

Question: However, shouldn’t it merge somewhere in the end?

Answer: In the end, it merges in complementing each other, in mutual bonding, but it is still a bonding of two opposites.
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From KabTV’s “Talks with Michael Laitman,” 3/11/12

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Question: During the convention, we made efforts to be born, but how can we synchronize them with the labor pains that come from Above?

Answer: That is why we are given exercises from Above: There is a time of descent, and a time of ascent; there are times when we get together and when we study. And the most important states are those when we unite with each other: during the lessons, other joint activities, and at the conventions. Now, we add our efforts to the natural labor pains in order to accelerate this process.

And in fact, our actions today speed up our birth both quantitatively and qualitatively. As a result, we begin to understand and better feel where in fact the most crucial point is, where we need to press, what a newborn will be according to our expectations.

A newborn is our next degree, like children going after their parents, that is, our next state. We pass all these states due to the concentration of our efforts, in addition to what is given to us from above.

We do not feel in our work what belongs to the preparation from the Creator’s side and what He does. We apply pressure, trying to annul oneself before everyone else in order to create one heart, one desire, and trying not to interfere. But everything else is done by the Creator. He awakens desires in us and we act, but it is not added to our own account. Only our effort that we apply in order to annul ourselves, our self-sacrifice, is counted.

Such actions are given to us with great difficulty and for a few moments. But nothing more is required; we can acccumulate these moments and very quickly reach the force of bestowal, and feel this force clothed in us. This is called the revelation of the Creator to the created being.
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From the Arava Convention 1/18/13, Lesson 5 

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Question: When we try to hold on to the thought about what’s important, we are distracted again and again by other matters. How frequently should these entrances and exits change?

Answer: Once one of Rabbi Zusha’s students told him that he had experienced several ascents and descents that morning; in reply, Rabbi Zusha said that he had experienced close to 400 ascents and descents in a few minutes time.

Apparently it is impossible to measure this variable, since on the whole spirituality is above the range of the frequency of the entrances and exits, of the ascents and descents, in an infinite frequency. There are also higher frequencies in our world, for example, in computers, radios, laser technology, etc. Spirituality is much higher than that.

So when does a person connect to the infinite frequency? When he begins to perceive the ascents and descents as one whole. In that case they become a kind of “even voltage”: There are no “peaks” and no “holes,” everything is incorporated in a common direction.

Only in our world, the plus is associated with the positive direction, and the minus with the negative one. According to such an approach even the plus doesn’t lead to anything good.

But when I perceive such darkness as light, the descent as an ascent, when I realize that everything comes from one source and only in order to lead us forward, then I am equally happy about the ascents and the descents. I am even happier about the descents since by them I see that I am advancing. An ascent can stem from different reasons, like for example from the bribery of my ego. A descent, however, will surely be beneficial since Pharaoh is bringing me closer to the Creator.

I should immediately rejoice when the descent comes although there are moments of the hardening of the heart and confusion that I cannot even tell apart. But the moment I notice that I am detached, disconnected, from spirituality, the moment I realize that I have been “thrown away” for perhaps a quarter of an hour already, half a minute, or even a second, I am happy. After all, I have recognized the problem. It was created from Above, but I have reached its essence and I am glad about that since I am sure that I have acquired a new depth and that I “sanctify” it now.

So it turns out that I don’t move along a shattered road that is twisted and thorny, but along a wonderful road. It is actually so. Eventually, we should change only our perspective of the world. In this new picture, to the extent that we accept what is happening, we discover the system of leadership and Providence, the managing force, and then, suddenly, the perfection opens up before us…
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/13, Shamati #26

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Question: During the Arava convention our group received a huge new level. Now we have to cling to it and keep it, and this requires repulsions. But on the other hand, according to the example that Baal HaSulam brings, in order to jump on the table you need to jump above it. So what is the next point “above the table” that we should focus our efforts on?

Answer: This week everyone will go home and we will return to our daily routine. For me, personally, the daily routine is the main thing; the conventions are a result of that routine. Day after day, we will work on ourselves increasingly more strongly, opening what we attained now and getting ready for the new revelation. This is all our work.

The convention itself is not work. We made such great preparations and so we succeeded. Part of that success was the women’s convention. In addition to that, collecting money for our new home and uniting around this problem created a surprisingly powerful force. Of course, we mustn’t forget the congresses in Kharkov and Novosibirsk.

Eventually we see that we have matured. The world is advancing faster downhill while we are rising accordingly. Here we have to keep clear frameworks: attend the daily lessons, read my blog selectively, participate in the workshops, and disseminate.

The main thing is self-examination and self-report: a person must constantly check oneself and one’s connection with the group.

In this context, during the lessons and the workshops, we are expecting new states and increasingly deeper issues. Today during the lesson and the workshop we will already continue what we have started during the Arava convention.

In this type of work, we fill the vessel drop by drop, until we “leap” to the next level, and thus over and over again. Don’t neglect these daily additions that are accumulating “penny by penny.” There is no other way. By that we discover many vessels, desires, internally. Even if it seems that nothing happens, the outcome of these efforts will, in fact, be discovered later on.

It is the same with a child who has to go through different states in the human environment. If he doesn’t have such an environment during the first years of his life, then nothing will help afterward: No matter how much you invest in him, he will never be a human being. The different examples of Mowgli–children prove that. How could that be? The thing is that he did not develop his desires in time.

We are also dealing with things that are essential on the current level of our development, and so we have to dedicate the time to study and to internal changes by trying to value every moment in this work.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/13, Shamati #26

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