Our convention in Bulgaria will begin in a month, on November 1^st and I pin great hopes on it. Taking part in the convention is relatively inexpensive and it will be held in a very nice place. I am inviting anyone who can participate in it to come. We have to prepare ourselves. I will arrive a day before the opening, so please come then too if you can. We will set up a local tour and will have a general warm up before the convention.

This convention is not only for the Balkan area. Many people from Eastern Europe, Russia, the Ukraine, Turkey, the Baltic states, in fact, from all around the world will take part in it. Our program includes both integral education and the wisdom of Kabbalah. We will discuss many issues and many questions regarding dissemination and education with the groups that will participate in order to connect them to the general process.

I am looking forward to this event. I suppose that everyone understands to some extent that this is how he can advance in the shortest and safest way to the goal of creation and to self fulfillment. So everyone must participate in the coming convention with all his heart. There isn’t a more powerful means than the participation in the convention for the sake of others. It is the most efficient means for the revelation of the Creator.

Question: How can we rise above differences such as nationality and language barriers and connect more strongly?

Answer: This is our goal, to rise above all the differences, above all the Masachim (screens) and all the walls that separate us. Without them we could already be one soul. But after the shattering of the vessels each of us is in his own shell, and eventually we are all like a nuts in a bag, connected only by the external circumstances and not by an inner connection…
[117618]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/30/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The sages said: “A person should always be involved with Torah and Mitzvot even though it is Lo Lishma, for from Lo Lishma one comes to Lishma.”

In the article “613 Recommendations and 613 Commandments,” Introduction to The Book of Zohar explains to us that a person consists of 613 desires, and to correct them we do the 613 commandments. After all, this is specifically what we were commanded to do: to correct each and every desire and use them for the sake of bestowal.

In general, the desires or the commandments are divided into 248 positive and 365 prohibited Mitzvot. On the “forbidden” desires we must have to impose a restriction (Tzimtzum) and not use them. And with the 248 Mitzvot (desires), we need to use them as reception for the sake of bestowal. And that is how the person corrects all his 613 desires for the sake of bestowal: part of them through action and part of them through inaction.

The Light that Reforms corrects all the desires. Once it was Ohr Pnimi (Inner Light) that filled the desires, and after that it was removed from them and was left outside as Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light). Now all the desires are corrupted with an intention for the sake of reception, but we can link them with the Ohr Makif so that it will influence them and correct them with an intention of being for the sake of bestowal instead of being for the sake of reception. And after that, to the degree of the change of intention to being for the sake of bestowal, that Ohr Makif will enter into the desire in the role of Ohr Pnimi.

In this manner we serve as intermediaries, as “links” between the Ohr Makif and the corrupted desire. This is our work.
[116370]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/26/13, The Book of Zohar — Introduction, “Rejoicing in the Holidays and Not Giving to the Poor”

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Baal HaSulam, the article, “The Peace”: …anyone can see how a large society such as the state of Russia, with hundreds of millions in population, more land than the whole of Europe, second to none wealth in raw materials….And yet, go and see what has become of them.

…because judging by the wealth of that country and its plentiful population, it seems unreasonable that it would come to that. But this nation has sinned one sin which the Creator will not forgive: that all this precious and exalted work, namely bestowal upon others, which they have begun to perform, needs to be for the Creator and not for humanity.

Question: What does “for the Creator” mean?

Answer: First of all, this is not talking about religion. The concept “for the Creator” means: I build the Kelim, the desire to reveal the broken vessels in the perfection of the Higher Power. It is not just building a perfect social system; rather, there is still the addition of the first original, primordial power of the Creator, which is what I discover.

In other words, I discover another unique phenomenon in addition to the relationship between the Light and the Kli. These relationships are available to me today: I have a body and the vital force within it. But this is not enough. It is not enough that I feel good, vibrant, healthy, and open to the world; in addition, I need to feel and perceive the higher level, the one who created me and constructed all of the circumstances of my life. I must discover Him and reach adherence with Him in order to give Him contentment. And then He will give me pleasure and together we will discover this mutual benefit that is called the “point of adherence,” the “drop of adherence.”

And this is the goal. Gradually we clarify it and are directed towards it more precisely. And conversely, if we are not directed towards it, then this entire chain of correct calculation doesn’t work; and we don’t attain the results.
[116383]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/08/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Peace”

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Question: Why must we go through so many troubles if we prepare ourselves properly? After all, we want to hasten time and go through all the bad things internally.

Answer: Hearing about troubles and feeling them are two different things. We must clarify all the levels, both to their negative depth and to their positive height. It is impossible to avoid these states. The only thing we can do is to go through them at a different pace. If we hasten time, we feel them differently.

It isn’t about how quickly I perform a certain action or a movement. Hastening time means pushing myself with the help of the group faster than the inevitable force of advancement obliges me. I am like a horse that wants to precede its rider, wanting to advance toward the goal by myself.

However, the goal is Hassadim. There is the Light of Hochma. There is a vessel of the desire to receive, and what is lacking is the Light of Hassadim that prepares the vessel in order to receive the Light of Hochma.

However, where do I get the Light of Hassadim? If I really want it, the spiritual system will work and provide me with everything that I need for correction. Everything will be filled and the Creator will be revealed to me.

So, I can receive the recognition of the importance of the Light of Hassadim from the environment or in other words, the goal of creation, bestowal, and love, which are Hassadim. There is no other way. Only the right environment can influence me so that I will want it, although, naturally, I don’t want any such thing. The environment can persuade me by making me feel shame, lust, honor, envy, and so on. It is because they “take a person out of this world” into the next world.

The main thing is constantly to be in the right environment, to improve it, and to incorporate in it. There are no other means.

The environment is the teacher, the group, the books, and our activity in this framework. So let’s all incorporate in it over our heads. This is what all the Kabbalists say.

Question: However, I can do that only if I fear a terrible blow, great troubles.

Answer: So, let me be driven by fear. It will be the first level of true fear.

I certainly don’t want any terrible trials but the moment I switch to a higher frequency and run forward before the stick, my reality changes. It isn’t just about hastening my advancement, as it is written, “Israel sanctifies time.” Notice that the sources refer only to sanctifying time and not to “hastening time.”

When I sanctify time, I feel it differently, in the vessels that I strengthen. It is true that now I feel the exiles to their full depth, but I constantly prepare myself by the Light of Hassadim, respect the states that I go through, and enjoy them since they already illuminate flashes from the end of correction, and I already understand differently and see things differently. I was like a beaten animal before and now I am a human being who is about to undergo an operation, understanding that it is impossible to get better without it, or as it is said, by “taking preventive steps.” So, one way or the other, I will take the medicine, but the whole point is when: before or after the attack?

Humanity is constantly ill but only after many attacks does it begin to think about where it can find a remedy. It takes a long time before people agree to accept it to some extent.

In the meantime, the medicine includes both the feeling and the understanding that I must experience the illness. As a result, I begin to relate to it as to Hesed (mercy) and I “bless the evil just like the good.” Only now after having received the evil in the Light of Hassadim, am I capable of doing so.

It is just like Abraham blessed the Creator when he found out that “your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.” Is it pleasant to hear such things? You cannot go through such things without advance preparation elevating the greatness of the goal, from where the Light of Hassadim shines on me. It illuminates precisely when I keep the greatness of the goal.

Otherwise, I will not be able to overcome the troubles. Not even Abraham, Superman, or Wonder Boy can do so since it all depends on the support from above. No one excels in it in any way. On the contrary, everyone is a rag. Everyone is a shattered desire to receive, and they all need support.

If we speak about great people, it is only because the Creator arranges them that way, from the one that we perceive as the greatest to the one we perceive as the smallest.
[117520]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Rabash, “And Hezekiah Turned His Face to the Wall”: The main part of the prayer should be regarding the fact that Divinity is in the dust. This means that working in order to bestow upon the Creator is lowly and disgraceful work and we ask that the Creator will enlighten our eyes and remove the darkness that is before our eyes. This is what we ask for (Psalms 113) “Who raiseth up the poor from the dust; and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill,” Divinity is called “poor and needy” and it is in the dust, “and lifteth the need out of the dunghill” refers to those who want to adhere to it and feel that they are in a state of lowliness and that they don’t see anything in reality that can help them come out of this mud. So they ask the Creator to lift them, where the body agrees, which is based on the desire to receive, since they know nothing about bestowal and so their work is in the sense of pride.

It turns out that in every state we are in we have no choice and there is nothing we can do but pray and be thankful for the state we are in. It doesn’t matter whether we feel this state as good or bad, as an ascent or a descent, as long as we are aware of the fact that we are in a certain state and that it is the Creator who has arranged it for us. This means that we are conscious, that we exist.

So no matter what happens—if we are aware of the fact that this is what the Creator has arranged for us and are thankful for that—everything that we receive we already receive from Him. We have to be thankful for the point of recognition of the good or the evil, for the moment of realization! It is like a sick person who regains consciousness and that already means that he is alive.

The question is where do we go from this point of consciousness? There is no state for which we cannot be thankful for what we have received, and it makes no difference what state we are in. It is because the Creator has chosen this state as the best state from which I can advance towards the goal of creation. He creates the optimal conditions at any point along my path.

Besides the feeling of gratitude, I also have to ask! “There is none else besides Him” who created me in the previous state and brought me to the current state and has given me the chance to ask Him to bring me to the next state.

I don’t know what the next state I should be in is. But I ask that my prayer, my request, will be identical to the Creator’s desire, to His plan. My correction is in the fact that I see that every state is arranged by the Creator and that I should be able to be thankful for it according to the rule “make your desire His desire.”

Then there is nothing else for us to think or worry about and there is nothing else we should do but constantly, at any point along our way, adhere and hold on strongly to the upper Providence, try to adhere to it so that we will feel thankful.
[117511]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/29/13

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During the workshop, we only pass on information and a bit of feeling to people and we absorb their problems and complaints  but not in their true form, only in an abstract form. Everyone complains about what he lacks: a car, money, housing, or family well-being, and we absorb all this discontent because this state allows it to be corrected in such a manner so as to let the Creator be revealed and be pleased in it.

We go on the hunt for unsatisfied desires in order to bring them into our group, and through the group to ask the higher force, the Creator, for their correction. By this we bring joy to the Creator. For Him pleasure is being revealed in the lowest and most distant desires, in the obstinate one who does not believe in the possibility of connection.

We serve as a pipe, connecting him and the Creator, and we enjoy this, like a fisherman who had a big catch, pulled out a full net teeming with fish trying to jump out of it, and he drags it to the group. We bring back these unsatisfied desires, no matter what they are—suffering in its purest form.

People suffer, crying like little children that they feel bad, each his own needs. However, we understand that they need the Upper Light, the revelation of the Creator. Nothing else will help them. All their problems are due to the fact that the Creator is hidden and all happiness is only in His being revealed. He will be revealed not just as an egoistic pleasure but in their property of bestowal, love, from which they will get fulfillment. They never will get egoistic fulfillment!

We serve as a conductor for this purpose. This is our mission. We understand what people are screaming about, like the mother who understands her child, and we want to give them what will benefit them. We transform their prayer into MAN and raise it to the upper One because we know that only the Creator can help. The help is not to satisfy the desires that they are asking for.

Being a transition channel means to be connected to people at its lower point and to the Creator at its highest point. Inside me, between these two points, there is a mechanism for absorbing and transforming people’s desires. I empathize with them with all my heart and soul, sincerely crying with them. However, at the same time, I handle their complaints, transferring them to the Creator, besides whom there is none else. That is, there is a huge mechanism within me, all the worlds, the entire HaVaYaH.

I process other people’s desires and on one hand, sympathize with people very much. On the other hand, I thank the Creator who did all this, because due to this discontent, they have a need to reveal the Creator with my help. I process their requests by my Galgalta ve Eynaim by adding my properties of bestowal to them. This means that I selflessly work for them, giving them my vessels. I exist only for that and do not try to get pleasure for myself.

In this form, I reach contact with the Creator and work as a mediator between the two of them, and this is the mission of Israel, as it is written, “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.”
[117596]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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If the Light comes from above and gives its power to the lower part (AHP) of the upper level that is under the 2^nd restriction (Tzimtzum Bet) to return to the 1^st restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), it begins to operate. Then this Light also enters the upper part (GE) of the lower level and corrects it. It turns out that AHP of the upper adheres to GE of the lower and they become one whole.

The Light operates them by providing each of them with a Masach (screen) and both of them together by turning them into one whole structure of the ten Sefirot. Thus, all the levels are connected like in a chain, as each enters the other with its part. Otherwise, they would not be able to connect.

Absorption is when every part enters the other, like two pieces of metal that enter each other or two liquids that mix. There are different types of connection as each part gives to the other and receives from it and thus they create something new. Without it there is no life!

In fact it is very difficult and complicated to understand because this is actually the essence of life. Each part enters the other and annuls itself. It is at the point that one annuls itself that it can feel the other, perceive and receive it. It looks for the place where the other has annulled itself in order to penetrate it. This is a mutual, deep, inner penetration which is very complex and as a result each side complements itself: one by GE and the other by AHP.

Thus the upper and the lower levels acquire a new common Partzuf. Two created beings can create a third common Partzuf between them.
[116458]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/08/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: What does “the upper descends to the lower and becomes like him” mean?

Answer: When the upper descends to the lower, it does not mean that an elephant turns into a fly. If it were so, it would not be a “descent” but rather a qualitative transformation. “Descending to the lower” means that one’s AHP acquires desires, thoughts, and actions that are oriented solely to the wellbeing of the lower.

When a woman becomes pregnant, her womb starts working as a system that ensures the development of a drop of semen. It doesn’t turn into a drop of semen but it becomes a place intended for its growth. This implies “a descent of the upper to the lower” because the mother is completely devoted to her child in her intentions and thoughts. The lower defines the upper’s goals and forces so that the upper only acts for the sake of the child. Complete self-denial of the upper for the sake of the lower means that it descends to the lower and becomes similar to it.

A mother has to diminish herself and adjust herself to the lower. Her womb obtains all the qualities that are necessary to absorb a drop of semen. A womb is a very complicated live system that is regulated by multiple processes. Even now scientists do not understand exactly how it operates. It’s a divine mechanism that unites the upper and the lower.

The upper descends to the lower and turns into it, meaning that it acts only for the benefit of the lower, solely for its sake. The lower outlines the upper’s actions. Similar to a child who sits in a stroller and points out to his mother where he wants to go and she pushes the stroller forward as its engine. It means that the mother serves her child and becomes like him. She clings to his desires and implements them through herself.

All systems starting with Malchut of the world of infinity to the very last state that takes care of a drop of semen are oriented only towards the benefits of the growing fetus. It means that the upper becomes similar to the lower and that the Creator acts for the benefit of creation.

A uterus is an extremely complicated divine mechanism that takes care of the fetus and is capable of growing a human being from an informational gene (Reshimo). This system embraces everything: developmental programs, production of necessary materials, creating thousands of essential conditions…

We have to conscientiously, knowingly, willingly, and voluntarily go through the process of spiritual conception and growth that we see in nature. It means that the entrance of a drop of semen in the correct place inside the upper’s womb should be done voluntarily. We must be ready to yield ourselves to the guardianship of the upper. In order to have our spiritual semen fertilized, we should work hard for many years.

The process of conception is so significant that it embodies the concept of connection in nature in its entirety. It symbolizes our unity and dissemination. That’s why we study it in the eighth part of The Study of the Ten Sefirot about linking of the lower to the upper and to the upper upper. This mechanism is inherent in the very core of our lives and shapes our advancement.

In relation to the group and the Creator, we are always the lower. There are others who are considered lower relative to us, and in relation to them we are the upper. This is how the system appears: lower, upper and upper upper.
[117336]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/23/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Is there a difference between how the upper force controls the part in us called “Israel” and the other part of ours called “the nations of the world”? How does the upper force relate to and influence these two parts in us? It’s not just a “plus” and a “minus,” but rather complicated and diverse actions in their direct and reverse forms.

Is it mandatory that in our egoism, the part that belongs to the nations of the world, we have to go through misfortunes, whereas when we become “Israel” we feel good? It may be just the opposite, and usually this is what happens.

After all, the part in me that belongs to “Israel” has to be elevated and raised to an even more advanced level. For that, I need to feel the difficulties and problems in the part of Israel in me. If I receive support in this part, then I would feel only egoistic benefits and so I would never grow up. In order to advance the part  of Israel in us, we just have to feel increasing pressure. That’s why the war of Gog and Magog and the pressure that precedes the Messiah’s arrival have to be extremely powerful and strong, unparalleled in history.

At the same time, the part of me that belongs to the nations of the world has to experience delight instead of suffering. After all, if this part feels enjoyment, we would be permanently confused and would have no chance to differentiate between right and wrong, like in the city of Shushan, the capital of the Babylonian kingdom, where they could not decide who was right, Mordecai or Haman.

So, it means that the Creator’s governance over those who aspire to advance is totally illogical. That’s why our internal philosopher cannot stop objecting to it. Even Rabbi Shimon continues to ask questions. At this level, there are no philosophers since philosophers don’t understand this stage. Only those people who are engaged in spiritual work can be concerned with these questions.

Philosophers explain everything in a very easy way since they are driven by profits in their pockets, stomachs, and minds… They act within a direct desire to receive. At this point, other questions emerge: How does the upper governance rule a person who is engaged in spiritual development? It turns out that the upper governance acts totally opposite to all our desires (both receiving and bestowing) and is contrary to both the nations of the world and Israel within us. It’s so “irrational” that we cannot realize how different it is. We constantly tend to judge these phenomena directly because our desires are not yet corrected.

I feel a complete failure in my bestowing desires, whereas in my receiving desires I am just fine. I feel this way since my level is still corrupt, and that’s why it seems to me that it is worth sticking to my egoistic desires and it’s not worth following my bestowing desires. In the bestowing desires, I constantly feel that I am a complete loser; at the same time when I am in my receiving desires, I feel that I can win.

This is what our internal judge sees, since “one judges according to what his eyes can see.” Only when the point in the heart awakens can we attach it to our environment, thus implementing our freewill and sticking to new values of bestowal. Then we can go deeper inside ourselves and scrutinize and clarify our desires, intentions, and thoughts correctly. This is ongoing work.
[117318]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/13, The Zohar

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Question: It says: “The reward is according to one’s sorrow.” But why should one suffer and feel sorrow, shouldn’t the Lord’s servant be glad?

Answer: I don’t see that my students are constantly happy as if they are at their wedding with the Creator. We operate against our desire and this requires great efforts in constantly being focused on connection, on annulling our ego, and on the intention not to think about ourselves.

We are forced to exert ourselves without any compensation in the egoistic desire to receive with which we work. But I have made an effort, burnt calories and both my body and my soul demand a filling in return. But I don’t get anything; so how will my body be able to go on working without any compensation? After all, it’s a machine, both a physiological and a mental one that must receive a filling, fuel.

I am told that I will receive a filling only if I ask for the chance to work without a filling. But I still want to receive something for myself, and so my exertion is accompanied with sorrow. It’s because I have to give up my ego, give up my reward, and I have to think about someone else instead of myself every time. I see that I cannot do that, and so I turn to the Creator. But until I turn to Him and until He responds, I have to go through an unpleasant state…and that is a rather difficult time.

When a person first comes to the group he is happy and is ready to move mountains, to do anything. Later, however, we suddenly see that he cools down and we see less and less of him; instead of sitting in the front rows, he draws further away and gradually gets closer to the exit, until he disappears completely.

It says: “a thousand enter a room and only one comes out an instructor.” In our times it isn’t one but many more, but this principle is still true. It’s only those who can give up everything and say that they don’t care about what would happen to them because there is no other truth and so they are here! This is called “buy the truth and don’t sell it!” But there aren’t many such people and it depends on a person’s desire, on the point in the heart that the Creator has given him.

A person can also pray to the Creator and ask, although it’s very difficult and complicated. If a person has not received the desire to receive, the point in the heart that helps him reach the goal of creation from birth, then he can still turn with a strong enough prayer to be empowered, despite the weak point in the heart that he has. It’s as if he skips from one generation to another, from one life to another.

You can now receive directly what you were supposed to receive in a few more lives according to the general plan, by returning to this world, living and suffering in it, dying and then coming back again, by the great effort of your request—like you are able to jump through time.
[117515]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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