Question: How do we show the world that a transition to an integral society is not a utopia, but a real project?

Answer: An integral society cannot be a utopia for two reasons.

First of all, the worldwide crisis is directing us toward it, and there is nowhere we can hide from it. It will continue to pressure us. Millions will be left without work. See what is happening in southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Greece, and is already approaching Germany and France.

And what will happen to the people? How will they react to everything? We are looking at civil wars and revolutions; without integral upbringing, anything could happen! Horrible nationalistic problems will arise. We see fascists coming to power in Greece. This is protectionism, which will manifest in a horrible way if integral upbringing is not introduced in time.

For this reason, a multifaceted horrible crisis will continue to push us from every angle.

How can the population be calmed down? Who will feed the unemployed? No one will! No social work will be able to keep them from explosions of protests and mass disturbances. When people are hungry, death does not scare them, they can climb barricades, nothing matters to them.

And those on top do not know what to do; they are lost. The only thing they can do is escape to an island in the Pacific until they are found there.

In other words, anarchy, terrible absurdity, and chaos are coming over us. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, we face nature, which is showing us the negative side of our inaction and lack of understanding.

For this reason, it is necessary to introduce integral upbringing at least as an experiment in a single region. Let us try! What do we have to lose? Everything is dying anyway.

Two months ago in Italy, I spoke with a representative of the European Community about education. He sat in front of me like a student sits in front of a teacher, writing down every word, he literally had pages and pages of notes. And this is a serious official, who spent the last eighteen years working for the governing body of the European Community in Brussels. He said: “It is a perfect system, but I have no one to tell about it to because we have twenty-seven countries and each wants things done their own way, nobody will want to listen to anyone else.”

He reached out: “Who can I turn to, what can I do?” In his opinion, for this experiment we need a small town with a dying economy from the closing of a huge enterprise that was responsible for the economy of the entire town.

But huge cities will soon be in this same situation. These are not small towns where people can still feed themselves by growing their own food on the land. Countries are in debt, and tomorrow they will not be able to feed their population. What is next? We are facing a huge mess.

The only thing that can save the world from civil wars and fascist regimes is integral upbringing. If we continue following the egoistic path contrary to the integral, “round” development of the world, then the next stage of egoistic development will be Nazism, fascism, and protectionism when countries realize that they are not able to do anything with the common market and they will close their borders and eventually come to the state of war.

Even if they do not want it, they still must break the economic, financial, and other connections they have created between them that are suffocating them. This is what is leading them towards a world war.

Global dependence is natural; there is nowhere to hide from it. This is why if things continue this way, we might even have to go through two wars. According to Kabbalah, there is a possibility of a third and even a fourth nuclear war. And after that, whatever is left of mankind still will be implementing integral upbringing and the integral lifestyle according to nature.

That is the harsh way of realizing the need for integration instead of doing it the reasonable way.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/28/12

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Question: How is it possible to integrate nullification of yourself towards the group and the desire to understand the meaning of the text being studied?

Answer: One feeling does not cancel the other. I have to yearn together with everyone to connect in one common point. In this point of connection where we are together, we feel some phenomenon that is called Malchut.

First of all, everyone’s yearning to integrate together with everyone else is required. For this, the following components are needed: self-nullification, greatness of the goal, and importance of the friends and of the group. I have to focus all of this together and yearn for that point of general connection.

Other people participate together with me in this yearning. We act together, each one nullifies what he has. We leave this whole world at the bottom and all of us strive forward. Through our connection, we want to form the vessel of bestowal from which our relation to the Creator, the desire to bestow, will be born.

Then, in this yearning to bestow to the Creator, we will begin to feel Him, the upper Light that lands on us and fills us. The more this yearning is clarified, growing according to the thickness of the desire: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, the more developed it will become. And to the same extent, the force of bestowal, adhesion with the Creator will be revealed in us. This is in fact all of our work.

The question is: How can this yearning to self-annulment and understanding the material be combined? To understand means to know, meaning to reveal or connect. The Sefira Daat (Knowledge) symbolizes connection, as it is said, “And Adam knew Hava (Eve), his wife”.

When I nullify myself at the bottom, I help myself prepare for connection. Without this, I won’t be able to connect with others. In order to rise to the point of connection, I must nullify myself.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“:If one’s intention in the Torah and Mitzvot is not to benefit the Creator but oneself, not only will the nature of the will to receive in him not be inverted, but rather, the will to receive in him will be much more than what he was given by the nature of his creation.

Question: Is Baal HaSulam speaking about us here?

Answer: Yes and no. First the desire to receive must be revealed to its fullest. This is because a person can only correct the flaws that are in him. But until one acquires a Masach (screen), the desire grows in different manners: either by pleasure or by pain. In the second case, it grows wanting to avoid pain, and this pressure directs its growth in a certain direction, in the direction that is “anti-sufferings.” As for the pleasure, it grows by “swallowing” them and always remains in a double deficiency.

Then, during the time of preparation, when we yearn for connection and love, the desire grows in an opposite direction in order to constantly supply material for correction. On the whole, the growing of the desire doesn’t stop or retreat, it always moves forward.

Question: What is the difference between desire that grows opposite to the goal and desire that grows in a goal oriented manner?

Answer: Suppose that there is a nice place where everyone is given presents. There is a railroad that reaches this place and I can get there by train.

I may be moving backward while I believe that it is good (!) until I hit something and discover that I have chosen the wrong way. By discovering a minus (-), I am left with a question (?): So what should I do now? Then I gradually begin to move forward. This is the long path of suffering. After all, I make a detour before discovering that I have been going in the wrong direction. Yet in the process, my desire to receive grows.

I may be drawn forward meter by meter through the 125 degrees; again my desire to receive grows making the road increasingly harder. Let’s say that it isn’t a flat rail track anymore but an ascent up a mountain that becomes increasingly steeper. There, at the top of the mountain, is the King’s palace, and the road to it may be difficult, but it moves straight to it without any detours.

Question: So with what parameters do I check myself? How do I know that I am heading up the mountain and not in the opposite direction?

Answer: The parameters are the group, and, within it, self-annulment and connection. Practically speaking, there are no other means by which you can surely check and measure your steps.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/3/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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Question: Does Kabbalah have any proof for beginners? How can I be sure that I am on the right track?

Answer: You have no proof and no certainty. You can go if you want to.

This is the condition for entering the spiritual dimension. The alternative is suffering, which eventually will make you accept this condition.

If you are not able to nullify yourself and refuse payment, you will not enter spirituality. Haven’t you heard about this? You are looking for proof, incentives, this is understandable; things cannot be any other way. These objections are just, but there is no place for them. They only awaken in you so you would rise above them.

Even the support of your friends cannot be rewarding to you. It is because deep down in your soul you cannot stand them and would never unite with these people. So this is not about friendship and its benefits.

Simply today, you do not yet know what the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph), the screen, and the Reflecting Light are. In reality you will never receive anything. Once you enter it, you will discover that you have always been there, but you only were able to perceive it the moment you became willing to reject everything. And you perceive it in the vessels of bestowal, rejecting for yourself, never for yourself, but only for others.

Question: Isn’t there anything to cheer us up?

Answer: I do not want to put glitter before your eyes. The group and our friends from all over the world that are connected to us must know the truth: Spirituality lies beyond human strength. When a person has a point in the heart, he understands that this is right. And even though sometimes it seems that an obstacle cannot be overcome, only this can be true and nothing else.

Thus you discover all the truth. Conversely, any appeal to the egoistic desire, any attachment to it, is not the spiritual path.

– But will I at least get something?

– Nothing!

– What do I get?

– You don’t!

– What about receiving spiritual attainment?

– Spiritual attainment is the antithesis to reception. You only reject, you do not want anything for yourself. Your entire enormous desire to receive, which you are not yet aware of, your entire egoism, you raise it from the “stomach” to the “head” and fully reject it. And thus you form the real “head,” the screen and the Reflecting Light. You do not take anything for yourself no matter what comes to you, you give everything to others. It is best when no one even knows what you did because this could also serve as a “bribe.”

And then you begin to feel what it is like to be on the degree of the Creator…

Your point in the heart must agree with this. It is the truth and it has the same qualities. And whoever does not agree is free to go. These people are supporters, but they are not Kabbalists.

Question: This means that we are striving to attain something that is not real?

Answer: Exactly. For you, for your vessels, this is unrealistic; it is opposite for you. This is why it is written: “I saw an upside-down world.”

Question: And yet, what will we achieve? What will we attain in spirituality?

Answer: Baal HaSulam writes in Letter #8 about it: “Everything that happens in the world has a worthy goal called ‘a drop of unity.’ When the dwellers of ‘corporeal homes’ experience all the horrors, through their absolute pride removed from them, a certain opening appears in the walls of their heart, which is not receptive at all according to the actual nature of creation. And they become worthy of the installation of this drop of unity in their heart.

And they will become like an impression from a seal, and they will see for themselves that, on the contrary, it is through these horrors that they come to attain the absolute, removed from alien pride. Unification with the Creator happens only there, and it is there where a drop of unity can reign over them.”
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/13, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Protracted crises are beginning right now; it is very difficult for people to sustain life today from an economic perspective; people need to make their income last an entire month to feed themselves, provide for themselves, create all the necessary conditions for their children, their family, and elderly family members. In such a case it would be wonderful to organize great communal meals.

Right now, our community is buying a new building, and we are planning to move there. I really want for the kitchen there to be operating from morning till night. And all the members of our community could bring their families there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This would be very convenient and would be five to ten times cheaper than at home. And most importantly, this unites and connects people and leads toward understanding that unity is beneficial in all instances of life.

I think that the current crisis will unwillingly “push” us towards these circumstances. And this is a good thing because man, a small egoistic being, will begin to understand that nature, from every angle, is showing him the way to act, just like animals who constantly adjust to nature, wishing to maintain themselves in their best condition.

This notion can be close to a person or not, depending on one’s personality. But the fact is that integral upbringing must naturally bring a person to this state.

By nature I am a lone wolf. I have my own office, which I would never want to leave and could live there my entire life. But once I have realized how important the meals are, I have felt what it is that they give me spiritually, how I grow at the same time, how I learn from communicating with others.

When I dine with my students, I learn integration from them. I have never experienced it before since I attained the spiritual space in a different way. But I see it here and feel it through them. This is a very interesting discovery for me.

This is the practice of a new state, the next dimension, when through this direct interaction, a person begins to create within himself absolutely new foundations of perception and regards the world in a completely different common, global way. He becomes accustomed to identifying with a community, and then automatically begins to identify himself with mankind, the world, and all of nature.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/28/12

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Kabbalists tell us that the created being has a goal and this goal is to adhere with the upper force. In any case, I am obliged to adhere to it whether I wish it or not. There are two ways to realize this: the path of good and the path of suffering. As a rule, we advance along the middle path because we are unable to choose just the good and most of the time we slide to the negative, so we try to keep at least in the middle.

However, I don’t know to where or towards whom I am heading. It’s true that I am driven by an internal impulse, but I have no idea how it works or where it drives me. In fact, I don’t know anything; everything is hidden.

What happens is that an unknown desire burns inside, and I can’t put it out. “Life is not sweet; everything is bad; I need something else…” An incomprehensible urge restricts my chest, and I can’t find a place for myself, I don’t know how to forget or how to disconnect from this life.

These distressed people come to the wisdom of Kabbalah. But as soon as I come to it, as they say, the Creator “puts my hand on the good fate.” In other words, it’s not my decision; He has chosen it for me. The game is sold. He set up my entire life and seemingly tells me, “You see, I have arranged everything for you. Here is a group—the best place for you. Here are friends—the best people for you. And you just have to strengthen your relationship with them.”

It’s not me who decides where to stay or what to do. My only choice is to strengthen. This framework also includes my relationships with my family and the external conditions but only in order to focus me on my connection with the group. I have to provide myself with basic material needs and devote the rest to the Creator, to adhering to Him. Now I have to relate to the group in the appropriate way; the family, children, work, and daily life are only necessities, and the rest is among the friends. “I have already chosen the best for you,” says the Creator, “Just take it and carry out.”

Another thing is that it’s impossible to carry out. Why has the Creator made it all in this way? It’s in order that we don’t forget about Him. Only by attracting Him, putting Him between us, can we unite. Each one with the group and we together in the group will be able to make some movements towards correction, unity, the goal, even if the tiniest steps, only if the Creator is our partner. This is the only way to move forward, provided that we remind each other about this. After all, no one can recall this by oneself. That is part of the changes that a person must go through. And it is in his power to organize everything properly.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Opinion (Michael Chazin, economist): “Americans have admitted that politicians are sober people and understand that sometimes it is better to admit: there is a fiscal cliff. The reaction of experts: the worst expectations in relation to the fiscal cliff have come true. The actions of the U.S. government become completely predictable. There are no real actions to combat the crisis; there are no explanations, just a reference to the ‘objective’ factors. …

“The question is what they will do next. The recession will increase, there can be problems with the U.S. rating, and it is far more dangerous.

“Another option is to force the banks to lend to individuals despite the fact that they will not return them. But as soon as it becomes clear that the loans do not have to be returned, citizens will start spending money on silly things. It will give a surge in sales, but salespeople will use this opportunity to raise prices. This will be ugly and minimally effective.

“How will the U.S. government compensate for falling demand that causes an economic downturn? The GPD data should not be misleading: the growth of personal consumption expenditure is associated with permanent compensation; these expenses are much higher than normal household income. …

“In the EU, citizens are suggested “to tighten their belts.” It is possible that the U.S will choose this course as well. But the U.S. Federal Reserve is not going to tighten monetary policy. The authorities are in a state of dilemma; the crisis continues, there is nothing new in this.”

My Comment: Restructuring, resetting, rebooting, no matter what, but everyone will have to listen to the relentless law of nature. Life develops and exist only due to the combination of two opposing forces “reception and bestowal” (egoism and altruism) in the middle point between them, in the middle line if we consider the point in motion. Instead of including egoism along with altruism, we should use it wisely, carefully including it in the property of unity, in altruism, for the development of integral relationships. In this case, we will develop in harmony with nature.
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Question: Suppose that during the integral studies in the group there is also a thief or a snitch among us. According to the system we have to rise above ourselves and to value the other, just as we value ourselves. But a person always justifies himself, so if we try to justify the other’s behavior, we will lose all our moral values, and we can’t destroy them without creating new ones.

Answer: I don’t destroy any moral values, but rather learn how to rise to my next level when “we” becomes more important for me than “I.”

How can I cooperate with all of humanity if it is always depicted to me as worse than myself: This one is stupid and the other is smarter than me, but that one is so good in something else, etc. So how can I relate to everyone integrally if I don’t learn how to justify them now? I have to learn! I am not saying the fact that we make excuses for them.

The purpose of our workshops is to create a global organ for the perception of the world. Then I will see that the world is different; I will see the mutual connections in it, the network. All this will be in me, and so suddenly when I look at the world, I will be able to say: “Oh, that’s the way it should be done!” Within myself it will not be so difficult.

Try to prepare a program to distribute all the food in the world now. Suppose all the cards were placed in your hands: There is a certain amount of food in the world that is found in certain places, now distribute it so that everyone will feel good. You will be torn to pieces; you won’t have enough human resources and not enough computer resources in order to carry this out.

However, if you have an integral perspective of life it will be natural for you, just like a mother who knows this is what I have to prepare for my baby and this is what I have to prepare for my husband, etc. And everything is ready! Why? Because she feels them. It is part of her; it is inside her. But if we have to do something for other people, we encounter a huge problem, and if it is for the whole world then all the more so.

So it is important to exit myself. I “train” myself with others. The more stupid they seem to me, the more their perspective is opposite from mine, the more I can exit myself and rise above myself to temporary agreement with them.

Question: What ends this temporary agreement?

Answer: The fact that I am creating a new integral organ of perception. I begin to understand all the other people and by the whole system that is created and born in me, I begin to see how I can cooperate with the whole world. I’m not going to correct anyone; it is impossible to correct the ego.

All the others participating with me go through the same stage. But we don’t correct one another! We rise to the next level.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/27/12

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Question: How can I know where to go in advance? How can I aspire for the next level of adhesion in advance if it is revealed to me after the fact?

Answer: Indeed, we don’t know anything along the way and we cannot find any landmarks except for the shattered Reshimot (spiritual genes). In order to implement it correctly, I need a certain environment, a certain reality, which means that I need a group. The fulfillment of the Reshimot is done by the Light.

On the whole, there are several components here: Reshimot, my general desire with all its features, the group in which I am incorporated, and the Light that operates on us. If I want to be a faithful, active part in the system in these components, I must annul myself to adhere to the friends and see them as the greatest in our generation.

I must need the Light that Reforms, the Creator’s influence, thanks to which we connect among us, but what is the reason that we connect? It is in order to support Him or to be the place wherein He is revealed. What for? It is in order to bring Him contentment.

So, I must do my best to build all the details within me and start working.

Initially, there is nothing spiritual in me, but only an “animal” desire. It is in this desire that the point awakens, the upper level, the “human” level, or the Creator. This is the shattered Reshimo that I cannot fulfill until I am brought to the group, to the books, to the teacher, and, in general, to the Light that Reforms. Then, I annul my desire to receive and see within me only the Reshimot, which I want to incorporate in the group.

I take this point out of my heart and bring it to the group so that it will live there and receive bestowal from everyone. Thus, through the friends, I receive the Light that Reforms. Together with them, I study and perform different actions and gradually change.

I leave only the necessary minimum in my desire to receive, which “is neither condemned nor praised.” This is my “animal,” the “animate” level, while I develop the “human” level in the group.

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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How does my integral sense of perception, the new layer of my psyche combine or resist my subjective “I,” my individuality?

Answer: Your individuality is beneath your “we.” Never pressure your “I.”

The thing is that your “I” always keeps growing in the sense that you can realize yourself through the “we.” As you include yourself in the common organ of humanity’s entire desire and thought, you begin to “swell,” expand.

Your expanding sensations and consciousness seem to cover all of mankind. Like a pregnant woman with a fetus inside her, you will feel like you contain all of humanity inside you. This is the actual realization of your “I.”

Your inclusion in everyone else is your individuality. For example, a woman’s individuality in her family is expressed through the fact that she holds everyone, serves everyone, takes care of everyone, for the family she is—everything.

Otherwise, your individuality will be expressed through your egoism, individualism, and separation from everyone. There is no longer a place for this in our world, we are going to a new level.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 11/27/12

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