Question: During yesterday’s workshop, some circles weren’t able to reach a mutual agreement. How can we reach a mutual agreement during today’s seminar? What are we doing wrong?

Answer: I don’t think that you’re making any mistakes, just like you can’t say that a child is making mistakes. This is a natural process of growth, and it’s called education not mistakes.
I think that we got excellent results from yesterday’s workshop, regardless of the fact that not all groups spoke up. Perhaps they were too shy to disclose their conclusions. We must understand that even if yesterday we all had the same phrase, we still would think differently and imagine those words in our own way.

Ultimately, by uniting in the group, we reach a state called the “prayer of the many.” This is when all the mutual phrases, which are different for each person, unite into a mutual integral desire. This is what we have to achieve.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Workshop 3

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We had a very powerful and high quality convention in Kharkov, making a big step forward. This has advanced all our groups around the world. We have felt universal participation: Everyone was with us from all around the world, all connected. Let us hope that this will raise us to a higher, stronger, and more internal level of connection in comparison to the previous level.

It is clear that this success would have been impossible without all the preliminary work and self-sacrifice that everyone expressed to attain the goal of creation. I think that we have managed to feel it and realize it better. I am very grateful to all the participants and am proud of you. I am referring to all the organizers and all the participants of the convention who felt how significant this step forward was for us. I am glad that everything happened the way it did.

Let us hope that from now on we will continue to delve deeper into our connection and that inside it we will reveal how everything is determined by our appeal to the Creator. Even though right now I am referring to you, we must still thank the Creator for directing us, accompanying and advancing us towards Him, for having an upper force that guides us, and for having merited to advance towards it.

The main thing I wanted to convey to you at this convention is the feeling that when you are in a group that discusses, listens, and dances inside the notion of a “group,” then it holds you up. But the moment you leave this notion, even if physically you are still in the group, you immediately fall into your thoughts.

You had to feel this ascent every time when you are with our friends who influence you and possess your mind and heart, and a descent when for some reason you break your connection with them.

We needed to get a feel for how necessary it is to constantly be under the influence of the environment. Otherwise you immediately return to an animalistic state. I am only human when the group rules over me.

These two levels needed to become very clear to every person, and this goal is what the entire convention schedule was directed towards. If somehow we managed to reach this realization, now we need to strengthen it: to understand the extreme importance of the influence of the environment, which Baal HaSulam speaks of. This is my entire freedom of choice: to keep strengthening this environment in any way I can by increasing my susceptibility.

The environment must keep getting stronger and have a more powerful influence over me. Our mutual guarantee must manifest here: mine according to my attitude towards them and theirs according to their attitude towards me, to always keep me above my corporeal calculations. And this will lead us to modesty and devotion of the soul—the states which lead to the attainment of the goal.
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Excerpt from a Conversation During a Meal After the Kharkov Convention 8/20/12

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Baal HaSulam, The Nation: The only hope is to establish a thoroughly new national education for ourselves, to discover and ignite once more the natural national love that have been dimmed within us. …

There is a precondition for any work and any act. Because in the beginning, the foundation must be built in a manner sufficiently healthy to carry the load it is meant to carry.

First and foremost we need education. In our time, it is of course in a broader sense: The Jewish people should be told what the human ego is and how it develops, how a nation is formed, and what it is since it isn’t about nationality but about belonging to the upper force. We have to explain what is happening in the world today, why we have reached the general crisis and how we should correct it.

Education is the precondition for any correction. If we already have an overall idea of the broad picture, then today we all must look at its basic strokes order to start the correction.

We have to show people that by correcting ourselves we rise to the level of resembling the Creator. The corruption is not somewhere on the outside, It is inside us. We should not fix something outside, but ourselves. The natural environment is not spoiled, not the economy, but we are the ones who are corrupt. After all, the external picture is an illusory projection of our internal attributes.

We need to bring people closer to this perception so that instead of correcting the world, they will start correcting themselves. Then they will finally be happy, individually and as a whole.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/21/12, Baal HaSulam, The Nation

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Question: You said that we have to play actively in front of each other that we are at the next degree, so that others envy and follow us. How can this be expressed? Should we simply be good, kind, helpful, smiling and this will excite and draw the friends? Or should we be firm in relation to the goal? How should I show this in order to cause maximum envy?

Answer: We are in the world of Infinity, the full connection with each other. The only problem is that we do not perceive it. We are like blind kittens. We need to begin to feel where we are in reality through our properties.

That is why the 125 spiritual degrees are called the rungs of revelation, the revelation of what you exist in. But you are underdeveloped and don’t feel that. Here now, as if in the same space (although not actually in the same space, but in other dimensions), there are plenty of various phenomena, objects, relationships, and actions. We feel none of this; it is outside of our senses.

Some people, including psychics, sense this a little. In fact, it is so. Bedouins living in Israel feel what’s going on 100 miles from them according to various manifestations of nature. But all this is at the level of our world. Psychics like Wolf Messing feel a little higher of course, outside of time, because the next degree raises man above time, etc.

That is, we play the next higher level, thus wanting to attract the forces of nature to ourselves so that they pull us towards it. We do the same thing in our lives; people play: I want to be like someone, for example, like scientists or musicians, I play this, do exercises, and thus come closer to them.

Why do the exercises pull me towards this? Because I’m attracting the same upper Light, only at our egoistic level. This is a physical law: If I aspire to something, these forces of aspiration realize everything. Therefore, we must become inspired to play.

But most importantly, we have to desire this inside ourselves because initially we are connected with each other, and if I want something, our desires concentrated together and directed at the same state will lead us to it.

That is why there are people who are dancing in front of you with a harmonica and inspiring others, and there are those who are standing modestly on the side and cannot even join the circle or sing along with everyone else; there are different people, it doesn’t matter. Externally, we must also show this for our friends in order to be inspired together. But the most important thing is an internal aspiration.
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From Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Lesson 1

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Question: How can we imagine our first shared spiritual degree correctly?

Answer: This is when you are fully united with each other and the full property of bestowal is manifested between you. That’s all! You have united with everyone and feel that you are at the next degree, the upper world.

You see the entire history of humanity, its foundation, the root cause, and its future higher state in which we ascended together. We exist there on all 125 degrees, and you simply reveal them. When you enter the spiritual world, you reveal 1/125^th of the perfect state.

The upper force is revealed inside of it, and you begin to feel to a certain degree, its properties, the laws of exchange between souls, laws of behavior, where it all leads, and all the mechanics. This is a huge attainment of upper wisdom. It is called the science of Kabbalah. This is what fills us, the so-called “Light of wisdom” (Ohr Hochma), which gives us the maximum fulfillment.

It is natural that you feel yourself already existing in the body since the body exists next to you in order for you to correct yourself through it. But your entire existence is already associated with that level of information, the fulfillment that you have just revealed. You are in it. This is your “I.”
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From Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Lesson 1

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Question: Is fulfilling the principles that Rabash conveys in his articles essential in order to attain spirituality, or is it sufficient to keep the group’s statute? For example, can I criticize a friend if I think it is for his own good, that I would be doing it out of love for him?

Answer: You have no right to teach anyone since you will always find a justification for your actions. You have to see the friend as great in “faith above reason.” This means to accept the fact that he is great and that only your egoistic eyes cannot see it. But! There are two buts here.

The first but is whether he is a real friend: Does he participate in the connection and unity in the group? This is the important condition and actually the only one. Does he yearn to participate in the connection and unity in the group? If he does, he is a friend, if he doesn’t he isn’t one.

Second, the criticism should be only regarding his participation in the group or in the work that he does. Suppose he works here as an electrician or in dissemination and he does something wrong, here we criticize him, which means that we try to correct his slips. But this doesn’t affect my love for him as a friend in any way. In such a case, I treat him as a performer of some physical work and that’s all. The two aspects have nothing to do with one another.

If he is a real friend, that is, he works for connection and unity, then I must simply accept him as absolute, as the Creator. “From the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator.” It is the same thing! Rabash writes beautifully about it saying that eventually the group is corrected only by love among all its members, which becomes the Creator.

So we don’t criticize a friend, but express our love to him openly. It is an essential condition. Thus we work correctly against our ego.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/16/12, Preliminary Lesson

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Question: After experiencing the tremendous closeness and unity with friends at the convention, how can we avoid sinking in the regular routine and remain in the same exalted intention towards the path and the friends?

Answer: You have to close your eyes and stay connected!

1. First of all, you must take part together in all the lessons, seminars and as many events as possible. You can’t manage without that.

2. Second, don’t trust your mind! I saw some very smart students, who have a good analytical approach, yet who are unable to analyze and research themselves, and that’s a problem. Even if they can place themselves under critical analysis, they still can’t analyze that criticism. Thus, they advance in the direction of reason rather than devotion and self-sacrifice. And without that a person immerses into impure, egoistic forces (Klipa) rather than bestowal and spiritual forces.

This is exactly what one should fear, of taking the path of reason instead of selfless devotion of the soul. We have already seen many friends who have fallen on this path, and many will fall. The goal will be reached only by those who are devoted to it with all of their soul and are willing to go forward with their eyes closed.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/21/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How is it possible to precede the acts of the Creator each time and to become more rigid in relation to the ego so as not to surrender to its treacherous schemes, and on the other hand, to be sensitive to the hints of the Creator?

Answer: Don’t think about the ego under any circumstances, not of how to surrender to it or the opposite. All of these games with the ego won’t help. It is more cunning than you and everyone else.

Egoism is a very strong nature that is completely opposed to the Creator and is equal to Him in its intensity. The entire egoistic system was created by the Light entering into the desire, which made its nature and all its attributes in all of its forms. Thus, the struggle against the ego won’t help at all! It is only rising above it and having the desire become similar to the Light that will help! But to face the ego head on is hopeless.

You don’t need to pay attention to it! Only yearn to move ahead! Don’t wait until it pushes us from behind.

Question: What should you do if you constantly think about this, and at the last moment forget about the ego and also about the Creator?

Answer: That is because there is no connection with the group and the environment doesn’t help you go forward.

Here there is a very simple system of forces. From the beginning you are given a point to lean on, you are given direction, pushes. It is said that the Creator puts your hand on good fate and tells you: “Choose this.” And then you choose.

Baal HaSulam writes, for this person it is constantly said to choose an environment for yourself that is stronger and stronger, one that will strengthen you, and in which you will not fall and not forget the goal.

The choice of a strong environment depends only on your investing in it. You don’t need to change people, you need to invest in them more, and then you will feel a greater influence from them. This is the point of choice of the new environment. It is not a matter of faces of people, but to what extent you can take from them that same upper energy that is in them, but they themselves don’t even know about it.

If it doesn’t succeed, then it’s a sign that you need to yearn to attain this. There is nothing to do. The work is only in that.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/16/12, Preliminary Lesson

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There are several circles that share the same center: Inside there is a small group in which I work, then there is the world group, and then all of humanity.

On the whole, the Light is everywhere in this whole volume. It doesn’t go away and doesn’t disappear. When we say that the Light is revealed, we refer to something that is similar to developing film. The Light is simply concealed from us in the deeper levels. Our yearning for unity summons and reveals the upper Light from the inside.

First I work in my group (1), since it is much closer to me. There is nothing we can do about it, that’s the way we are built: I feel people whom I can see, hear, and feel physically and with them I work more intensively.

Next there is the world group (2). We gather virtually in conventions trying to connect as strongly as possible. Thus we help since the upper Light created a system that is separated into several parts, into several levels. So my 100% effort in my group is like the 50% effort of the world group; it is as if we have made a 100% effort since the level of our concealment from one another is also taken into account: On this level we cannot cooperate more intensively.

Even if we feel other people who are living in other countries, in other continents, far away from us, if we try to connect with them, if we form mutual connections and hold conventions, etc., it is enough.

In the meantime, we cannot attain a connection in which the internal group and the external group are identical. It is impossible. It will only happen at the end of correction. Still, the constant efforts are enough to summon the upper Light. So we shouldn’t feel sorry that we forget the external groups, it is only natural.

Finally there is humanity, and if we only think about it a little and disseminate, create different forms of media, and operate through all the media channels, it will also be enough so that in these circles in the spreading waves, we will show the upper Light our efforts, our yearning for connection and unity, to the extent that it is possible in different areas.

We mustn’t forget all this under any circumstances. The Light is collective and it fills the whole space. We too have to incorporate this whole space inside us, on a different level, proportionately to how close it is to us.
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From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/17/12, Lesson 1

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Question: What are we waiting for, what should we hope for, for all the friends who devote themselves for the convention?

Answer: You should hope to connect as a result of all your efforts that should be absorbed with the intention to unite. There are all the necessary conditions for that in the world today.

Every day articles by scientists and researchers, economists and politicians are sent to me about the globalization of the world and the mutual connections in it. They are actually using our words, although they don’t say everything since they don’t understand how they can change the situation in society. They do understand, however, that the world will have to reach unity, harmony, integrality, etc.

We are in an unprecedented state. We have been given a chance to change the world by uniting, and what is more, it is given to us in a country where the wisdom of Kabbalah has developed for many years and where today, too, there are the strongest groups and most faithful students. We can cause the force that we will discover among us to really help the whole world reach the Creator through it.

This is called a trinity: We, each of us, through the group, through all of us, through the world Kli (vessel), and after us the world community, yearn for the Creator and connect. This means that we, all the friends throughout the world, together with all of humanity, and the Creator make one general whole. This general whole should be revealed, felt, and created, since it doesn’t exist at the moment!

I do hope that our preparation will serve that.
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From a Virtual Lesson 8/12/12

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