Question: During the work in the integral group, we found a text that was arranged in a special way. It described what a group is and what “we” is, all the levels, etc. It is amazing that around this text there began a creation of some kind of field, to be specific, some kind of shared feeling. What is your opinion of the work with the text?

Answer: I think that this is the most important thing! When a group assembles, a text should always be presented to it.

These texts can be repeated. With time, the group goes through all kinds of states, and each time even the previous text will be grasped differently, in a new way. Since, after all, we all change, and thus the entire group is different each time, and it will discover within its combination, all kinds of aspects of unity, connection, integration, etc.

This is creative work. The people in the group will feel the direction they were brought to and attracted to, yesterday and today. According to the situation of each one of them, they will feel a general, shared desire, an over-all attribute of mutual attraction, bestowal and love, an ascending of the ego which usually separates people, which positions each one in a certain relation to others. And here they must rise above this state in spite of their ego.

Question: During one and a half hours we were able to go through only two paragraphs of the article, because it’s actually possible to hold a one-hour discussion on each word.

Answer: That’s really so. Suddenly one word invites a full variety of sensations! This happens since it is specifically this shared field, which creates an unusual abundance of variation.

Question: What do you think? Is it worthwhile in the beginning to read the entire article and then to divide it into paragraphs and discuss them?

Answer: No. There is no need to load people with this information, since it is sensory, mental, and it will be difficult for people to deal with this bulk.

Whereas, if they listen to one or two sentences in a relaxed manner, then suddenly they begin to see in the text: ‘’How do we implement it? What is it for? Why? For what reason?’’ And even if some phrases that you haven’t read yet, explain previous ones, it’s not important if you get stuck in them, since in this way you will understand the importance more, by getting confused in presenting them.
[88384]
From a Talk on Integral Upbringing 3/4/12

Related Material:
Text – Teacher
In Order To Rise And Connect
The Transition To Integral Thinking

Filed under: Education, Group Work, Integral Upbringing, Kabbalistic Sources, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: In the process of integral education, can we organize some joint activities for men and women such as on the holidays, for example?

Answer: I think that a society that aspires toward integration will discover a greater separation between the sexes. We see that nature doesn’t agree with any intermingling.

In nature, there exists a precise subordination, a hierarchy, a separation in accordance with functions and the way that men and women realize themselves. It’s precisely the correct alignment of these two opposites that will create and give birth to a new, harmonious society.
[88438]
From a Talk on Integral Education 3/4/12

Related Material:
The Influence Of The Women’s Group On The Men’s Group
The Mother’s Way
The Unity Of The World Lies In Harmony Between Men And Women

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing, Q&A, Society, Women - 1 Comment →

There is an awakening from Above and an awakening from below. Everyone can be awakened from below in any state. For example, on Friday afternoon I can be in a state of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and two hours later in Pesach (Passover), or just in an ordinary weekday. This is what we call the spiritual levels and here everything depends on a person.

In addition, there are phenomena that are part of the general order when there is an illumination from Above that comes in order to arrange the worlds. This is an awakening from Above that influences everyone.

The difference between the general and the particular form is in the intensity of the awakening. If a person operates on his own, he corrects himself and eventually reaches his individual end of correction, by leaving the general “stony heart” uncorrected. On the other hand, the general corrections are much wider and more intensive; it’s a totally different thing. This is also the difference between an individual and a group, since it’s in a group that we discover the upper force and all the individual levels are transcended in the relations with the friends.

In the article “The Discernment of a Wife and Sons in the Torah,” in The Rungs of the Ladder, Rabash says: Good days implies the ascents of the worlds, as each one rises a level, and rises a bit above the state it is in. This means that everyone who is part of the worlds rises together with the worlds. However, whoever is not on the ladder of the spiritual levels climbs them, since they require self-annulment. If you can annul yourself, then everything that happens in the worlds will happen with you and by your self-annulment you are included in the spiritual processes.

Rabash continues: And this is the time when everyone checks the cause for which he takes upon himself the yoke of Heaven. Why should I annul myself in order to ascend with the worlds? What will I gain from that? If I had already known the answer I may have not ascended. What do I actually get? Love of others? Concern for others? General connection? Do I really need all this?

A person should check whether it’s worthwhile to pay for this by such great efforts and exertion, giving up all his previous life and annulling himself. Malchut annuls itself before Bina, which means that the desire to receive is annulled before the desire to bestow.

This question is also relevant today, before Rosh Hashanah, (the New Year). Usually people wish one another a good year. So how do I imagine what a good year is? This is exactly what I have to check. A year is a change, the next level, an ascent. What changes would I want in the new year? A raise in my salary? Or something else?

A person should check for what he should annul himself. Time after time we discover to what extent we can bear self-annulment in order to reach the level of others, and to serve others devotedly. Before you attribute nice words to the Creator and praise Him, you should relate to all of humanity. The basic condition is: from the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator. Otherwise nothing works; first you have to prepare the vessels, and your vessels are humanity. Then the Creator is revealed to you there, according to your equivalence to Him. When you treat people correctly, He reveals His attitude to you. This is where you will meet in mutual vessels.

Question: Does this mean that I have to wish humanity a good year?

Answer: Myself, “I want a good year and it will be good if I adhere to the Good and the Benevolent.” How can I adhere to Him? I can do this in my attitude to everyone, by wishing them the best. Then the Creator will help me with that and there I will meet Him, which means the attribute of bestowal. No matter what I think, this is the Creator, I will dwell only in the attribute of bestowal and receive only the one force of love, and this is called “correction.”

Question: What is self-annulment?

Answer: Now you have desires, intentions, and different inclinations and you annul them in order to adhere to the Creator, Who is absolute love. You can’t be totally in bestowal if you don’t annul yourself in some sense.
[88504]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/12, Customs of Rosh Hashanah

Related Material:
A New Year, A New Beginning
The Festive Calendar Of Ascent And Connection
We Need A New Beginning!

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

Question: What is the essence of the phrase “the one who prays for his friends receives first”? It’s a very confusing statement for me because asking the Creator to change my desire is still a prayer for my own benefit, since I already know that I will be the one who receives before others. It’s something that really bothers me.

Answer: It shows that you don’t pray for your friend yet. “The one praying for his neighbor receives first” implies that the one who prays doesn’t think of himself at all, nor does he concentrate on who receives first. Yes, he does receive before others, since the Light has to transcend through him to his friends. How else?

He simply rises to a level at which he prays for his friend without any thought about himself. There is nothing about one’s “self,” nor does one pray to improve his personal matters. All one wishes is to fulfill his friend’s appeal. He doesn’t have a desire of his own of any kind whatsoever!

In this case, one really receives before others because he conveys the Light to his friends. We have covered this material. Our souls are present in the worlds of Beria, Yetzira and Assiya. We have multiple questions and requests. If we raise them to Malchut of the world of Assiya, then Malchut raises them even higher, to Zeir Anpin of the world of Atzilut; the one who raises MAN brings up a request of his friends who are supposedly still staying “below.” Then, he becomes the first to receive the Light from Above. The Light goes through him first, and then it transcends through Malchut to other souls.

Question: So, it means that in order to obtain such a desire I first have to appeal to the Creator and ask Him to give it to me, to make it completely free of egoism, without even a drop of selfishness, right?

Answer: Certainly! In this case, it will be a prayer that precedes another prayer. Otherwise it’s just another egoistic loop, nothing more than that.
[86489]
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 5

Related Material:
Whom To Pray For: Each Or Everybody?
A Common Prayer To Heal The Sick Soul
Whom Do We Pray For?

Filed under: Conventions, Prayer and Intention, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: What does “Adam” mean? Is it a thought or a visual image?

Answer: Adam stands for two parts, desires and thoughts, since we consist of both heart and mind. It’s important to understand that desires are primary to thoughts and that they direct our mind. Thoughts develop in us in accordance with the quality of our desires.

There is a proverb, “The more one is beaten, the smarter one gets.” This is because our willingness to rid ourselves of affliction promotes our growth. We become more ingenious and smart when we seek how to escape suffering and be fulfilled with something we really want. Therefore, no matter how great or respected our mind is, it still is simply an attendant that serves our desires.

Having agreed to that, we should instigate higher desires within us. Then, our mind will rise to reach them.

Let’s say, in a group of ten, we rise to a degree at which all of us have the same desires that transcend our bodily material wishes. We should leave all sensible desires, as well as earthly matters, at home.

As soon as the group enters a place—a studio, classroom, or so forth, that could be called a lab—that’s it! The door is shut. The external world ceases to exist. Only those who are in the room are important.

It’s as if we were on board a spaceship that is flying to an unknown place for an indefinite time. We lose the sense of time; and earthly problems do not trouble us any longer. Nothing matters! Our goal is to ascertain a structure called Adam (man).

What kind of desire shall we have? It should only be to merge with each other, to become one whole.

Accordingly, we begin realizing that the structure we are trying to define is similar to nature, which, nowadays, manifests itself as an integral, unified, and complete organism. If we understand this fact, we’ll feel much better and more at ease.

We will comprehend nature better and will be able to read it. Then, if we regard nature from the integral point of view that we should form between us, we’ll instinctively perceive and follow its laws. We will realize that it’s essential to re-organize our lives, even at the regular, material, and routine level.

Let’s induce such desires within us. Let’s aspire to rise above ourselves, regardless of our earthly goals and hopes. We must uplift and enhance our integral “something” and bring it beyond all material issues. It’s our duty to completely support each other in this task.
[87850]
From a Talk on Integral Upbringing 3/2/12

Related Material:
How To Acquire Your Soul
The Sixth Factor
A New Level Of Unity

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

Question: If you had participated in the discussion in a circle, how would you have reasoned to bring integrality into this discussion?

Answer: I would have allowed people to express the most opposite, differing points of view, and then I would ask, “In order to come to an agreement, on the basis of the conditions that we have, what conditions do we use in order to choose, from all your proposals, the most appropriate, beautiful, and necessary one that has the right to exist?” A criterion should be for this.

It’s not what we are doing, but do we see in this more communication, warmth, security, adhesion, and higher attainment, that is, advancement, progress in integrality? If nature sets us up for this, do we go in unison with it? If so, then, yes. If not, then no.

We are in the process of evolution. Where does it go? We need to anticipate and predict its next step, and in line with how we foresee this step, we need to bring our actions closer to it, and we will succeed in life. It will be easy, free, and simple for us.

What is nature’s next step? It is necessary to bring them to these thoughts, and then, with the help of higher integral sensitivity, they will determine how to do better.
[88283]
From a Talk on Integral Upbringing 3/1/12

Related Material:
We Are So Close That Words Are Not Necessary
Integral Knowledge For The Masses!
Contact On An Emotional Level

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing, Q&A - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: Because indeed, we have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society. Meaning, because each person in the world draws his life’s marrow and his livelihood from all the people in the world, he is coerced to serve and care for the well-being of the whole world.

What was clear to Baal HaSulam almost a century ago still is unclear to people today. We have reached such a state in our evolution that we all are dependent on one another in a tight way, directly.

Question: Why is it still unclear?

Answer: See for yourself: Everyone “pulls the blanket” to his side and doesn’t understand that eventually, he is causing himself even greater harm than in any other way.

The entire point is that if I invest in the well-being of the public, I don’t see any self-benefit in it. If I take something from the public, I see a real benefit from it.

However, Baal HaSulam says the opposite: The system is already “closed.” It is “tied up” in a perfect, whole way inside itself. So, if you work for the public, you get a return that is ten times greater, and if you take from the public, your loss is ten times greater. However, we just keep on going, not understanding what is going on.

Question: What conceals the truth from me?

Answer: It is my ego. There is an integral system that is being revealed today. Actually, the system of Ein Sof (Infinity) is being revealed to us, of the Shechina, the vessel of the general soul in which we are all connected.

Up until now,  let’s say until 1995, everyone grew in his private desires for ages, in the root phase and phases one, two, three, and four. Now, a person discovers that having no choice, he is connected to everyone, and everyone is connected to him.

The strings of mutual connection make a great, complicated integral system, and there is even a certain scientific field that studies this. Before, each part was not connected so tightly to the others. It developed individually, and that was the general trend. However, since the 1950’s, we have begun to feel the global trend, and today, everyone has reached his personal limit and only needs to develop in mutual connection with others. There is nothing left but that. This is the trend until the end of correction.

We are still locked within our egoistic desire and want to fill it like before, but this system is not active any more. Before, I used to fill myself as my ego grew, and it took me from one level to another, from the root phase to phase four.

Today, I continue to operate like in the past, but I cannot because I cannot fill myself—my desires don’t develop in the previous direction anymore. From now on, they can develop only in the direction of togetherness (∑), of unity.

This means that even the egoistic benefits, at first sight, are possible only by connection, only by using connection. This is what is being revealed to us these days.
[88170]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/12, “Peace in the World”

Related Material:
The Wellbeing Of The World Is An Imperative Of Our Time
Tycoons Under Attack
The Boundaries Of The Egoistic Integration

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

Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: Thus, peace of the world and peace of the state are interdependent. Hence, we necessarily find that even that part of the state which is currently satisfied with its life, which are the nimble and the clever, still have a lot to be concerned about for the safety of their lives, due to the tensions with those who strive to overthrow them. And if they understood the value of peace, they would be happy to adopt the conduct of living of the last generation, for “all that a man has will he give for his life.”

There is a simple condition for the good life of the last generation, and that is to know that all over the earth, in all of humanity everything is connected integrally and globally and no one is free of this general account. Everyone is connected to everyone in full connections that we know of and that we don’t know of, the revealed and the concealed. There are millions of strings stretched among us through my thoughts and my desires and through all of me. If I haven’t revealed them yet, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Of course they exist and they are more clearly revealed each day.

The only thing I can do is to understand that that’s the way it is, but the understanding isn’t enough—I need to come to the feeling that I was able to correctly use the situation. Let it limit me when I do something wrong and push me forward in the right initiatives, according to the general system in which we are all connected to one another.

If I don’t feel, I will miss this opportunity: I will start saying one thing and doing another thing, which is what is actually happening today.

Well, first I have to understand it myself and explain to those around me. But eventually, this system has to be revealed to us so that we will really see it in our eyes and in our insight, so that we will feel its signals coming from heart to heart, from mind to mind.

No one will be able to think and contemplate by himself. Everyone will have to connect to the whole world in his thoughts. In other words, we need one heart and one mind for everyone.

Life itself demands the unity. We are moving in this direction and will reach it anyway if not now, then later. So how can we execute this? Will some global government or some global police help us? What can we do?

We need a special means that will show us the connection among everyone in an emotional and cognitive manner, so that we will not just look at in from the side, but will actually find ourselves in it.

Then I will automatically worry about others: If I think, I think about everyone; if I make a decision, I take everyone into account. I will be strongly and tightly connected to the general. Without this there is no chance we will succeed.

Question: You have described the final state, but not how to get there.

Answer: That’s right. Even now I can use my common sense and my right mind in order to depict for myself how things should be. If I already see the general system, how does it obligate me at the moment? Then other conditions will be revealed, even tougher and stranger ones.

Still I have to think objectively regarding the present: There are certain components that are connected in a certain way.

How do I connect them so that everyone feels all the others and everyone can take everyone else into account?

Everyone knows the other’s nature thoroughly and is unlimitedly connected to everyone in a variety of connections and has such a large mind that he can take everyone into account, to immediately plan projects on everyone’s behalf and carry out actual operations, assured that these operations are optimal and that in the current circumstances are the best possible.

Otherwise, if everyone continues carrying on his personal accounts under the conditions of the growing mutual connection, everything will fall apart like a car whose parts go in every direction when an accident occurs.

So we have to see the picture of our unity as compulsory: Everyone has the mind of everyone and everyone has the feelings of everyone else. How is that possible? That’s a question in itself. But even now we already see that nature is presenting us with this problem.
[88317]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/12, “Peace in the World”

Related Material:
The Internal Network: The Access Is Through The Desire
The Will Of The Integral System
The Wellbeing Of The World Is An Imperative Of Our Time

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Q&A, Unity, World - 1 Comment →

Question: Kabbalists attribute envy to the qualities that help a person exit this world and enter the spiritual world. Indeed, why should I envy others? After all, everyone is special and everyone is following his own path. Why should the uniqueness of another make me jealous and empower me on my way?

Answer: I evoke the envy, lust, and desire for respect in me on purpose. It isn’t about just any ordinary person who envies the success of others or who is after respect. In this world we envy all kinds of nonsense and really want frivolous things. I, on the contrary, take only what is necessary for living and disregard all the rest. When I have all the basic necessities, I build myself for the spiritual work and in this framework I use tools like envy.

Otherwise, I will have nothing with which to advance. Envy, lust, and respect are the three egoistic approaches, and what can I work on without them inside of me? It’s these three qualities that take me out of this world; it’s like exiting the worlds of BYA into the world of Atzilut.

So if I want to work spiritually, I look at the work of others and annul myself before them. Then I see them as the greatest in our generation: They have advanced far ahead, they have attained the end of correction, and I envy them. If I don’t envy, I am powerless and can’t move. I receive all the powers to advance from my ego. The right advancement with the right intention, which means the form that is dressed in matter is brought to me by the Light while the matter itself by which I ascend is my own ego.

Question: But how can I guard the right intention from the envy?

Answer: It’s according to the envy, the lust, and the desire for respect that the intention is built. You turn the envy to envy for the Creator, the desire for respect to respect for the Creator, the lust for an urge to adhere to Him. Otherwise, what do you correct? What do you build, an airy castle in the clouds?

Question: But still, when I envy, its fire consumes me.

Answer: No, you allow yourself to evoke the envy, the lust, and the desire for respect only after the restriction, when it isn’t for you anymore, but in order to understand, to determine the “work space.” Everything must be under control; otherwise, you mustn’t even start.

In short, try it. Don’t be afraid to fall into envy. Start working on it. You’re lucky if you envy the friends; it’s good. After all, we have no other force to advance. If I lived alone without an environment, I would be like an animal. On the other hand, if the society spurs me and stimulates me by constantly showing me that the friends have what I lack, it helps me advance in life. I just need a special environment that provides me with good examples, which I envy.
[88246]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/12, “Peace in the World”

Related Material:
Why Do I Envy The Creator?
Envying The Friends
Envy Is A Positive Quality When Used Correctly

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, Inner Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Does the Light affect a person more when he understands what he reads or when he is totally confused and applies efforts to hold the intention?

Answer: It’s impossible to know. The Light influences all the time, but a person can feel this effect not immediately but over time. Perhaps in two weeks, or even in an unsuitable moment, suddenly a revelation happens. You can’t know how it will happen because there are so many internal and external conditions that consequently lead to such disclosure.
[88299]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/12, The Zohar

Related Material:
The Light Operates Without Any Days Off
Four Steps Towards The Light
“A Man Of Light”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Q&A - No Comments →