Entries in the 'Unity' Category

Baal HaSulam Describes The Conditions Of Life In A Globalized World


Baal HaSulam. Article “Freedom of Will:”
“When mankind attains its goal, meaning ascends to the degree of complete love for the fellow man, when all the people in the world will unite in a single heart – only then will all the happiness intended for humanity be revealed in all its glory.”

Baal HaSulam. Article “Peace in the World:”
“First and foremost, each person must thoroughly understand, and explain to those around him, that peace in society, peace in the nation, and peace on the planet are absolutely interconnected.”

Baal HaSulam. Article “The Future Generation:”
“The ethical form, determining the life of every nation, primarily must obligate people to bestow to others according to the principle of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” This will be the social consciousness of all the nations. But except for this, every nation can follow its own religion and tradition, and no nation should interfere with another.”

Baal HaSulam. Article “The Peace:”
“Egoistic resistance between people and nations can only disappear from the world with the help of the Upper Force of the Creator (Nature), if we will wish to unite with Him. This was initially planned in the thought of creation. And if we will strive toward this goal of adhesion with the Creator, then envy, pride, and hatred will disappear, and we will all gather in one heart, filled with the knowledge of the Creator.”

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How Do We Connect Our Points In The Heart?


Three questions I received on work in the group:

Question: You say: “Don’t connect through your bodies, but through the ‘points in the heart’ – you must feel that they are together.” How do we do this?

My Answer: The point in the heart is a Reshimo (reminiscence) from a past spiritual state. However, now it desires the Creator, spiritual fulfillment, egoistically. With the help of the group, you should try to connect these aspirations for the Creator, even if they are egoistic. Together with the group, you suppress all your other aspirations for this world. You exalt the Creator and belittle this world.

As a result, everyone starts to feel that it’s vitally import to reveal Him, and this will bring you to the goal. See Baal HaSulam’s Letter from p. 70, “I am Sick With Love.” It’s an egoistic aspiration, just like a man yearns to be united with the woman he loves! Nothing more is required of us, because the actual correction of our egoistic nature to equivalence with the Creator is done by the Upper Light (Ohr Makif) – see item 155 of “The Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.” It created us and only It can correct us! However, It’s waiting for our desire and readiness for this to happen.

Question: What is the difference between nullifying oneself before the Bnei Baruch group and nullifying oneself before other groups that have similar ideas of equality?

My Answer: The difference is the groups’ goal and the method of attaining it.

Question: What should we do when we meet the friends, but there’s no connection between the points in the heart and the meeting turns into a painful and boring pretense? Is this still considered an attempt at the mutual guarantee, unity, and overcoming the ego, or is it better not to even go to these meetings at all?

My Answer: It won’t happen by itself, you have to make efforts and work on it. We’re working against our ego, after all; this isn’t exactly “love at first sight.”

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Practical Application of “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”

Physical Qualities Cannot Give You an Advantage In Spiritual DevelopmentA question I received: I am questioning the practical applications of “love your neighbor as yourself” and whether this should be more than being tolerant of your neighbor.

Let me explain. Since everything we see around us is a reflection of what we have inside of ourselves, then our thoughts and desires are just objects that manifest themselves “out there,” but actually they appear within ourselves.

I do not know about others, but I cannot say that I love all the thoughts and desires that arise within me. I am aware of most of them and tolerate them, but I do not really approve of all of them and I pass through them as though they are crowds of people. Is this how we should treat others? I understand the need to be aware of other people, be respectful of others and forgive them. But that does not mean I should love or approve of what others are doing, such as blowing up the Twin Towers in the United States, for example. I can forgive them for this action, but they still need to pay the price for killing thousands of innocent people.

My Answer: Correction starts with man’s recognition that anything correct and good can only come from the Upper Light. Hence the only thing he expects from studying, uniting with a group, and disseminating Kabbalah is the Light’s influence.

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The Source of Happiness


Baal HaSulam. Article “The Peace.” He who breaks the laws of nature:
Because the world is governed by the Creator, who has a specific goal in all of His actions, hence anyone who breaks the laws of nature that were set by the Creator, harms the end goal, which is founded on the observance of all these laws without exception. And he who breaks even one law violates and harms the end goal that was set by the Creator, and will therefore be punished by nature (by the Creator via nature).

Baal HaSulam. Article “The Peace.” Attainment of the Creator is the path to peace:
The egoistic opposition between people and nations will disappear from the world only with the help of the Upper Force of the Creator (Nature), if we will desire unity with Him. This is initially implanted in the Thought of Creation. And if we aspire to this goal of adhesion with the Creator, then our envy, pride and hatred with disappear, and we shall assemble together into one heart, filled with the knowledge of the Creator.

Baal HaSulam. Article “Peace in the World.” The whole world is regarded as one single society:
In our times, when every person is dependent on the whole world in order to provide for him, in the same degree every person becomes dependent on the whole world just like a tiny gear in a car. Hence, we can no longer consider the well being and safety of a certain country or nation, but only the world as a whole. After all, today the well being of everyone in the world depends upon and is measured by the well being of all the people in the world.

And don’t be surprised that I link the well being of the individual with the well being of the society and even the whole world. In reality we have already reached a state where the entire world is regarded as one society. Today every person in the world is nourished by the entire world, and therefore must care for the well being of the whole world.

Baal HaSulam. Article “Freedom of Will.” The source of suffering:
Unity of the society is the source of happiness and well being, whereas separation between people is the source of all miseries. All fortunes and well being depend only on the drawing together and unification of the global community.

My Comment: Baal HaSulam wrote the articles “The Peace,” “Peace in the World” and “Freedom of Will” back in 1924-1927!

If You Are Drowning, Let the Group Save You

The Condition of Entering the Upper World Is Mutual GuaranteeQuestions I received on spiritual advancement:

Question: I have been studying with you for three years through the Internet. I used to attend a local group and even came to one of your lessons. Ever since I started studying Kabbalah, I have become grave and withdrawn. It has become very difficult to communicate with people, including you. My girlfriend left me, nothing seems to be going right in life, and I’ve been planning to write you a letter for a few years already. On the other hand, I am doing better: I have registered on the forum and am writing you a letter. I hope that I’ll be able to keep in touch with you at least virtually. There are many times when I’d like to talk to you.

My Answer: If you’re drowning, you have to save yourself. And if you don’t have friends, then who will rescue you? Hence, success can only come by becoming included in the group, even if you have to force yourself to do it. Then the friends will support you and push you toward the goal.

Question: In one of your lectures you said that we shouldn’t forget that there are ups and downs and that they lead a person toward the goal only if they come from the right aspiration. What is the right aspiration? How can I know that I aspire to the right goal? And generally speaking – does my desire or aspiration really depend on me?

My Answer: If your aspiration emerged in you as a result of unifying with the group, then it is correct.

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Humanity Is One Integral, Interconnected Organism


Mutual Guarantee (Arvut) is the condition for life, for the existence of any living organism. When all of an organism’s forces and actions are coordinated and aimed at a common goal, then the negative correcting forces (crises and illnesses) do not emerge in the organism, and the system exists in permanent balance (homeostasis).

The current events (the financial crisis, general depression, drugs, breakdown of the family unit, emptiness, aimlessness, the global crisis, the ecological crisis) are revealing to us the single and general reason for everything taking place – that we are all an integral part of Nature, that all of Nature’s parts are interconnected, and hence they must behave accordingly. However, we – humanity – do not behave this way. We are akin to a cancerous tumor in Nature’s single, harmonious organism.

Mankind must realize that it constitutes one whole organism, and the law of the common mutual guarantee – of care for every person and for everyone at once – is the essential condition of our collective survival. The Biblical principles, “Do not do unto others what you don’t wish done unto you” and “Love your neighbor as thyself” are laws that determine the general balance of nature and our society. If we don’t abide by them, we will perish.

Baal HaSulam’s article, “Arvut” (Mutual Guarantee), describes how we can attain balance with Nature using the Kabbalistic source texts. The book, Kabbalah, Science, and the Meaning of Life talks about my meetings with American scientists who research the scientific fields bordering the Upper World.

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Lessons: Article “Arvut”, 17.11.05 – 23.11.05

What Is Mutual Guarantee In a Virtual Group?


Two questions I received on the virtual group:

Question: How does mutual guarantee work in a virtual group and what does it mean there?

My Answer: It’s the same as in a physical group, because you are not uniting through the bodies, but through your “points in the heart” – you must feel that they are together. I think that it’s easier to feel this virtually than during physical contact, when the externality overshadows the internality.

Question: On one of the virtual group websites, I proposed to create a Kabbalah Constitution, and to start working on creating it. However, this did not evoke any interest. Should I continue with it?

My Answer: Yes. Get in touch with those who are working on the development of a virtual community at [email protected]

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Join Us In St. Louis to Reveal a New Level of Unity


Dear friends!
The Creator is setting a special task before us today:

1. To unite all of us into one, integral desire for Him.
2. To reveal the goal of creation to the world.

He is inviting us to be the chosen people, His representatives in correcting the world.  We must set an example of the correct society to the world so that He can reveal Himself inside this society.

All of the symptoms of the global crisis clearly show humanity that it’s necessary to unite, and we are the ones who need to present the method of correction to humanity! To the extent that we fulfill this mission, we will attain adhesion with the Creator.

I hope that you understand what kind of exceptional chance each one of you has been given. Let’s not squander it. Let’s get together in one desire for spiritual ascent – upwards, and enlightenment of the world – outwards.

I believe that each and every one of you is unique and I can’t wait to meet you in St. Louis, where we will be provided with the opportunity to reach a new level of unity.

The Creator Will Become Revealed Inside the Unity of Our Virtual Meeting Space

The Creator Will Become Revealed Inside the Unity of Our Virtual Meeting SpaceQuestions I received on the virtual society of the future:

Question: Which technical means (Internet, TV, radio, and so on) can be used to create the virtual society of the future? Does the necessary technical support exist today? What other things are necessary that haven’t yet manifested in our world?

My Answer: We are starting to really focus on this now, and it is becoming our highest priority project – to create a virtual meeting space for all those who aspire to unite, who strive toward the Creator. As soon as this common aspiration will acquire the needed goal-oriented force, it will begin radiating with similarity to the Creator. He will then become revealed to everyone within this unity.

Your advancement upwards depends on the efforts you make to disseminate Kabbalah outwards – to add more souls to the correction. Hence I recommend not missing the opportunity to participate in the development of the virtual Kabbalistic community.

You can send your ideas to [email protected]

Question: Since the internet is developing so fast, is there any point in hosting distance classes for beginners? Maybe we should have fewer classes like this?

My Answer: I think that soon this will come to an end on its own. However, as long as there are people who desire this, we should continue doing it. You should continue developing only the virtual education, communication, and even congresses.

Question: Your blog is already a virtual group for those who “enter” it. However, don’t real groups have a very big influence on the world Kli, while the influence of an internet participant is much smaller? Yet the combined influence of a large number of virtual participants is much bigger than the influence of real groups?

My Answer: Everything adds up to a combined effort until it will reach the necessary size, and then – inside this common mass – everyone together will start to feel the Upper Presence.

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We Must Only Unite Our Points In the Heart


Two questions I received on inner work:

Question: As parts of one soul, we all depend on each other whether we’re aware of it or not. But every person contains the whole world. What is the measure of the dependency between us? Should we increase it or should we see ourselves as individuals and only unite our points in the heart?

My Answer: We should only unite our points in the heart, because all our other desires are for corporeal things. By uniting our aspirations for spirituality, we create the vessel in which the Light, the Creator becomes revealed.

Question: How does the system of mutual guarantee of the World Kli become expressed in practice, at times when one is not involved in the group work (study, dissemination, congresses, and so on), but is occupied with the necessities (work, family, and so on)?

My Answer: If a person takes proper care of his spiritual advancement in his spare time, then he provides himself with support that will sustain him on the right track during the rest of the time as well. Our world formed as a result of the descent of the Upper Forces, and it completely corresponds to the thought of creation and its purpose, provided that we use it correctly. That is, if we connect the thought with the goal, or in other words, implement the goal, going from the thought to the goal.

We have been given all the conditions – the body and its short life, including all the conditions of existence such as family and the efforts we have to make to sustain the life of the body, as well as all the disturbances and developmental forces. All of this only seems corporeal to us, but in reality this is how spiritual forces present themselves to us at their minimal level. We only have to “blend” into this picture correctly and complete the “empty space” in it with our free actions. At the end of the day everything comes down to uniting our aspirations to the Creator – to bestowal or love for one’s neighbor. We try doing this and then see that we can’t. We then ask for help, and the Creator corrects us!

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