Most people come to Kabbalah because they are attracted by mysticism. They are curious to know what happens in the upper worlds, what laws exist there, and they do not understand that the most important thing for a person is to reveal the upper world, to begin to interact with it, and to enter it through inner sensation.
As strange as it may seem, and however much this may repel us, subconsciously or consciously, the revelation of the upper world occurs only through constructing it in our world because it has no separate place of its own. It is built here between us, from our relationships with one another.
If we correct our lower, egoistic relationships into upper ones, into bestowal and love, then we will discover the qualities of the upper world between us, and it will gradually be revealed like a photograph that is developed in a chemical solution.
It is already gradually revealing itself to us, but we are not ready for it, and therefore we experience all kinds of unclear and unpleasant phenomena. Suddenly our world becomes unmanageable, and we do not understand what is happening. We are suddenly thrown from side to side; everything becomes highly unpredictable.
This happens because its next, unusual degree is increasingly revealing itself, a degree unlike those in the past when the need gradually arose for technological development or for correcting social relations. Back then, we changed our view of the world slightly, but continued to develop in the same direction, toward greater exploitation of ourselves and the world. We were able to manage that development to some extent. From time to time, various revolutions occurred because part of society resisted change while another part demanded it.
Today however, we find ourselves in a special state where we do not know what to desire. There is no one in favor of change and no one against it; we are all confused. This confusion is very alarming; it makes us passive and amorphous, and we do not understand what is happening to us or what we should do. Each person pulls in his own direction and tries to extract as much as possible from whatever comes to hand, to grab something today because what will happen tomorrow is unclear. That is how we live. We hope that someday all this will end, and that fate will somehow lead us somewhere.
In reality there is no visible way out because the world is beginning to develop along an unclear trajectory that we ourselves have not defined. Therefore neither sociologists nor psychologists, nor Marxists, nor fascists, nor nationalists, no one, can tell us what to do. In such situations, people turn more toward religion, and find a quiet refuge in it, a safe harbor. They think this will calm them, but at the same time they understand that this is not a real solution to the problem but merely a psychological pill. But what to do remains unknown.
This uncertainty manifests itself day after day, and people are already beginning to speak openly about it. In the past no one wanted to publish this or acknowledge a new stage in the world’s development. We have spoken about it for a long time, but people, including scientists, philosophers, politicians, and sociologists, did not agree with us; they denied it. Today however, there is nothing left to hide.
Previously they believed that they had recipes for changing the world, but now all their recipes have proven ineffective, and as a result we find ourselves in a confused state.
Therefore we must understand what is happening in the world and what is happening to us, especially to our group, because without us, humanity will not be able to reveal the next degree of the world. We must do this ourselves: first reveal it for ourselves and then show the entire world how it is done. That is why we bear a double responsibility: each of us for everyone, and all of us for the entire world.
The world is revealed very simply. We ourselves build the correct relationship between us, the one that nature demands of us. We must attain spiritual laws within our world, and then, to the extent that we resemble those laws, we will discover how this world begins to reveal itself between us in our new qualities because it is not located outside of us. We already exist even now within all the forces, all dimensions, everything we study in Kabbalah, everything we can imagine, our next, higher spiritual state. We simply do not see it or feel it; it hovers somewhere here between us.
To reveal the upper world, first and foremost we must reveal the correct connection between us. Today this connection is egoistic, and therefore we feel only our world within it. We do not even imagine that our world is merely a sensation that arises from our natural, egoistic attitude toward everything around us. In other words, what I see around me is determined by the fact that I perceive everything egoistically. I evaluate what is good or bad for me, how pleasant or unpleasant various manifestations, phenomena, and laws are for me. And in this way I absorb them, they imprint themselves within me, and form my picture of the world.
But if I change my attitude, if I begin to perceive everything around me, not according to whether the world is good or bad for me, but rather by relating to it as good, not from my egoism but above it, outside of myself, then, by rising above egoism and my nature, I will begin to perceive the upper world.
For this purpose, the group was created, a mini-model of this world, within which we must gradually train ourselves to adopt a new attitude and a new vision of the world. Rabash writes about this.
Before him, Kabbalists did not write about this explicitly; they only mentioned it in passing because the world was not yet ready. Only at the beginning of the last century, when integrality and interdependence began to reveal themselves did Baal HaSulam begin to write that the entire world is like one family. A hundred years have passed since then, but only today are we beginning to gradually realize this. We still do not see what he perceived.
The manifestation of integrality must become a very serious signal for us to begin quickly mastering the spiritual space between us and to start existing and living within it. In this, we will be pioneers. We will be able to tell humanity which laws are operating in our world today and are gradually revealing themselves more and more, and how these laws must be used so that everyone will be safe, comfortable, and well. We will begin to feel not only our present state, which appears to us as our corporeal body and corporeal world, but a state of eternity and perfection.
For this we are given the group so that within it we begin to implement the laws of the spiritual world, to form them between us, to study them, to try to align ourselves with them, and to realize them. It is very difficult for a person to tune into this because it always seemed to him that the upper world is located somewhere above, where the soul floats away. But in reality it is located right here, and the concept of “upper” means that it is higher in its qualities than the corporeal world.
The entire spiritual world differs qualitatively from our world. We must remember this well, and then we will understand that it is located here. We only need to change our qualities into upper, better ones, and then we will begin to feel it. We must become accustomed to this idea, absorb it within ourselves, internalize it, and begin to act in such a way that it permeates all our thoughts, our desires, our feelings, our relationships with others, and our view of the world. This is precisely what Kabbalistic practice consists of.
If we do this, then very soon we will truly be able to defocus our former egoistic vision and see the world differently, where all of humanity is connected into a single system.
Then in these new relationships with one another and with everyone else, we will begin to feel the upper nature, and ourselves within it, as completely different. I will no longer feel myself inside the body, but outside the body, in my so-called soul, that is, in my attitude toward others. The body may die, but it does not matter. I will feel myself existing beyond it, in connections with others. This shared energy, shared quality, shared desire forms our common soul—one for all.
Therefore, although we are created as egoists and relate to one another accordingly, we must begin to tune ourselves to the understanding that correcting our relationships reveals the upper world.
The wisdom of Kabbalah and the clear rules of interaction within the group are intended to help us to begin to create new spiritual qualities between us in which we will begin to feel ourselves and the group as a single spiritual Kli (vessel), a soul, within which we will reveal the common quality of bestowal and interconnection. This vessel will be filled with a special quality that is the root cause of all creation, and we will feel this quality as the Creator.
That is why there are many well-known expressions such as “from love of the neighbor to love of the Creator,” “love your neighbor as yourself—the great spiritual law,” and so on. They express all of this in allegorical form, and at first it seems to us that they are merely pleasant moral teachings. In reality, they convey the fundamental laws of existence upon which everything else is based, just as in our world the laws of gravity, interaction, and the behavior of molecules, atoms, and celestial bodies are based on reception.
Everything within us and outside of us is egoistic nature. We exist within it, but we have already completed our development there. Now we must begin to develop a new, altruistic nature. Therefore, all our care, all our forces, and all our attention must be directed toward changing the connection between us, despite the fact that this repels us, that we do not want to hear about it, and that we do not take it seriously. After all, these are the same rules by which we usually educate our children, and tell them not to quarrel, not to fight, to be polite and kind.
But here, something entirely different is meant, that I must perceive the other as higher than myself, that is, as if I become his continuation. We must reach such a level, and then we will begin to feel ourselves within the external universe.
The necessity of developing love for friends arises, first of all, from what the world itself is demanding of us today. Nature is pushing us to the next degree. People do not yet realize this, but many studies and articles on this topic have already appeared. Thus, the need for love of friends arises because the world and all of nature demand it.
On the other hand, if we feel an aspiration toward the upper, toward knowing ourselves as something more than mere animalistic existence, then we must realize this precisely in this way.
Do we choose our friends?
No, we do not choose them. They come together and gather through the same field that forms the new state of humanity. This field, which includes us all, exists as if beneath us. It collects us and arranges us so that, ultimately, in every country and every region, people are drawn to one another, find one another, and gather together. Through the Internet or other means, they receive information that there are others like them elsewhere, people with the same intentions and desires. They are drawn to one another like electric charges in an electric or magnetic field, according to the law of equivalence of form, which is the fundamental law of interaction in the world. Thus, we find friends, and they find us.
Therefore we do not choose them. They are selected, sorted, and gathered by this field. It pushes people to unite into groups according to their specific spiritual potential. I do not choose my friends, and they do not choose me, but this is only the initial condition, an invitation for further work. Everything that exists before our arrival in the group exists only as a starting point.
From this point on, I must act and make an effort. And here a very serious problem arises. People begin to examine themselves and ask: “Is this really why I came to the group? Is this what I am drawn to? Do I really need to devote myself to this work? I thought Kabbalah was something else!”
First and foremost, they must clearly recognize this desire for spirituality, this new point, this new quality that has arisen within them, and understand how it is connected to the need to unite with others in a group. This is a very difficult transition. Here we must go through inner states of maturation and analysis.
I know this entire stage of development from personal experience. It was very difficult for me to understand that I, a person inclined toward science, philosophy, and the study of nature, suddenly had to study psychology and my attitude toward others. I had never been drawn to people; I never thought I needed others. I was always a “lone wolf” in my cell, engaged in my favorite activity—books. Nothing else interested me. I believed that through Kabbalah I would attain the upper world, and that the wisdom of Kabbalah and the attainment of the upper world were the most important things. I did not imagine that this attainment lay in forming entirely new inner qualities, qualities that I had to develop specifically through relationships with other people like myself in this world, who were also striving for this.
When I began to study with Rabash, I did not understand this either. Only later did he tell me that in order to advance, I needed a group, and that I would not achieve anything alone, even if I were always near him.
Without a group, advancement is impossible! It was very difficult for me, and therefore I understand very well how difficult it is for each of you. This psychological barrier stands before everyone. Imagine what will happen in the world when we begin to explain that “love your neighbor” is the condition for revealing the upper world. Who will find this credible? Who will agree to it? Who will engage in this?
How can we convey this idea to the world? If we fail to make it appealing, the world will be pushed toward its realization by immense suffering from behind, rather than being drawn forward, the way we wish to attract it and show it a good path.
That is why our tremendous efforts in study and in building altruistic relationships, mutual help, and mutual participation are needed not only for ourselves, but also so that we can show this to the world, explain it, convey it emotionally and internally, and communicate humanity’s future state.
From this follows the main condition for the correct interaction within the group. Each member must openly express himself before the friends, try to demonstrate the greatness of the goal, and emphasize that it is precisely this greatness that compels him to be kind, correct, and attentive to others. This deliberate demonstration of the importance of the goal is necessary in order to begin to create a new spiritual instrument for feeling the upper world within ourselves, for looking not inwardly, as today, but outwardly. Then I gain the ability to see and feel the spiritual space.
Thus, the group and the friends must help me in this by showing an example, by inspiring me, and I must help them. There should always be several people near me who demonstrate correct relationships with one another, as one common whole. This is especially important in large groups, where one must rise above all problems and all repelling forces that deliberately act in order to elevate us higher and higher above them. I must understand that I am deliberately being compelled to dislike, hate, or be indifferent to others so that in proportion to this, I can develop opposite forces within myself to counteract the forces that repel us from one another and rise above them.
This is extremely important to understand. When we say “there is none else besides Him,” we must realize that everything truly comes from Him. He sets everything up for us. When we begin to work together in the group, and unpleasant relationships appear between us, these are precisely the most effective states for advancement.
They come to us only when we are capable of rising above them. If we do not understand this, it is only because we have not created such a community between us, such an atmosphere, that would support us and give us the correct orientation for rising above what is happening.
Therefore we must try to create within the group an atmosphere that does not let us fall, that constantly supports us as if in the air, so that we feel ourselves rise and fly above all problems. The problems arise beneath us, while we rise even higher and closer to one another, despite the forces that repel us. In the process of spiritual work, many repelling forces and phenomena arise, and we must learn from them because spiritual forces and phenomena are absolutely opposite to them.
As soon as I begin to work on some egoistic force that repels me from a friend, I immediately begin to understand more clearly where the entrance to spirituality lies, to feel that something is there. Try to rise above it and you will see how it appears before you, right here. One must constantly try to float above disturbances, above all conflicts and contradictions between us.
The most important thing is mutual help, when the group creates a feeling of mutuality called Arvut (mutual guarantee). Each of us must support the others; one moment I support him, the next moment he supports me. If no one supports me when I fall, I can do nothing, because at that moment only one egoistic force operates within me. If I have not woven networks of connection between myself and the others, I fall. I must constantly create positive connections between myself and the other members of the group. Then, if I fall, they support and lift me; and if they fall, I hold them. Thus, together we rise.
Therefore “love your neighbor as yourself” is the principal law of attaining the upper world. It is in no way comparable to love in our world because it speaks of mutual support against spiritual obstacles that the Creator deliberately places before us. That is why Pharaoh is described as the opposite manifestation of the Creator. If we rise above Pharaoh, and manage at least to flee from him, from the so-called Egyptian exile, then we reach the next spiritual level.
Here, a very serious quality arises that we must attain: the quality of fear, fear of falling, fear of beginning to take the disturbances that arise between us seriously as if they come from people, from friends, rather than from the Creator.
This is our most common mistake: when I suddenly become offended by others, and they by me, without even realizing why. It seems to me that they are doing something wrong, and I want to withdraw, to be alone, not to think about others, not to pay attention to them. But there is no such thing as “I want,” because “there is none else besides Him,” and it is the Creator who organizes and forms this attitude within me. Therefore a person must constantly analyze his qualities, what is happening within him, and remember that all of this comes from the Creator. In this way, we continuously propel ourselves forward into spiritual space.
That is why the first thing Rabash writes about in his articles is the rule “love your neighbor as yourself” and the constant aspiration toward it.
The second is the fear of falling into an unconscious state, when it seems to you that you are properly tuning yourself, but suddenly you disconnect from the group, it ceases to interest you, and something “of your own” appears. This is a spiritual mistake: to disconnect from movement toward friends, which enables one to begin to feel the upper world, the Creator, in one’s new attitude toward them. There are no other mistakes, only this one! And there is no other commandment, that is, no other correct spiritual action, except to strive for connection.
And the third: after we have tried to tune ourselves to connection with the friends and to hold onto it, we must be guided by the fear of losing this connection, within which we must desire to reveal the Creator.
Thus, there are three conditions for revealing the Creator, and all of them are right before us.
First, I try to make an inner movement toward the friends, to feel myself together with them, and to constantly support myself and them in the state of “there is none else besides Him,” and that everything that happens within us comes from Him. We must tune ourselves to this connection and fear losing it. If we act this way in mutual Arvut, then within this action, we must immediately desire the revelation of the Creator.
Let us try together! You will see how it works. At the very least, you will form some inner predisposition toward it, some preliminary sensation that it is possible. You will begin to feel new vibrations. Thus, with the help of the group, we move toward the goal.
In our time, this applies equally to men and women. Female and male egoism, of course, has its nuances, but they are insignificant; essentially, it is the same egoism. Under no circumstances should it be broken or destroyed. One must simply float above all the fluctuations of egoism that constantly arise within you. After all, the Creator places all of this before you, and you rise above it. This is what is called “faith above reason”, bestowal above egoism, above reception.
Therefore we must constantly think about our friends, try to organize a vast global spiritual network in which everyone feels supported, fears leaving it, and in which we constantly try through our intentions to hold everyone together.
It is necessary to understand the importance of the group because in essence, there is nothing besides it. It is the environment in which I create the upper world through the connection between us. I build it within our relationships.
The upper world has no form of its own. There is our state and there is the upper light. To the extent that we strive toward one another, from our efforts, it will form the picture of the upper world within us, which will begin to gradually reveal itself: the worlds of Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, and so on. Everything depends on our correct relationships with one another, and then, right here between us, we will find the upper world.
Therefore do not think that we will see it or some future world after we die. That achieves nothing, because we are animals. There is nothing in us except an embryonic point of the spiritual state that we must develop. If we develop it, we will acquire a spiritual body, our common desire to bestow, within which we will receive the light of life that fills it: mutual bestowal and love. That is our spiritual state. But if it does not exist, then we are simply animals. We die and are born. In other words, our eternal spiritual point once again takes on an animalistic human form, and we are born again in order to try once more to realize ourselves.
But today we are in a state where we must realize ourselves now, as it is said, “You will see your world during your lifetime.” That is what we must do. Therefore, together with our friends, we must constantly be in a state where “love covers all transgressions.” Until we reach this state, we cannot rest. We must constantly be in motion, and push our unity forward.
From this naturally follow all the structures we establish between ourselves. In essence, they originate from the time of the first revelation of the upper world, when the ancient Kabbalists saw that it is revealed through their connection with one another.
This is exactly what Abraham did with his group, which he led out of Babylon. All members of the group followed the path of “love your neighbor as yourself,” and realized the fundamental rule of the spiritual world. It was revealed and described even then as the foundational quality of that group. Therefore all the conditions and laws of the group stem from it.
These laws include mutual support, constant demonstration before friends of the greatness of the goal and the greatness of the group, expression of the desire to be helpful in everything, and to be equal to others and even lower than others. In addition one must organize various meals, and do everything that connects people with one another. This must be the most important thing for us.
If we master all of this, repeat it theoretically, and implement it practically, then without a doubt, in a short time we will enter the feeling of the upper world.
Question: How do we discover the place of connection between us? How should we focus on it?
Answer: The place of connection is between us, but it is revealed when I strive into the heart of a friend, and he strives into mine. I do not even need to think about it or worry about it. As soon as I strive into his heart, I begin to feel that something warm arises between us, something tangible, like a glowing crimson disc. Our feelings begin to shine through. The very first feeling is warmth. This is not yet a spiritual state, but it precedes it.
Question: How close should the connection between friends be? Should we constantly strive to merge more deeply with one another internally?
Answer: There must be an absolutely complete, uninterrupted soulful connection between friends. This is constant work toward constant connection, with constant thoughts about others. Everything that is not about others is opposite to spirituality and pushes you away from the goal. Therefore it is constant work and constant striving, and it is not difficult.
If we constantly inspire one another, we will receive enormous energy from each other. New possibilities will open up. Fatigue will disappear because then there is no need to work against egoism. As soon as my friend starts thinking about me, I stop thinking about myself. As soon as I start thinking about him and showing care, he stops thinking about himself. Then together we float above all problems. We have no concerns except for supporting one another in this state. We no longer feel egoism, we float above it.
Question: How do we work in the group with the “raspberry ball”?
Answer: First, we must aim to discover it. When we tune ourselves to one another, this creates conditions for mutual contact, interaction, and support. Nothing frightens us, we need nothing, and we think of nothing except unity.
Question: What does “love of the neighbor” mean?
Answer: Love of the neighbor means that I care for my friend so that he has everything necessary for life and existence, but no more than that, and in addition, that he has everything needed to attain, together with me, within our common desire, the spiritual quality. To attain the mutual quality of bestowal with a friend is precisely the spiritual Kli (vessel) in which I begin to feel the upper world.
Question: How can all groups in the world unite if this is not described in any sources?
Answer: Indeed, the sources do not speak about the connection of all groups in the world, and this is a very serious problem. But it is clear that we will overcome it because such groups are appearing everywhere. We hold conferences, seminars, conventions, and gatherings of friends.
As long as I have strength, I am ready to travel the world wherever possible. Everything else depends on you, on your aspiration toward one another, and on how well you can create a common platform where you feel one another.
Suppose there are 50 groups in the world, and each represents one face. Then a platform should be created where each group writes one sentence daily, and expresses support for all the others, because we must begin to connect somehow!
Otherwise, it turns out that I connect you, and you unite through me. You must connect more directly with one another through dissemination where different groups publish different materials. Try to ensure that these materials circulate among us and that we select the best from them.
In truth, all of this is external support for our internal aspiration. When a group represents itself as one unified whole, it will naturally develop an aspiration toward other groups. From there, it will be carried forward by the quality of bestowal that it acquires within itself.
Question: Should we strengthen ourselves as a virtual group of Kazakhstan or as a world group?
Answer: I believe you should strive to remain in constant contact with one another and strengthen yourselves. Engage in joint dissemination, but carefully advertise not Kabbalah directly, but integral education. Most importantly, meet at conventions and other events.
Comment: After a convention, there is a strong feeling of warmth and connection, but the vacuum or fog does not disappear. It feels as if the orientation is lost and the pressure that existed before the convention, which helped so much, is gone.
My Response: I feel exactly this in you. It is true. The Siberian convention was the strongest and most internal of all the conventions so far. This is how all conventions will be if we prepare them correctly, with the desire for bestowal and connection. Each one will rise higher than the previous.
After the convention, on the one hand, warmth remains, the feeling that we reached there. On the other hand, this feeling floats in some kind of fog, and it is unclear what to do with it. You want it to become brighter, but it gradually dissolves. What should be done? It must be strengthened!
It is strengthened only through the connection between us. Take the feeling that remains after the convention, and begin to realize it practically within the group, between yourselves. Truly, not in words, but in sensations and feelings. Start dancing, hugging, organizing, anything you want! Try to do this not automatically, but only with the heart, as it was at the convention, when you were able to rise a little above yourselves. I helped you, pushed these feelings into you, but now the time has come for you to do this yourselves. These feelings are alive within you. You must now realize them among yourselves and not let them fall!
You prepared well for the convention, and I truly gave you everything I could give to your desires. Further realization is now your responsibility, I cannot help here. You must seriously rise to the next level of relationships, an inner aspiration from person to person. Do not be indifferent to this! Take out your heart and begin to work with it for the sake of the other.
Question: How does this begin? Does someone start first? Or do we agree: “Let us begin to act this way together”?
Answer: What difference does it make? Why wait for anyone? Why am I in a group? If I want to attain the revelation of the upper world, I must begin to act toward my friends right now. I should not wait for them!
Even if they do nothing and only I act, I will attain revelation because the group is actually internally connected and exists in the spiritual world; this is simply concealed from us. I do not see the group; I see my egoistic attitude toward the world. If I change my attitude, I will see that everyone around me is corrected. Therefore do not wait for your friends, begin to relate to them correctly now, and that is enough to enter the upper world.
Question: What core points of a group’s charter must be mandatory, regardless of location? What unites us as one world group?
Answer: A Kabbalist is a person who attends lessons, pays Maaser (the tithe), and works on connection with others. These are three necessary conditions. If you do this, you are on the path, and everything depends only on your aspiration.
Question: What gives a person the strength to hold on to “there is none else besides Him” despite disturbances?
Answer: Only the support of the group! Without support, it is very difficult to advance. At the very least, participate in our common lessons. Even if you are alone, this will sustain you. But you must still cultivate this within yourself, develop the correct attitude toward others, and then you will break through.
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From a Virtual Lesson 12/16/12
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The Role Of The Group Is To Discover The Creator
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