In principle, all of the science of Kabbalah is intended only to show people how to quickly and properly ascend above our egoistic desire, above our egoistic nature, because that nature is very deep, powerful, and terrifying, and it is practically impossible for a person to rise above it. But if man takes this method, Kabbalah, then very gradually, he can nevertheless change himself. And if he doesn’t, then he will be driven to this by suffering.

Therefore, Kabbalah waited for our time when it would be able to become revealed and help people shift from the previous state, in which we existed until recently, into the next state, the future, where we are obligated to be interconnected with one another in a global, integral system. And today, nature is already showing us how global and interconnected it is, and how much its global connections are already starting to penetrate into human society.

Therefore, involuntarily, we already exist in a global, integral connection with one another. But this connection is being lowered upon us from above, not yet having formed inside of us. By ourselves, inside of us, we are still not connected together globally and integrally.

Therefore, in our current life calculations, intentions, actions, changes, values, and aspirations, we do not take into account the common system that we are in, but think only of ourselves as distinct, separate elements. That is where a problem arises because today we can no longer estimate our behavior and actions and their probable consequences while taking only ourselves into consideration. If we do that, we won’t accomplish anything. We have to consider the entire, huge system in which we exist against our will.

Therefore, Kabbalah tells us about how to attain this integral nature so we could communicate with each other properly and correctly estimate our actions so we won’t make mistakes. Otherwise, if we continue operating in the narrow plane of our egoism, without conforming to this system of forces in which we exist, we will constantly experience an ever increasing crisis.

In order to liberate us from this difficult, lengthy, and tragic path, the science of Kabbalah is being revealed in our time, showing us how we can be interconnected with one another, how we can position ourselves correctly in relation to the environment, and how we can estimate our actions correctly in order to truly receive good bestowal from them.

This is equally true for each separate individual, as well as nations, governments, and the whole world. That is to say, the issue at stake is for every one of us and all of humanity as a whole to acquire an inner, integral nature so we could act only based on our sensation of cohesion. Then we will act correctly and nature will always react to our proper actions benevolently.

In order to make all of this come true, the science of Kabbalah is becoming revealed to us.
[50027]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 7/31/2011

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: Nature has prepared a wonderful foundation in the mother’s womb so that no stranger may harm the new life. It tends to its every need like a trained nanny who will not forget it even for a moment…. Like a loving mother, it brings it to such loving, loyal people it can trust, called “Mother” and “Father,” to assist it through its days of weakness until it grows and is able to sustain itself….

But those who examine that reality from the perspective of provision and persistence of existence can clearly see great disorder and confusion, as though there were no leader and no guidance. Everyone does that which is right in his own eyes, building himself on the ruin of others….

Bear in mind that this oppositeness, set before the eyes of every sensible, educated person, has preoccupied humanity even in ancient days. And there are many theories to explain these two apparent opposites in Providence, which occupy the same world.

On one hand, we see that nature is wise and assiduous toward every creature. It develops every element successively and carefully. Look at the structure of organisms, their ability to grow, to give birth to offspring, and to interact. Everything is built in an integral form, every person has his own place and is in balance with others. If we could see the balanced world, undisturbed by human despotism, we would reveal a wonderful system, one that is not static, but perfectly balanced for development.

However, we do not see the causes of this development and do not understand why everything has to be precisely this way. Therefore, we do not understand the phases of the path. Besides, we look at it through the prism of our egoism and evaluate it according to our criteria. Therefore, we see the world upside down, as if flipping it over in our perception.

Nevertheless, from scientific research it is clear to us that in order to develop the species, nature has created, produced, and formed all of the necessary systems that take care of the ideal creativity.

But on the other hand, a problem arises with the subsequent existence. Once any part of nature grows up and “stands up on its own feet,” it starts fighting for survival and integrating into the environment without parental help. This happens to all living creatures, but among people it takes on the most difficult forms because a person has to prepare for life in a society that is complex and artificial, built upon a multitude of mechanisms. Envy and lust for power ignite within him, pushing him to oppose others. Others seem successful, while he seems to be lagging behind them because of his nature or due to the circumstances.

Nature, which took such great care of us while we were growing, now places us in conditions that require efforts to survive. So does the Creator exist or not? If everything was all right, then we would say, “Thank God.” But if everything is not all right, then what you can say?

This is the problem that Baal HaSulam describes before he talks about the attempts to solve it.
[49845]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/31/11

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All of humanity is now facing a choice. We have advanced in our egoism until it closed us off inside one integral system where we are totally interdependent. Therefore, today’s world has become global, meaning the connection between us has become universal and mutual, and we cannot do anything to circumvent it.

That is why we are losing the ability to control this kind of world. After all, it is becoming similar to the upper system, and these two systems exist parallel to one another. One is a system of rigid, mutual connections, like Malchut of the World of Atzilut or the World of Infinity, which is already in the corrected future state. And the second system is our present state where we, egoists, are confronting one another.

If we were just individual egoists, then each of us would experience small misfortunes and problems, but we would know how to fix them. However, today, when our development has brought us to a state where this entire system is being rigidly blocked and closed, we do not know what to do.

Each of us is no longer able to cope with the problems of his life. The crisis is breaking out everywhere: from our private lives in the family, at work, and with ourselves, to the global crisis of society, culture, education, and even ecology, meaning in the nature around us.

The crisis is being revealed everywhere—inside of man and outside of him. And he does not know how to cope with it because he is in a closed, integral system. And now we have no choice left: Under the pressure of suffering, we will have to find a connection between us that will be similar to the upper system so these two worlds, the upper world and this world, would match one another, until they unite completely, into one whole.

Now we are setting our own boundary toward which we want to advance in the direction of this correspondence. But to the extent we do not wish to advance, this “unwillingness” will boomerang back to us in the form of suffering. For example, according to the program of creation, to the timer that shows how the flywheel of development has unraveled, I already have to be on a certain level, for example, I had to have come “10 centimeters” closer to spirituality by now.

And the whole world has to advance in this way even though there are different people in it. Some understand things better, and others—worse, and others yet do not feel anything at all. After all, just as all of nature consists of different levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human, the same division exists inside of man as well.

But the whole world, its whole mass, must now take a step forward. And if we do not do that, then this delta, the lack of our progress, will be felt by us in a negative form, as suffering. But the suffering will still push us to advance.

That means you won’t be able to run away from this work. The engine continues to run, and if you still don’t want to work, then instead of a “-1” you will receive a “-2” and then a “-3,” and so on, until you reach such enormous suffering that you will no longer be able to refuse to budge.

Stubbornness always has a limit. In reality we are very sensitive to pleasure and pain because our matter is the will to enjoy. Therefore, there is no doubt that eventually, the world will advance.
[49751]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/11, Shamati

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Question: How can we explain the integrality of a new world to the masses so that they become fully convinced of it?

Answer: To experience it, the world will have to go through a lot of troubles. It is not difficult to agree intellectually with total interconnectedness. “Indeed, I’ve read and heard something about this. There is an earthquake in Japan, and we have problems with spare parts. There is a war in Libya, and Denmark is closing the border. I agree: The world is integral.”

However, this integrality must be felt to the marrow of the bones so that there is not a single thought, a single desire to consider ourselves separate from everyone else, from all of humanity. It should sit in us relentlessly, and we should tremble at the thought of it, not just perceive it by the mind.

I have to feel it physically, “in the guts.” Let hunger torture me, I cannot take a bite into my mouth if I am not sure that the same bite is available to everyone. That is what the integral world is: Eating what others do not have is like swallowing poison.

It is difficult to imagine something like that. We are not living it, we simply heard of some sort of connections. It is still a long way from here to an individual meal turned poison and to the blessing from everyone being provided with everything. Imagine the suffering we have to experience on this path.

Question: But we want to prevent sufferings. This means that we have to provide a person with tangible evidence that he should be imbued with this integrality; otherwise, it will be painful. We have to touch his feelings to convey this message.

Answer: Correct, but on the other hand, if we do not resort to the help of the Light, it is impossible to convey this deep knowledge even through the method of social influence. You have to accelerate progress; otherwise, the “press of development,” approaching from behind, will do this for you.

And that is why education is required. We do not talk about the facts taken from advertising; a person must “delve” into these facts so that they surround, “mold,” and “format” him. An objective, abstract presentation will not help here; we have to reach man’s essence. And you are not capable of this.

Reading about the neighbor whose house burned down, a person clicks one’s tongue: “Poor thing. Perhaps the government might help him now.” And he will not move further. The barrier of our egoism could be breached only with the Light. No evidence will help without the Light; even great sufferings do not change people.

It is virtually impossible to advance from sufferings. They can just lead us to the need for spirituality, but not to correction. Only the Light performs correction itself.
[49568]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/2011, “The Peace”

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In the News: “Depression affects 121 million people worldwide. In can affect a person’s ability to work, form relationships, and destroy their quality of life. At its most severe depression can lead to suicide and is responsible for 850,000 deaths every year….

“In conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, researchers from 20 centers collaborated to investigate the prevalence of depression around the globe. To be classified as having had a Major Depressive Episode (MDE) a person was additionally required to fulfill five out of nine criteria including sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration….

“MDE were elevated in high-income countries (28% compared to 20%) and were especially high (over 30%) in France, the Netherlands, and America. The country with the lowest incidence was China at 12%….

“Women were twice as likely to suffer depression as men, and the loss of a partner was a main contributing factor…” (Source: BioMed Central)

“The new research discovered that for both British men and women the probability of depression peaked at about 44 years of age. In the US, unhappiness reached a peak at about 40 years of age for women and 50 for men.” (Source: telegraph.co.uk)

My comment: The more our egoism develops and alienates us from each other, the more the world around us manifests itself as integral, that is, opposing us, egoists-individualists, and the more our lives appear harder, worthless, and pointless. And depression in us will be developing as the biggest problem of humankind, which we will not be able to get rid of other than by turning our mutual rejection into attraction.

The chief problem of humanity is to correct human nature. It is a pity that people do not wish to hear about this and suffer. But these sufferings will nevertheless make them realize the cause of evil and accept the method of correction. It is a pity that everything happens by the path of suffering.
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Baal HaSulam, “Arvut”: “A holy nation” is the reward in its final form of Dvekut [adhesion] with Him, which includes all the rewards that can even be conceived.

There is a part of humanity that receives spiritual awakening—the group (Bnei Baruch). These people are obligated to carry out the correction inside of them, to acquire the force of the mutual guarantee, and by virtue of that force, to begin bestowing to everyone else.

Besides, they have to observe the law that is described by the verse, “You will be a kingdom of priests unto Me.” Stated differently, this is talking about the state of Hafetz Hesed: Priests do not have their own property. Like Bina, they aspire only to bestowal. This is the quality we must acquire as well.

As for the quality of “the holy nation,” this is already a receiving desire that we use and raise to the level of holiness. Thus, it acquires an intention for the sake of bestowal and reaches adhesion.

This unity, this force, or this state has to reign in the group. There are no other possibilities here. We are talking about the laws of nature. If we don’t want to carry them out the good way, we will be forced to do it the bad way—through suffering. There are no compromises here, but a program that becomes realized with just one parameter of free choice: You can accelerate your development before you are obligated to this by the special, systematic force.

At every phase, this obligatory force descends to us and begins advancing us forward. However, we can move faster than it, and in that case we will reach the goal by the good and fast path, without blows from behind.

Thus, we have two possibilities to choose the means of advancement. But the advancement itself is immutable because in the final state, the program of development is already realized in full. The two phases of this realization are “the kingdom of priests” and “a holy nation.” They demand for us to attain mutual bestowal, love for the neighbor as oneself, and thereby, adhesion with the upper Light, the Creator.
[49347]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/11, “Arvut”

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After the terrorist attack, this Norwegian newspaper espouses unification of all the peace-loving nations of the world, summoning all the people to unite and hold hands. That is an example of how suffering guides a person to the right thoughts.

But is it possible to aspire to unification without preliminary suffering? This is precisely the purpose of Kabbalah’s dissemination in the world—to prevent the impending suffering.
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We have never been in the situation that we are in today. We have never experienced a discrepancy between two systems. Today all of us together constitute a common, integral system (“We”), but it is egoistic. And at the same time we are inside of the natural system, which is permeated by bestowal and love. The difference or gap between these two systems is what creates the sensation of a crisis.

This difference keeps growing because we are developing in our egoism, while the upper system is coming closer to us. In particular, the crisis is being expressed precisely due to the revelation of nature.

In the past we expanded our system over the course of history, until we reached today—integrality and interconnection. However, every person continues to operate within his narrow interests, even though he can no longer shed the global bonds and is entirely dependent on others.

As a result, we end up with interdependence and mutual hatred, which stand in extreme contrast to the force of bestowal that influences us. Moreover, on the inside we are bound together with one another and at the same time, disunited to the maximum. And in addition, we are opposite to the Creator.

This opposition and difference in qualities brings us troubles. They are only starting, but at the same time they are inciting man to discover the reason for what is happening. After all, if something bothers or harms us, we pay attention to it.

Therefore, today, for the first time in history, the science of Kabbalah is being revealed to us. The time has come for us to consolidate so the Creator and creation would unite by a single force, a single connection. In other words, the time has come to correct the crisis, to get rid of the troubles, and to achieve discovering the system we are in, which is impossible without attaining the upper force.

We do not see the integrality of the natural system because we are not integral on the inside. We are discrete, disunited, and singular—each of us is by himself. I don’t have an integral mind, an integral way of thinking, and I cannot take the whole world into consideration.

But on the other hand, we constitute one whole, and by the law of a single body, I cannot make a single action unless I am sure that it will have a favorable affect on all of my systems. That is why we cannot attain success in anything.

In the modern world, no matter what system you look at, everything is falling apart: education, culture, the economy, relationships between people, families, children’s upbringing, and so on. Everything that we have created in the process of our development is crumbling. And this process will keep growing worse, becoming expressed more and more.

The problem here is not that we “screwed up” somewhere, because everything was initially programmed. It’s just that today all of our systems are opposite to the integral, correct system. Now I have to take the whole world into consideration, but by my nature, I am not accommodated to that. So what should I do?

I care only about myself, or at most—about my family, environment city, or even country…. But caring about the whole world? Even if I wanted to, how can I make this happen? I don’t have any preliminary base for that. For that I would have to be different on the inside. I must have an integral system inside of me so I would naturally think about the world as a whole just as I think about myself. That is the only way I will attain success in the economy, industry, and trade—in everything.

Otherwise, there will be no success. Today this is still weakly expressed, but soon the picture will begin becoming clearer.

Thus, nature or the Creator is obligating man to feel that he is part of the whole, a particular soul that belongs to the common soul. We suffer because we are not parts of the whole yet, and by this suffering each of us is being pushed to unite with others. However, the path of suffering is very difficult. As we know, it can bring us to death, and we’ll still have to suffer a lot until we get there.

That is why the science of Kabbalah is being revealed, wishing to explain the current state of affairs to us, to show us the system we are in, and to teach us to change ourselves, transforming from discrete fragments into integral parts, each of which contains all of the others.

For the first time in the history of human development, man no longer changes nature on the outside, does not make external egoistic actions, and does not use all of his knowledge to change something outside of him. The external changes have ended. Everything has become finally formed on the outside, has frozen, and won’t change any longer. From now on, I am the one who has to change.
[48934]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that the whole world has to enter the boundaries of the mutual guarantee. What does that mean?

Answer: Indeed, right now the whole world is entering the conditions of mutual guarantee. Stated differently, in our times all of the conditions have come together for mutual guarantee to be accepted in the whole world.

Obviously, this is a gradual process. Until now we have developed inside of our egoism, which increasingly grew stronger, and we operated only by using our environment for our own benefit. We constantly “modified” the external environment, while in the meantime, egoism grew bigger.

And today, a very curious occurrence has happened: the environment which we constantly wanted to change to suit ourselves became a rigid, fixed, interconnected, wholesome system. We cannot change it any longer. On the contrary, it is letting its temperament come through, is putting pressure on us and is ready to elicit changes in us by means of disasters and problems.

The external environment consists not only of ecological, natural factors, but it is also the human society, the interconnection between us in different areas and aspects: in economics, education, family life, healthcare, and so on. Every one of us lives in this environment.

Previously I changed it as I wished, in whatever way was most comfortable for me. Stated differently, I changed by nature, and I changed nature. But now nature is appearing as an integral system to me and I have to change myself. In the past I changed this natural system, but now it is pressuring me and changing me. It is becoming increasingly more integral, cramped, wholesome, and soldered together, and because of that, it squeezes me in its clutches, forcing me to take on its standard whether I want it or not.

After all, I am inside of it, and when it comes right up to me, “skin to skin,” I don’t have a way out and I suffocate. I have to change.

I perceive nature’s communication with me in the form of crises, suffering, and great problems. This is the path if we go through it by the pre-scheduled program. However, in nature’s globality and integrality, I can see something good and desirable ahead of time, and then I will be happy to take on its form and “put it on” myself, becoming similar to nature.

In any case, it is necessary to observe the law of equivalence of form between myself and the environment, between us and nature. In order to be similar to the form that nature demonstrates to me today, I have to be wholesomely connected with all humanity, and all of humanity—with the still, vegetative, and animate levels. This is the meaning of existing inside the single nature.

First of all, I have to take care of the human society, including its attitude to the ecology. And for that it is necessary to change man so that people, countries, and ecological circles would unite with one another, so upbringing would become unified, so equality would set in all over the world.

It’s not equality of religion or faith, culture or customs. They can remain the way they are. But above them there has to be a common equality in which everyone are united. And even though differences are preserved inside, they do not interfere with what’s important. It is written, “Love will cover all sins.”

Besides, we have to care for the still, vegetative, and animate nature so we don’t destroy the earth, which is intended for all of us, and so its important resources won’t run dry.

We have to think about the future, but we are not doing that today. We mine oil from the earth, which is the basis for 90% of our production, be it plastic parts, energy, or others types of production. If we simply burn oil for the wrong needs, then we are robbing our grandchildren. Nothing will be left for them. And therefore, we must already think about how to act.

Thus, unification should not be limited by the current moment, the short-lived desire to mollify the situation and avoid problems. Unification must involve a vision into the future, a program for the future, an inventory of what we are leaving to our children.

We have already passed “the oil peak” and have shifted to the phase of exhausting the remaining reservoirs. So what will we leave to our descendants for an inheritance? After all, oil is necessary not only for burning, but also as raw material for the production of various goods. And on the other hand, we don’t have any comparable source of energy.

Unification between us will bring us to unification with nature, and then we will understand how to properly use the natural resources, how to make the transition to equality, to a normal, balanced economy with fair distribution.

Otherwise there is such a great meltdown in store for us that we will not be able to come out of it. If we exhaust the natural reservoirs, we will be simply left with nothing, and we won’t have anything by which to keep living. We won’t have a wealthy relative who can help us in an emergency situation. We will not survive this crisis with the previous means because it does not have alternative solutions.

What’s at stake here is not just oil, but many other resources of the earth. We think that there is no end to their abundance, but that is not so. Over several decades of reckless high rolling, we have discovered the bottom of the “bottomless barrel.” The time has come to shift to a new, global approach.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/11, “Arvut”

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Two Ways to Discover the Wholeness

Two forces press us to develop toward similarity of properties with the Creator:

1. The path of pain, which pushes us without our own choice;
2. The path of Kabbalah, when we incite its pulling us forward and are aware of the importance of bestowal. Correcting ourselves in order to bring contentment to our Maker expedites the path of correction, and we benefit twice:

A. We do not have to wait for the recognition of evil to push us toward correction. On the contrary, the work for the sake of the Creator develops within us a relative recognition of evil without suffering, but rather quickly and pleasantly so as to delight the Creator. We feel how much egoism impedes us from sensing pleasure from bestowal to the Creator.

B. We save time since it depends on the recognition of evil, which is up to us.
-Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
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