Question: How is a true overcoming different from fighting our ego?

Answer: It is impossible to fight our ego. Is it possible to fight our nature? You simply choose another desire, a greater one, in which that ego hides. It seems to you that you have overcome your ego, that you are fighting your ego with all your might.

Suppose I want to stop smoking and overcome my craving for a cigarette. But at the expense of what do I do that? It means that I see some greater gain in that; it cannot be any other way. So eventually, everything is determined by a greater gain; it is the same ego.

True overcoming is done in “faith above reason,” when I surrender to the group and through it attain the Light that Reforms, which operates on me and gives me the attribute of bestowal, takes me out of my ego, and raises me above the egoistic accounts.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What prayer is needed in order to overcome the interruptions?

Answer: First, you must say His praise and then make the request. The request should also be in order to bring the Creator contentment. This means that there is a series of actions and desires here, that one is based on the other until they all line up in one chain.

The Creator’s greatness, my worthlessness, and the request to give me the power to correct myself are connected in this chain since all that is the Creator’s work and not mine. All this is so that I can attain the corrected state that will bring the Creator contentment.

When I arrange everything in one chain properly, I show how much I know and understand the process and to what extent I agree with it and want to be part of it. This is called my spiritual vessel.

If all the desires, thoughts, causes, and results are arranged correctly, they make up such a prayer, like in the Siddur (the prayer book) that was written by Kabbalists. Thus, they give us examples of how to appeal in gratitude, in a request and in appreciation, to bring the Creator contentment, which means to build my vessel. The prayer is the building of the spiritual vessel.

We don’t need more than that, but we should understand that everything is made by the Light, and so the request is demanded from us so that this action will take place Above. When we acquire the right vessel, we will be able to perform the actions of “to receive in order to bestow” with it.

First we need the recognition of evil, its clarification, the desire to detach ourselves from it, and the request for correction. First we correct the state of “to bestow in order to bestow,” and then we attain “to receive in order to bestow.” All this is reflected in the order of the prayers in the Siddur that was prepared for us by the sages of the Great Assembly (Sanhedrin) even before the spiritual shattering.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How does the Returning Light expand Malchut?

Answer: The vessel of Malchut is a tiny grain in which there is nothing. It is the smallest desire, an elementary particle with Reshimot (informational gene) inside. It is like a lifeless seed that only has the hope to come to life and that’s all.

But when Malchut within this tiny grain, when the “microprocessor” begins to calculate how to react to the Creator, creating Returning Light in it, its reaction to the Creator, and in the Returning Light it begins to feel the Creator Himself. The Creator is revealed within this reaction.

Then this Returning Light, the attitude of the created being towards the Creator, together with the attitude of the Creator towards him, which is now revealed above this grain, returns into the grain and expands it. Thus Malchut expands, and not only does it expand, but also takes on the form of the Creator. This form is dressed in the attitude of the created being towards the Creator. The two forms that are dressed in the desire expand it and give the desire the form called adhesion.

So when a student wants to ask a question his own way and stay with it by getting an answer, it works well in an ordinary university where the professor lectures from the podium. You may or may not agree with his method of teaching, you may accept it or not accept it, but in studying the wisdom of Kabbalah it doesn’t work, because the teacher “formats” the student. The student takes on the form of the teacher, just as I received it from my teacher. This is the holy study.

You can agree to that or not, but you won’t advance unless you receive it from me, even though you don’t like it now and it seems bad and distorted to you. Everything you receive from me can only be in my form and it must be dressed in you. This is the nature of the spiritual world, and there is nothing we can do about it; one form is dressed in another. This is why I insist that my students ask questions my way.

It is the “formatting” of the soul; it is the mutual work of the teacher and the student with the upper help.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/12, The Study of the Ten

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Baal HaSulam, “Messiah’s Shofar”: And because of that, Rashbi permitted himself and disclosed the wisdom of the hidden in his books, The Zohar and the Tikkunim. However, it was with great care, since he only permitted Rabbi Abba, who could disclose with intimation, so only the sages of the children of Israel would understand, and the sages of the nations would not understand.

A Kabbalist who attains the spiritual world is like a scientist who discovers something great. If you ask him to explain his discovery, he’ll not find the words for it and not be able to find a clear coherent definition. In order to do that, we need methodologists who pave the way for people to the summit of knowledge.

So if we are talking about the first convergence, Rabbi Abba could rewrite the words of Rabbi Shimon so that they illuminate even for beginners, for those who are at the foot of the wisdom of Kabbalah, and help those who advance in the spiritual levels to ascend. He arranged the material in such a coherent way so that there can be a smooth transition from “grade to grade,” from one level to another. Even if an ordinary person wants something, like a baby who opens his mouth instinctively, that’s enough. After all, he already has a digestive system, which means that the food he receives from the great ones will help him grow.

This is what Rabbi Abba knew how to do: to disclose with intimation, thus allowing even a beginner to approach the secrets. Rabbi Shimon attained the whole world, and Rabbi Abba knew how to bring his words down and to arrange them for our ascent. This is why The Book of Zohar is like a spiritual ladder for us.

Baal HaSulam adapted The Book of Zohar even more for modern times through his Commentary on The Book of Zohar. We think that he added Kabbalistic terms, but it isn’t so, it’s something else. The additional explanations do not add anything by themselves. On the contrary, they can distance a person who wants to learn this book from the inner essence. This is because then a person simply fills himself with knowledge.

No, Baal HaSulam eased our way even more so that we will hold on to it and advance by both the mind and our emotions. Kabbalists were worried and made sure to pave this path, the ladder, and to provide us access to it.

Question: We too would like to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah in a clear envelop and at the same time with a “filling” that will advance people. How do we do that?

Answer: It’s imprinted in us on the instinctive level because we study by the method Kabbalists passed on to us. A person who studies here and is dedicated to the path has it, thanks to the connection between Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Abba.

After all, everything stems from The Book of Zohar and only that spiritual root operated for all the generations: the upper attainment (Rabbi Shimon) and the path, the access to it (Rabbi Abba). All the other friends from Rabbi Shimon’s group, including his son Rabbi Elazar who speak about the end of correction, are incorporated in this system.

So this is the meaning of “disclosing with intimation”: Even during the concealment, everything that a person needs is revealed on the way.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/12, “Messiah’s Shofar”

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Question: How does it happen that, by improving ourselves, we correct the entire generation (as Baal HaSulam writes in his article, “600,000 Souls”)?

Answer: It cannot work otherwise in the integral analog system in which everybody is interwoven with one another. By correcting a part of me within the universal structure, I correct my connections with others, thus making all liaisons work one hundred percent properly.

 If I improve myself relative to someone else and continue working with them, it means that someone out there is also getting corrected. In other words, by self-correction, I alter the entire segment of the general structure to which I belong: the entire system of souls that are a part of my generation.

The task of the others is to improve their segments of the structure. By doing so, they happen to correct me and others relative to them. It is called “one’s generation.”

This is the way one corrects the others and, thus, discerns a complete (general) soul from one’s personal perspective. So far, it’s not an ample perfection; it is called a “personal end of correction.” A man doesn’t correct himself, but rather his connections with and inclusion in the others. Hence, he corrects himself.

Each of us senses himself as a detached entity only because of the shattering. If not for shattering, we wouldn’t exist at all. Instead, there would have been a network of connections among us. We feel alive only because the power of the shattering has created an individual self-perception within each given desire.

However, through self-correcting—by including myself into others, by revealing the links that already exist among us, and by conforming to them—I lose myself. I transition to becoming a general liaison and, thus, “shift” into others.

The particle that used to be named “I” disappears, contracts itself, and works only in conjunction with others. That’s why I begin to sense myself as if I expand throughout the entire space, meaning that I reveal the “common soul.”

I am totally incapable of receiving into one point, in me. Only by including myself in others, I acquire their vessels and desires. I figure out exactly what I can give to my neighbors, to the person next to me, the one next to him, and so on to everyone!

I discover my personal measurements of bestowal, and thus I win the entire space of the common soul. This is the only acquisition I get. The more I include myself in others, the more I gain through the mere fact of being together with them.

It’s similar to having children. You give everything to them – yourself, your sperm—and thus you multiply and continue living in your children.

My original “I” “discontinues.” It is present solely in my involvement with others. This is how I attain the common soul, all possible liaisons and contacts with others.

Each one performs this kind of work, thus getting encompassed into others. This is how one attains the general common soul, but in one’s own unique way, according to one’s individual spiritual root. Then, one receives the entire sum of other people’s desires only for the sake of serving and fulfilling them. Thus, he becomes a channel through which the Light is transmitted to others.

One receives the surrounding Light that Reforms, reveals others’ demands, and satisfies them. This is how he links with and serves others, similarly to a cell that attends to the whole organism, thus gaining the whole body.

So, by saving our souls, we recover the entire world since a part and the whole are equal. If an isolated particle is connected with the rest of the system, then the whole structure cannot achieve perfection without it since one particle is as significant as the entire system. This is what the law of perfection of the analog system is about.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/12, Article “600,000 Souls”

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Question: How can we use the group to attain the demand to acquire trepidation before the Creator?

Answer: First I need to work though all of my original qualities in the group: hatred of my friends, rejection, care for myself, envy, ambition, and all the other problems. All these qualities must become more distinct and obvious so it would become clear to me that I am deep in my egoism. I must recognize my evil. But this entire evaluation happens precisely when I aspire towards goodness.

I must aspire to reveal the love my friends feel towards me so it would soften my heart and give me the desire to search for connections in a material form. Then I will begin to feel like a passionate and powerful energy that is not of this world but becomes revealed inside a more inner connection with my friends—an unusual power and warmth, a special connection.

And this connection does not depend on us, on what we are doing now, and where we are with our feelings and mind at the given moment. This is something that is always present and connects us, and which absolutely does not depend on us. There are certain invisible iron rods, which connect us all.

Due to the fact that I feel this connection between all the hearts, I reveal our belonging to one another. This necessary feeling is there to begin to develop a certain resistance against our narrow egoism.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/12, Shamati #38

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Question: The newspaper Haaretz published data on the psychological status of adolescents and young adults: 18.5% consider suicide. How can we respond to this?

 Answer: The educational system does not bring them up, but only gives knowledge; the healthcare system is concerned not about patients, but about selling drugs, and so on. Our egoism has developed and turned into a cancerous tumor that is killing humanity. People do not have an answer to the question about the meaning of suffering and the meaning of life in general. Religion does not soothe the developed egoism and has outlived itself; a person wants not only to hear and believe, but also to see and feel.

This can be accomplished only through Kabbalah—the method of revealing the higher force of Nature (the Creator), its goal, and the management program during a man’s life in this world. We should quickly reveal this method to the world, and not only will suicide disappear, but the entire attitude of a person towards his existence will change to be positive and rational. There is NO other solution to the crisis and its particular manifestations!
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Question: In the past, in Ukrainian villages, they would build a house in one day. All the villagers would come together and build it. Is it possible in a Kabbalist group, when people would gather and give all their strength and all their energy in order to help others in some way?

Answer: I think that now the Creator will bring us to this. He will invite very big changes in the economy. Masses of people will become unemployed. They will understand that in order to survive, they will need to unite and in this way will find a correct system for connection and unity. With our help, they will find it, and specifically in this form they will exist, doing everything together.

But since this will already be unity at a higher level, it will feed everyone with enormous energy. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the book The Last Generation. Thus, I think, that we are approaching this. Or through our dissemination and consciousness, or via big blows, in any case, humanity will quickly discover that without the correct connection and unity, including the previous studying, education, and knowledge, it will be impossible to do anything.

This is what we see today in Europe. They wanted to connect between them without any inner preparation, and now are separating. And this was a great problem for them. These were normal blows: Everything will fall; everything will collapse just to show people the necessity of unity.

The movement itself is correct, only not in the capitalistic ideology where each one takes for oneself all that he can, but a different ideology. Thus, we will be building together.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Workshop 5

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Question: In lectures for the 99% can I use the examples of threats of war, famine, and crisis? To what extent can we use them?

Answer: You should not use examples in this form. You just need to show the development of the world and where it is heading and to do this in a scientific way, explaining that in accordance with the development of our egoism, there may be some problems, etc.

The crisis will not pass on its own; we have to correct it in ourselves: This is the crisis of relations between people, not a financial, economic, or environmental crisis. That is, nature is against us, and we are its ever-growing opponents. We need to show people where it is heading from a scientific point of view, without feelings. Of course, all this leads to wars and big problems if we do not step in and begin to move the world towards balance. We are able to solve this problem.
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From a Virtual Lesson 8/26/12

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Question: Why do the masses need to work in the group when we can just give them a book where everything is explained?

Answer: Where will people create the Kli, vessel, where they will begin to experience higher energy? They need practice!

Even if they have nothing to do with Kabbalah, they still need to feel that unity has a special power by which they can change the world, transform everything around them, and see everything deeper. With the help of this force, the property of bestowal, they begin to see as if with X-ray vision into history, into matter. They rise above time, space, and motion to the next dimension. If they do not practice with each other and only read it while lying on a couch, then nothing will change. Reading is good for training, to “warm up,” but not for realization.

Question: Should physical meetings be mandatory?

Answer: Yes, it has been practiced by Kabbalists from time immemorial because contact between people, here, in person is required; you have to implement this.

The Creator is not manifested in one person; He will manifest Himself only in the contact between people. Therefore in addition to you, there must be at least one more person. But it is difficult to work with two people. A group of ten is ideal.
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From a Virtual Lesson 8/26/12

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