Question: How can a person who has despaired of life know that the wisdom of Kabbalah exists somewhere and that there are people who can help him?

Answer: The Light will bring him and arranges this opportunity for him, just as it brought you to the lesson. Each one receives such an opportunity, but then he has to make his own efforts. Only then will he continue to advance.

The difference between advancing along the path of suffering and advancing along the path of the Light is speed and comfort. When a person adheres to a group, he begins to receive much more Light than when he is by himself.

I have to go through certain states and I can go through them with the help of a great Light or with the help of a small ray of Light. The difference is that in the first case I am part of a group and so the Light that comes to the group also shines on me through it. Thus I receive the general desire, the huge vessel. My Reshimo (spiritual gene) is the general Reshimo, since I advance together with everyone else. Imagine what a speedy advancement this can be.

On the other hand, I can remain in my private desire and have nothing but one point. The Light that shines upon an individual is the Light of suffering and not the Light that helps him advance. After all, a person doesn’t yearn for connection with others, which means that he doesn’t intend to annul his ego.

I can be in either one of these states: a state in which the Light pressures me from below by sufferings or in a state in which I am drawn forward by the group to connection and I make efforts to connect. My effort is the first factor, and then as a result, the Light that I have drawn shines on me. “I awaken the dawn,” meaning that I am the first. Whereas, in the first case, the Light forced me, and so it was felt as sufferings since it operated against my will.

This is the whole difference. We either run forward by ourselves or are pushed from behind by blows. The difference is in the pace and the comfort or discomfort along the way.
[113975]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: There is an image in our world of “wedding preparations,” and when everything is ready, the table is set, the musicians are ready, and now we can sit cross-legged and watch the main event.

How can one not freeze within this picture that essentially, preparation to convention has brought us great confidence? How can one feel a need to enter into the next level called “adjustment” and open a second wind?

Answer: Everything is done only with the help of the Light. All changes directed at the goal are done with the help of the Light. I have nothing else to add.

We know that all of our work is built from two opposites. On the one hand, I need to be completely sure that my efforts build the next level and everything depends only on this. On the other hand, it is up to me to understand that all efforts are designed only to awaken the Light and create a prayer within me because I, myself, produce only a desire for the Light to influence and carry out this action, which will reveal me for its sake, for the sake of the Light.

This opposition within us is relaxed only when we are connected with the Creator, and until then, it is the opposite. It grows all the time, tearing us to shreds, and we don’t understand to where we are advancing at all.

The gap between these two opposites continues to grow: We fall into one of them and then into the opposite, and when they are connected, we find ourselves in an internal state that we are not prepared to endure. This is done intentionally because ultimately the need for the Creator to be clothed in us is created, and then we feel great happiness because through this, we give Him contentment.

It is up to us to fulfill these three conditions: to be in one extreme state where everything depends on me, to be in another extreme state where everything depends on the Light, and in a third state where we hope that the Light, the Creator, will fill us and connect these two opposites into a single whole. Then we will feel happiness because this brings joy to the Creator, and until then, until everything is connected within us into a single whole, we are not yet ready since there is no complete desire yet. It is still in preparation.

I fully share your commitment and desire to finish everything immediately, because the moment that the intention is correct, then there is a realization that we may only have this moment to implement it.

We had a very deep, powerful, and dynamic convention where everything that was prepared from the start was destroyed. We made giant strides.

I hear people who were recently in connection with us, with the method, suddenly developed such internal definitions, inner clarifications, and really amazing things awakened in them! Young friends express themselves not through vague words. Rather, I see and feel where they come from, with such depth. This is absolutely a different generation.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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It is written in Divrei Hayamim I (Chronicles 1) 28:9: Know the God of your fathers and serve Him. To know means being conscious because the Nefesh, that is, the desire in itself, cannot exist without consciousness, without a sensation that there is something clear, something definite within it. Desire must feel and define its sensations and compare them.

Together with understanding the sensations, a fulfillment appears; you see the person strives and longs for true service to the Creator. This is what is in us, this is what pushes us. Our lives are so confused, concealing from us what we are truly doing.

We are also now carrying out all that we are required to do, only the true state, the true world in which we are found, is concealed from us. We feel ourselves as a shadow of our true state, and all that we do is directed towards returning to awareness of this subconscious state. But along with this, neither our world nor the actions that we do within it will change; rather, we will see it in another form.

The person doesn’t understand that his longing, his aspiration, all that he does for the sake of egoistic development (it makes no difference how he acts in our world), all our actions are contingent on only one thing and are directed towards it: the desire to perceive the Creator. And until we perceive the Creator, the origin which illuminates us and gives us life, we will not rest and we will always feel unwell. In other words, the origin for all of our negative feelings is the concealment of the Creator, while His discovery gives us fulfillment, ecstasy, which is the goal of creation.

The person aspires to perceive the Creator in all his actions, both consciously and unconsciously. You see, it’s as if we desire and are ready to even agree to nullify our ego somehow to connect together: “Put before us all the conditions given for existence that we can fulfill, then we will be ready to discover You.”

But even though we have urges like these, not even drives, but permanent desires, this is still not enough. Even if we gather together, connect, sing, cry, dance, learn, work on connection, it makes no difference what we do and how much we strive, our efforts will not yield fruit if the Light of the Creator will not illuminate them.

Therefore our efforts should not to be either spontaneous or temporary. They must be crystallized in the right form with intensity, with direction, with character in order to attract the Light of the Creator onto us. Without the influence of the Light on us, our nature would remain the same egoistic nature, and we will “stew” within ourselves, no qualitative changes will take place within us.
[114253]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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If you come to a person at the right time when he has despaired and does not know how to switch to new criteria in order to experience the sweetness rather than bitterness, then he will listen. That is the essence of the crisis.

Previously, we have always looked for and found the means to do this, due to this, humanity grew and advanced, like children who grow because of their toys that become more goal-oriented, and thus they change their tastes, understanding, and awareness of what is called sweet and what is called truth.

And when we reach the end of egoistic development, we discover that we are in a bitter state, which is impossible to turn into the sweet one. There is neither truth nor false that can help in this and change us so that we feel sweetness instead of bitterness.

Here we come with our method of integral education and explain that there is a force: the force of connection between all people. Due to it, we will achieve sweetness that simultaneously will be truth. This sweet truth is revealed not in someone individually, but within our common unity.

People will not be able to reveal this knowledge. Even if they begin to unite with each other, everything will turn into either a circus or a criminal gang; nothing good will happen.

We must be aware that if we do not succeed in our mission, then in the future, criminal association awaits our world, that is, the Nazi regime, about which Baal HaSulam warns in the article “The Last Generation.”

If our method of integral education is not successful, then the world will be won by the fascist doctrine, which is also based on the sweetness derived from unity. But this unity is founded on hatred of others. The whole world then is divided into two halves: mine and all the rest. And we are building our unity not on the love of others but on the hatred of others, and inside it we find sweetness.

Although this Nazi approach is contrary to the goal of creation and development of nature and cannot hold out for long, this possibility exists for a short time.
[114577]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How is it possible not to flee from the spiritual work when you feel emptiness? On the one hand, the feeling is unpleasant, and on the other hand, it is understood that this is the right direction.

Answer: The only action that the person can do is to strengthen himself in the right environment. This is what is given to us. I do this in whatever way I can through all kinds of activities, be it in a physical, mechanical, intellectual, moral, or emotional form. It doesn’t make a difference how. And if not, then scream to the Creator; this is good.

Now, they will show you that you can be found among friends, to sit among them, to sing together with them. Then comes disappointment. After that, you will begin to carry out some other activities, perhaps not to sing, but to study together with them or not, but to disseminate together. You will be disappointed all the time. All the time, you will feel that this is not enough in order to be mixed with them, and so it is until you have apparently done everything and, in spite of it all, you feel empty. Then, you will begin to cry and scream, and with this as well, you gradually will reach a need to mix with them, but you are not ready to do this by yourself, for only the Creator does this. This is to say, there is you, them, and the Creator between you. That’s it, a marriage. That is how this works, but gradually.

You see that in every distinction there is the gradual gathering of negative potential, until it explodes, and every time that it explodes, then the last state is the feeling of absolute exhaustion when nothing can help except turning to the Creator. If you already have prior experience, then according to states of this type, you already can determine that these are moments appropriate for realization.
[114429]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: What is that blind alley from which a true desire is born?

Answer: This is the egoistic “blind alley” that we pass through all the time when our powers are completely disappointed and suddenly the discovery comes that there is help from the Creator here. This is a small transition.

This is not yet a crossing of the egoistic “barrier” but the understanding that only the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) must act here. Nothing else can be here. You are passing through cycles like these where you are disappointed completely and find yourself understanding that the Creator must be here and then get disappointed again and again.

These cycles gradually accumulate in every form of disappointment, reaching a general state where you pass over all the required possibilities, and their summation takes place.

When this integral develops, there comes one general disappointment in all of its capabilities, and a true demand is created that only the Creator can tear through all of this, and this happens. Then, apparently, He has no choice because you already have understood that only He must be present here, and in truth you have a precise and clear demand for this, which is to say: the Kli is ready!

Until then, these disappointments and recognitions that the Creator must act here must repeat themselves as much as possible.

If a person sits with his hands folded and eats himself up, this means that he is not found under the influence of the teacher, the group, and the method, and therefore, cannot quickly realize that all this is intentionally arranged for him from above so he will be disappointed in his possibilities and will understand that the higher power is required here.

In our world, this is not happening because people have no yearning for connection and unity, and therefore, there is no exit toward the higher power. For them, the connection is considered to be a physical gathering, “Ah, connection! So, we gathered and dispersed,” whereas for us, when we desire unity, this awareness takes place because, without the higher power, we cannot attain unity.
[114426]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: Is it worthwhile to understand that, essentially, there is no free choice now?

Answer: Indeed, in our times, there is no free choice. The world is deteriorating while we are standing on the side watching. This is not good. Humanity is apparently sliding downward and we need to try to hold them, to stop them.

I say this seriously. I feel as though I have gigantic hands or I have a gigantic net in my hands, and I must stop everyone because they are being drawn downward, and if left unchecked, they will pull us after them. This is not desirable. The program of nature, the program of the Creator, cannot be changed.

He is like a loving and strict father Who takes His belt in hand and begins to teach His rebellious son.
[114419]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: Must we yearn for the joy that we speak about all the time or will it come naturally?

Answer: We constantly should feel joy. This means that I am filled with the spirit of life that comes through the group that constantly keeps me focused on the importance of the goal, that we are special, that we were chosen for this mission, for this great work in order to serve others.

Since it pleases the Creator when we serve others, it is the greatest and most important work for us, and it must be done with joy. Otherwise, you probably are headed in the wrong direction and are not connected to the Light, to the Creator.

You cannot weep and perform the spiritual work simultaneously. You need to focus yourself.

See what King David says in the book of Psalms. He describes great problems that one encounters along the spiritual path, but it all is done with joy. Therefore, these are not just prayers, but a song!
[114417]
From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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Question: What can we do to avoid the ten plagues of Egypt that are expected?

Answer: The ten blows come down on “Egypt,” which means on our desire to receive. If we transcend this ego, we don’t feel them as blows but as forces that help us detach ourselves from the ego and be free of it.

There is a physical, emotional, or ideological connection that depends on the five levels of our existence. The more I detach myself from the desire to receive and rise above it and don’t identify with it, the more the blows change with regard to me. First I begin to feel that it isn’t I who feels these blows and later they become more and more external.

On the third and fourth levels of Aviut (thickness), I feel these blows on me, on the second level of Aviut, I feel that they are external, and on the first level of Aviut when I already exit my desire, I discover that these blows actually help me. On the root level, I bless these blows and the fact that they helped me detach myself from “Pharaoh” and escape from him. Thus I experience the blows from one level to the next.

These levels can be felt in every state in our life. The more connected I am to my Pharaoh and the more I depend on him, I first feel that he treats me well like during the seven years of satiety, and then I feel bad like during the seven years of hunger, and then come the blows and the exodus.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Why is the Creator revealed to us through despair?

Answer: Despair is a very good state, but only when it won’t be the final state. After despair it’s necessary for a solution to come.

Despair is when I look at my desires and see that I am not prepared to do anything. This is wonderful! Baal HaSulam writes that there is no happier state in the life of a person than when he feels that there is nobody who can help him, not even himself: In general, everything is breaking down and in crisis.

Baal HaSulam, Letter 57: There is no happier situation in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy.

At this moment he begins to understand that only the Creator will help him and then a true demand to the Creator appears within him. Therefore despair is a wonderful feeling, only that it needs to be properly formed.

There is nothing like this, that we go through something and it’s incorrect or it’s unnecessary in the direction of the goal. Our efforts give us the right intention as to how to relate to what we are going through. In any case we need to pass through those states; only that the right relationship regarding them hastens the way, softens it, and transforms it. But in every circumstance this is according to the same pattern, these are the same states, and you cannot do anything about it.

You were some fragment in the corrected Malchut of the world of infinity (Ein Sof). This Malchut was shattered into fragments, and as in the case of any uncorrected part, you must grasp the location of your corrected fragment. There is no place to escape from this! You must again be gathered and grasp that part in the shattered circle. This circle will already be in consciousness, 620 times more perceptible than before, but this will be the identical circle completely, the same desires (they don’t grow, you see), but they simply become recognized.
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From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 5

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