About Martial Arts

Question: Many of your students are involved with sports, they have titles and awards. And I have heard that you also continue to be involved with sports. How do you relate to sports and what are its roots in the spiritual world, especially the martial arts?

Answer: Sports in general are beneficial to some extent. I will tell you what I think about the martial arts. A real fighter who masters these skills overcomes the natural fear, which is present within every person because each one of us is an egoist. By acquiring the art of hand-to-hand combat, a person feels that he cannot be afraid of anything, and therefore he is ready to open himself, his heart, to be gracious, friendly, and sympathetic towards others since he is not afraid of anything. He protects himself, his ego. Through martial arts he acquires a shield so he has no need for a sword. This condition is called the “power of kindness.”

So when used correctly, all martial arts are noble. If our nature weren’t egoistic, then there would be no need to calm down the ego or a need for martial arts. But in spite of that, our ego is our only nature and we don’t have anything else. So by making a “screen” over our ego, by calming it down with the help of martial arts, we can be open towards others, and therefore, as strange as it may sound, the control and dignity of the martial arts leads to goodness and unity.
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Produce The Integral Laws Together

Question: When we begin to work with people in the area of integral education, do we put emphasis on the method itself or on the group of ten in which the integral force is revealed?

Answer: On the group of ten in which the people who receive integral education and training begin to discover this method themselves. After all, we know how much it enters and remains in a person. Thus, the significance of verbal and conceptual conveyance disappears.

People must feel everything themselves and reach those conclusions that we want to teach them, themselves. Therefore, all the questions we ask during the course of the workshop must be directed towards this, for this will produce the most reliable result.

They will suddenly begin to understand: “Yes, this must be so,” and we immediately ask them, “And why not otherwise?” And they will convince themselves and us with the integral conclusion that they have reached: It is definitely necessary to agree with what another person says, and I only supplement him, and the one who comes after me supplements me, and so on.

In other words, all of us must reach some kind of common opinion that we accept, not that is imposed upon us and not crushed into us during the process of some of cunning dialogue or political persuasion; rather, it becomes the opinion of everyone without exception. How is it possible to find an opinion like this in which everyone will specifically feel it as my solution? It is not that I concede; they don’t convince me; rather, it exists in the same form as I express it. And then this will be integral unity.

After this everyone reaches a common opinion that we should solve everything on an equal basis, according to those characteristics that nature gave each one. This is to say, the equality of the people can only be conditional. And so on. Thus, the students should produce all the common integral laws on their own.
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From Kab TVs “Through Time” 9/17/2013

Like My Ten Fingers

Question: How should we construct the work in the groups of ten? Can the groups of ten be formed according to participation in projects?

Answer: The division into groups often is useful for discussions because discussions in a large format is very difficult. Discussing means listening to someone else, joining with him, completing him, and listening to others.

A group of ten is a kind of gathering that is optimal for our internal structure, for our thoughts, our intellect, and our hearts. This is the maximum amount of people that I can include within me and can see them all as if they were like my ten fingers. And if the amount is greater, it is very difficult, practically impossible. If there are more, we automatically contract ten people and sometimes only five or even two. It depends on the development of a person.
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From a Talk About the Dissemination 10/17/13

Tense Unity Is Invigorating Along The Spiritual Path

Question: If the group is dealing with several projects simultaneously there may be arguments, resentment, and competition among the friends.

Answer: This is natural. The same thing happens here. Sometimes we have to postpone and even cancel a certain project and work on another instead.

There is nothing we can do about it. We are living in a rapidly changing world. Some of our projects take a long time to process and often we cannot complete them the way they should be done. Suddenly something urgent comes up and then we have to leave what we were working on for a month or two or look for people who can finish the project or support it until we can get back to it.

In such a small family that is growing so fast there are always different problems that need to be resolved. Don’t think that there will be an end to this. There will be more and more problems and the intensity of our work will grow accordingly. We have to quickly build up our experience in working externally with the wider circles of society.

We mustn’t forget that all of this is important for the group to grow stronger and to constantly advance towards stronger internal unity. Tension in the unity is an indicator that we are on the right track, because as soon as we reach a clear and evident unity, we will discover the Creator in it.
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From a Talk About the Dissemination 10/17/13

The Universe Is Like A Biological Cell

In the News (from LiveScience): “The universe may grow like a giant brain, according to a new computer simulation.

“The results, published Nov.16 in the journal Nature’s Scientific Reports, suggest that some undiscovered, fundamental laws may govern the growth of systems large and small, from the electrical firing between brain cells and growth of social networks to the expansion of galaxies.

“’Natural growth dynamics are the same for different real networks, like the Internet or the brain or social networks,’ said study co-author Dmitri Krioukov, a physicist at the University of California San Diego.

“The new study suggests a single fundamental law of nature may govern these networks, said physicist Kevin Bassler of the University of Houston, who was not involved in the study.”

“This comparative review, which is the first of its kind, describes the universe from the perspective of cell biology, focusing on theoretical and observational conceptualizations of cosmic history. This holographic strategy presents us with a natural, understandable, and reasonably expanding universe; in fact, nearly all that exists in the macrouniverse is mirrored in a biological cell as a micro universe. Simply put, the universe can be pictured as a cell. …

“For more than 35 years, black hole physics has been one of the most active fields of research in both classical and quantum gravity. The cellular model of the universe presumes a black-hole centered universe which is, roughly speaking, similar to a biological cell in many surprising aspects. Since a black hole is spherical, it resembles the cell nucleus in shape. In addition, similar to the two-layered nuclear membrane in eukaryotic cells, any black hole has two event horizons, the outer horizon and inner horizon. The horizon is a spherical surface that marks the boundary of the black hole. The laws of relativity prevent anything that goes into a black hole from coming out again, at least within classical physics. We conjecture it is analogous to the nuclear membrane, which prevents mixing of nucleoplasm and cytoplasm. In addition, trafficking of proteins and nucleic acids in or out of the cell nucleus is restricted by the nuclear membrane. In 1974 the British theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, demonstrated that a black hole spontaneously emits electromagnetic radiation, now known as Hawking radiation, through a quantum process. In 1920, the Russian embryologist, Alexander Gurwitsch, also demonstrated that the nucleus of each living cell emits small pockets of electromagnetic radiation.” Source: International Journal of the Physical Sciences

My Comment: Everything is created and has the structure of HaVaYaH (the four-stage development of desire or the name of the Creator), from the smallest manifestations of an existing object or phenomenon to all of creation as a whole. The law of similarity of the particular and the general is observed, as well as others.
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A Passive Member Is Not A Friend

Question: How can every member in the group be like Moses who demands that Pharaoh let the people of Israel, the whole group, leave Egypt?

Answer: Everyone must be like Moses. It isn’t enough to be a passive member because by that you drill a hole in the general boat. You have to do your best, otherwise you are not a friend.

Imagine that we are all hanging from a cliff above an abyss, each holding the other, and you are holding everyone with a quarter of your strength. How can you be called a friend then? You have to give 100% of your powers every moment as much as you possibly can. Of you will not be able to do it, and you will quit time and time again and then come back. But in order to clarify things as quickly as possible, you have to understand that things can be that way.

Of course the desired and reality are not always consistent with each other. But still, you have to check yourself with regard to the ideal state. Only then can you really be called a friend.

Our connection creates a place for the revelation of the Creator, and it’s only for that reason that we give it priority. By connecting we create the conditions for the revelation of the Creator.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/30/13, Writings of Rabash

There Is No Turning Back

As we move forward, there are all sorts of egoistic fears, uncertainty, and hesitations. Of course, we do not want take such dramatic steps. It seems that it would be better to soften everything, not to speak out openly against the powerful forces of this world.

This is similar to how Pharaoh goes against Moses. Who is Moses? He is no one and nothing because he is afraid all the time, in awe of Pharaoh. But theCreator pushes him forward and compels him to confront Pharaoh face to face, that is, to stand against the manifestation of all the egoism of our world.

Moshe (from the word “Limshoh” – to pull out in Hebrew) is the force that pulls us out of egoism.

Moshe is not free. He stands before Pharaoh, shaking with fear, but it is the Creator who puts him in these conditions, and therefore, if he accepts them, he wins.

Today, we are in a state, which we would never be able to plan ourselves, in a state of absolute uncertainty, with the threat of conflict. And I am incredibly happy about that. This joy is multiple, multi-layered.

First of all, this joy comes from the fact that we deserve such opponents. Baal HaSulam wrote that we wanted to blow up the wall between humanity and the wisdom of Kabbalahbecause it alone can save humanity. Today it is manifested. We deserve enormous publicity, which we could not create ourselves. Whether it is positive or negative, it does not matter. Publicity is publicity.

We are making strides in dissemination. This forces us to rise, to evaluate everything differently. We are going to fight. All this is not simple because it involves a huge risk, and indeed it is. But the payoff is huge, and there is no turning back.

The Creator sets these circumstances and does everything so that we cannot escape. This picture is completely clear to me, and our friends start seeing that there is no way out; the Creator puts us before Pharaoh, forcing to work.

I am very happy about this first because we have earned such a strong, dramatic attitude of the Creator. Secondly, because the entire world group understands this state, this critical battle, and we are giving our last effort; we agree to withstand the onslaught and correctly respond to it; on one hand, we do so calmly, and on the other hand, without fear, without hesitation, without doubt.

The current period gives me confidence that we really are before the Egyptian exile. These are already serious battles against our egoism, which is now revealed to us in this way, especially, in the last stage of our fight against certain circles.

It is said that when the people of Israel were going out of Egypt, there was a chase. Moreover, it is not said that the Egyptians chased them, but Erev Rav (the mixed multitude). Who were they? There was no one to go after the Israelites because the Pharaoh’s army was defeated, and all the servants, etc. allegedly died of the ten plagues.

Who stayed behind in Egypt? Those who clung to it; those who were afraid of the Creator, who worked for Pharaoh. We are at war with them now. If we have reached this state, we are really close to the exit from Egypt. I congratulate all of us with this.
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From the Convention in Bulgaria 11/01/13, Lesson 2

Indifferent Compassion

Today, I do not like the life that I see before my eyes. What can change this impression?

Comment: The Light.

Answer: But if the Light fills me, then a pleasant feeling will hide everyone else’s problems, “Why should I care about them? Let the whole world burn. Yes, it is suffering. Yes, it is in agony; it doesn’t matter; so what?”

In fact, I am indifferent and do not see the connection between the suffering of the world and my own state. If I am well, then the Creator is good and does good in my eyes. As for the pain of others, its significance depends on how much I am able to feel the world.

For example, if my haters suffer, then the Creator is the peak of perfection for me. In other words, I evaluate His kindness not by their feelings but by mine. Then, it turns out that my enemies’ troubles delight me, “It serves them right! Do some more!” This is my criterion of the Creator’s good, not the absolute one, but the one that passes through my feelings created by the picture that appears in me.

But why does the average person suffer seeing the pain of others?

Comment: Because he is afraid that their pain will spread to him.

Answer: True. He is afraid for himself.

If I did not have an egoistic desire, then I would not feel compassion for others because I would not fear a similar fate. Thus, the egoistic desire helps me share the pain of others; it acts against its own nature. I have nothing to do with them, but their misfortunes threaten to affect me, then I feel sorry for them.

On the other hand, it is clear that if I get rid of my relationship with them, if I rise above humanity, then I will be indifferent to its suffering. “In the end, the Creator is my father, so let me rise to Him. There, we will be together with Him, and why should I care about the rest?” Having lost the egoistic desire, I will have lost the threat of possible suffering.

So, it may be possible to make an agreement with the Creator, “I perform all Yourcommandments, everything that You say, and we are constantly connected.” In this case, the suffering of the world will not touch me at all.

It turns out that the stronger my desire and relationship with the Creator is, the further I am away from the world. I just do not feel what happens to people. They suffer, and I am like a stone, indifferent, that’s it.

What can be done, if on the contrary, I empathize with the suffering of others? To do this I need to feel distant from the Creator, cut off from Him, and like others, dependent on various circumstances over which I have no control.

That is why we plunge into the crisis, to feel our dependence on some unknown force. There is a departure from religion for the same reason. Otherwise, a person cannot feel compassion for others, does not feel dependent on them. The egoistic attitude towards the Creator that did not pass through love of the others as oneself is not aimed at love for the created beings to love for Him, this is what maintains the confidence in me that everything is all right, that I am doing everything correctly, and others are not my concern.

If I lose my feeling of connection with the Creator, then I find myself more and more dependent on others, I am forced to establish a connection with them and through them a connection with Him. Indeed we are all in danger and experience threats wherever they come from, whether it’s the environment, the financial system, or spiritual shortcomings. A person discovers the instability of his current state, his relationship, but not his personal dependence on the Creator, but his lack of the collective whole.

That is why the current state of affairs encourages us to be corrected.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Paving The Road Is Not The Same As Taking It

Question: Humanity is drawing further away from nature as it evolves, losing the last traces of our perception of the laws of this one mechanism. What will happen next?

Answer: In contrast to the level of the speaking, the animate level doesn’t evolve by acquiring a new level of a mind and feeling by itself. No, we have to take care of this. The sages say that the nations of the world will carry the children of Israel on their shoulders and bring them to where they will build theTemple. This means that it’s about AHP joining GE, and there is no other way it can joinGE.

Therefore, it says that the nations of the world will learn the Torah all at one time. They have no power to clarify things and this is the only way they can join GE. It doesn’t mean that their fate in our world is to participate passively, but they will be passive in spirituality. This is how they will work. We have the intention and they carry it out.

Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine how all the people in the world will attain the Creator, especially when the descendants of the children of Israel don’t want it. We don’t take into account and don’t understand that their correction will take place all at once. The moment you learn to raise their request (MAN) to your level and from there to the upper AVI, to the Creator, then at that moment they will receive the Light through you and everything will immediately work out for them. They don’t need to pave the road by themselves. Instead the Light will develop the emotional and mental system in them that is aimed only at being more and more dependent on us.

This is, in fact, what will be revealed in their understanding and their attainment: the need to depend on the children of Israel. Similarly, we also discover in our understanding and attainment that we have to be more dependent on the connection with the group and with the Creator.

Thus, the whole world, besides us, will be corrected easily by a relatively passive connection in workshops and other events. That is enough. We are the ones who have to do the serious work.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

The Film Commissioned By The Viewer

The difference between the spiritual and material worlds is that spirituality is our internal state. There is not some external picture with flying angels and evil spirits. But the world that we perceive outside of us is our inner state. All sensations are developed within the material of our perception.

Previously, in the past centuries, madmen who had visions were considered saints and seers. Later psychology explained that hallucinations were caused by internal processes that occur in people. The wisdom of Kabbalah agrees with these findings of psychology.

Since ancient times, from the very beginning of the revelation of the Creator by a man, Kabbalah has said that the pictures of this world are just projections of our internal sensations. However, we have an ability to change our psychology, and our perception and not live in this current reality, which occurs spontaneously and presents the picture of this world; we can choose what movie we want to watch.

To do this we need to investigate who we are, who governs us, and how it works, and then we’ll be able to look at ourselves rationally and soberly. It is written: “A judge has only what his eyes can see,” and all the rest is just our imagination. Our entire lives and all this world are also a dream.

Kabbalah gives us the tools to accomplish these changes: This is how it differs from any other approaches, whether religious or scientific. Kabbalah gives us the means to change our dreams and imaginary pictures we live in; it allows us to explore them, look at them from the side and see the forces acting on them, and to create these pictures. It elevates us to a degree where we begin to develop these pictures, the shape of the world.

In essence, we develop an ability to define what dimension we want to be in and what to choose.

Thus, we rise to a degree of attainment of the forces governing us and learn how to use them. And in the end, behind all these forces, we reveal the upper intelligence, the Creator’s desire. This is the most exalted level, the level of revelation of the cause of creation, its purpose and design; we achieve complete unity with the Creator.

But this is only a transitory peak, and what follows: Let’s wait and see. After all, at that time we’ll exist in a different form. And then there will be new and different levels of attainment and advancement. But, they have nothing to do with material desires because at that point our attitude towards the matter will be already corrected. This new revelation is outside the boundaries of the “matter” in more sublime properties.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/13

The Ego: Friend Or Foe?

Question: When we work as one group, we make great efforts, but the ego is revealed each time anew and separates us. What should we do? After all, it disturbs us from disseminating efficiently.

Answer: I don’t understand how the ego can stand in your way. What would you do without it? You exist thanks to it and it’s only thanks to it that you can rise as it continuously grows and swells inside you. It’s by rising above the ego that you can keep on growing and without it you will attain nothing. Its growing is a clear sign of your growing.

How can you see the ego negatively?! It’s the force that develops us and without which it would be impossible to be shaken. After all, you can only be shaken or pricked by your ego. It’s very simple.

We mustn’t relate to the ego this way since it’s our nature. Everything that the Creatorhas created was created in total harmony. When all the inner and external envies are revealed, we should understand that it’s impossible to make even one step forward without them! What’s more, you can change them into the opposite attributes on the spot. It is possible.

The ego increasingly grows on the way to our spiritual attainment. At the same time, it’s gradually revealed through terrible states, in the form of scary forces that are opposite from the Creator.

Today very little of it is revealed in the form of different positive or negative impressions, even without any specific reference. However, when you have a more accurate goal, you will reveal your ego in ways that may seem like your beloved or your dear child being kidnapped before your very eyes and their lives being threatened. What would you feel then?! What would you do?!

When your ego is revealed that way, as it kills your slight movement towards the Creator, it will take on different forms. Now it is only the prologue.
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From a Talk About the Dissemination 10/17/13

Learning To Listen To The Teacher

Question: When is a person considered a student of his teacher?

Answer: A student is called someone who adheres to his teacher (meaning in the inner way) and tries to “suck” everything possible out of him. Like a baby who is sucking milk out of his mother, a student is trying to suck out of his teacher everything he has and to grow, meaning develop what he receives.

He is not capable of receiving all the knowledge, attainment, and sensation instantly, but he can obtain the tools in order to develop everything within himself. After all, a child receiving his mother’s milk does not digest it inside of him, but rather he turns it into meat, muscles, and bones. He is building his organism and developing himself. The same thing happens here.

We have to understand that from a teacher we receive something that we wish to receive and only in the form and to the extent that we put forth our efforts toward it. We do not hear what the teacher says; we only hear what we wish to hear. The work of a student is to annul his psychological obstacles and begin to listen to the teacher. In other words, the work of a student is the annulling of his ego.
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From the Talk about Group and Dissemination 10/20/13

To Guarantee The Friend’s Life

Question: What responsibility must we take for each other?

Answer: There are hardships in life when a person finds himself penniless and friendless, and there is no one to turn to. Imagine you are helpless and completely dependent on others, like the miners buried underground. If somebody doesn’t take care of you from above, you are doomed.

That is what we must feel: desperate dependence on the friends. Without them, we will neither survive nor reach the goal, nor will we be able to sustain ourselves. It comes down to a corporeal, beastly fear that forces a person to value Arvut (mutual guarantee).

A new system is being revealed to us in which we totally depend on each other. What then are we guaranteed? We guarantee oxygen and everything that sustains life.

This feeling depends on to what extent everyone is trying to get to know it. Afterwards, while ascending the spiritual rungs, we will feel this dependence down to the very bones and in every breath we take, like scuba divers who have one oxygen tank left and are breathing through one tube passing it from one to another.

That’s what mutual guarantee (Arvut) is. After all, we are “tied” in the collective soul, except that we don’t see it yet. But gradually, the Creator reveals the true state of things for us: He removes the concealment.
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From the Talk on Sabbath Evening 10/16/10, “Arvut”

Spending Our Lives Preparing For War

Science of our world is constantly changing, we have to keep correcting and improving it without interrupting the search.

Whatever seems to be absolutely obvious today, ceases to be indisputable tomorrow, and it is even possible that whatever was considered beneficial today, tomorrow will become harmful. Our desire constantly keeps changing and we discover a new science in it.

And since the desire to receive pleasure can change into its opposite on a daily basis, then useful things can become harmful.

Moreover, by operating only through our egoistic desire, we use all of the discoveries that were made in nature for the sake of self-benefit, and therefore the outcomes of the evolution of science harm us.

In other words, we always use it for evil. And we see that science mainly develops because we need it for wars and mutual destruction. If not for this, we would not keep evolving at all.

All the wonderful scientific discoveries are used to serve our egoism.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/10, “The Wisdom of Israel in Comparison to Science”

A Positive Force

We create energy with our common actions of unity. But we also need to properly use it for everyone to unite with the group.

The energy that I receive from the group is my reward for being loyal to the group. I become an integral part of a whole to the extent of my loyalty; I am prepared for them to do whatever they consider necessary to me.

This means that I use the group correctly and I can continue to demand energy from it in order to become even closer to it.

I give myself without a thought that they will fill me with their values and then this part becomes incorporated into the mutual guarantee without a doubt.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

A Bitter Incomplete Path

Baal HaSulam: “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose”: The sweeter the fruit is at its end, the more bitter and unsightly it is in the earlier phases of its development. And so it is with the animate and speaking types: for the beast, whose mind is little at its end, is not so wanting while it grows. Whereas man, whose mind is great at his end, is very wanting while developing. “A day-old calf is called an ox”; that is, it has the strength to stand on its own legs and walk, and the intelligence to avoid hazards on its way.

But a day-old infant lies seemingly senseless…

Thus, we have thoroughly shown the conducts of His Providence in our world, which is only a purposeful Guidance. The attribute of goodness is not at all apparent before Creation arrives at its completion, its final ripeness. On the contrary, it rather always takes a form of corruption in the eyes of the beholders. Thus you see that the Creator bestows upon His creatures only goodness, but that goodness comes by way of purposeful Guidance.

First it must be clear that we are in an evolutionary process. This is what we see in the world. Besides, it is clear that although our evolution leads to better states, the process of getting there can involve troubles and problems that actually spur us to develop. We also see this in the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

We see everything along the way in the form of different pressures from all sides—disturbances, disappointments, worries—but this is how the evolutionary process takes place. Baal HaSulam gives the example of a fruit that at first is bitter but becomes sweet when it’s finally ripe. It’s the same with a person who is born powerless and mindless and then grows above the animate level.

This shows that the phases we go through along the developmental path are opposite from what awaits us at the end when we attain the goal. Therefore, Baal HaSulam says that there is none wiser than the experienced. And this wise experienced one is only a Kabbalist who has already been through all the phases of development and has attained their complete form. Only such people can tell us about what happens along this path.

Thus we understand the answer to the main question about our development: How can we be sure that the Creator is absolute good? It’s because He precedes everything and doesn’t need anyone. In that case, if He controls and manages the world and does everything, if there is none else besides Him, then how can it be that we suffer? Why do all the created beings and the whole world suffer, although the Creator bestows all that is good?

The answer is that we are under a purposeful guidance that leads us to the goal by sufferings, because otherwise we would not be able to move forward. When we reach the goal, we will reach the good state that is actually attained at the end and not at the beginning or in the middle of the way. What’s more, the phases of this path are actually meant to confuse and to deceive us by concealing the final outcome.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam