Zohar For All

Question: We are going to have an international convention soon in which we will celebrate the publication of The Book of Zohar adapted to the new generation. What does this mean?

Answer: By working with this book we are aware, understand, and feel that we have a source of power that belongs to the upper nature, to the force that manages everything to the smallest detail, to the smallest cell, to the last atom. The Book of Zohar has a special quality that allows us to connect to this force and to be inspired by it. Thus we will be able to understand and feel it and work according to it.

We have no other key or connecting channel, other than The Book of Zohar. All the otherKabbalah books were actually written so that we would approach the main book and use it correctly. So we celebrate the publication of Zohar For All.

We have to understand that we are on the verge of a new era, moving on to a level of a new development. We have to disseminate this book all over the world, and produce many other supplementary materials that will serve to bring people closer to it.
[123314]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Control Over The Intention

Question: If in my daily life a small desire to direct my intention to bestow to the Creator appears and then quickly disappears, what can I do in order to focus on it? How can I help myself, should I draw something on my hand, or do something else?

Answer: You remind me of those years when I was learning withRabash. I also drew a symbol on my hand so that I would not forget the intention. When I was sitting behind the steering wheel in the car, the symbol on my hand was constantly flashing before my eyes, as if to remind me that I must think about the intention in order to bestow. This is so unnatural for us such that it cannot appear in a person’s head without some kind of external reminder.

So do everything possible: draw something on your hand, set an alarm clock, and activate some signal on the cell phone so that every five minutes it will remind you about the intention. It’s not important which actions you do, they could be very different. The main thing is not to interrupt them; rather, just simply go back to control the intention.

The moment that you prefer it you will feel a difference between our world and the spiritual world, because only the intention differentiates us from the spiritual world. The moment that some inclination appears within you, you will immediately feel that you are entering into a completely different matrix of sensations; you will begin to feel the world differently. It will suddenly begin to be like in a movie and then an absolutely different picture will appear.
[123125]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day One 12.13.13, Lesson 1

A Thousand Enter A Room And All Go Out To The Light

Question: It is said a thousand enter a room and only some are honored with the discovery of the Creator. Therefore I am overcome by fear, do I have the potential to discover the Reshimot?

On the one hand, I understand that spiritual work is a great benefit and at the same time I cannot be released from the fear. How must one work with this?

Answer: We know that hundreds of millions of people want to be rich, famous, and in control. How many of them attain that goal?

The spiritual goal is compulsory for all. The expression that a thousand enter a room and only one attains the goal belongs to the Kabbalists from the previous generations. In those times it wasn’t required that everyone attain the spiritual worlds and those individuals who merited this acted according to very complex laws. They had to maintain very rigid and difficult conditions in order to enter the upper world.

In our day, every housewife, every simple guy from South America, from Siberia, from Israel, from the United States, and from other regions can attain this without any preparation; the desire simply ignites within them and this is everything. We are entering a state like this where everyone without exception must advance to the goal.

We even turn to those who don’t have this desire, in order to awaken it in them and prevent forward advancement under the influence of suffering because the world is already in a threatening state; we see where everything is advancing. Therefore the condition in which, “a thousand enter and one goes out” is not relevant for us. Today everyone must go out into the spiritual world even those who have not yet entered, not to mention those who are like us.

Today this condition doesn’t work, forget it. The Kabbalists simply reminded us of that to spur us on a little bit, for in spite of it all, one must relate to this very seriously. This is within our power.

The Kabbalists are apparently telling us, act in those frameworks in which you can and then you will succeed. This is saying that you must dedicate all of your spare time to inner work. At least it’s necessary to try to direct our intention to this all the time.
[123214]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day One 12/13/13, Lesson 1

Where It Hurts Most

Question: The spiritual path goes only through points of friction where I disagree with the teacher and the group. How can I agree if I see that you are wrong?

Answer: Of course you see that the teacher is wrong. You also think that the Creator is wrong in having arranged this tough life in this world for us. Couldn’t He have made it peaceful, pleasurable, and serene?

This spiritual path is against your ego, which means against your desire and your mind. You must constantly rise above the points of friction, which are against your feelings and your mind, one by one, over and over again. These are the points that the spiritual path is made of that become a “door, an opening, and entrance” to adhesion with the Creator and with His creation: “He is one and His name is One.”

This step is always above your reason, where the next stage is. Everything else with which you agree—the pleasant meals together, the friends, the interesting trips—have nothing to do with spirituality! These are only accompanying factors that are meant to bring out the points of friction which are most important.

On the one hand, there is the ordinary life in this world, and on the other hand, there is the life in the group. All this works out very well on all sides. But you are stuck in the middle and cannot agree on certain points and you think to yourself: “Oh well never mind, this is nonsense, so what I if don’t agree! I agree with everything else.”

In your ordinary life you get married, you build a family, work, and do everything, and you live in the group, work with your friends, pay maaser, and participate in all the events. But in certain states you suddenly get stuck and cannot agree and cannot leap over them. At the same time, however, you take the right side or the left side without any problems. Of course, you don’t have a problem, since your ego agrees with everything that happens there.

You should only identify the place where there can be a door, an opening and an entrance. It is there where it hurts the most! You don’t want to evoke these points since this is where you feel the real friction, like a painful injection.

You are with everyone in your feelings and your mind! You love to study, to discuss spiritual matters, you love to spend time with the friends, you give them presents, you “buy the friends,” you invite them over. But sometimes it seems that when it comes to certain matters the group makes wrong decisions. You don’t object but wait quietly until the friends will finally grow up and understand their mistakes and correct them, which means, that they will agree with you. You understand that there is no alternative and nowhere to go since you admit that it is a wonderful, great, smart group and that nothing compares to it.

It is a very common attitude that is typical of most students, but gradually, after several years of study, you begin to feel and see these points of friction in which you get stuck. It is there, in these points, where the entrance that is about to open is. It isn’t a door but a wall, but by working in faith above reason, you will see a door in this wall that will immediately open up and become an opening and an entrance.

The entrance can only be in these points of friction and they are what you should look for and differentiate from everything else! Everything else is under the control of your ego. Only in these points of friction can there be the opening to another dimension by the power of faith.
[123211]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Beneficial Acceleration In Advancing Forward

We have to identify every kind of relationship and work in thegroup, which when arranged correctly can help us overcome time and space and different external and internal influences.Thus we can overcome the different influences of the Light that Reforms that alternately put us through different states.

We will be able to overcome all this by the help of the environment when its influence is stronger than the influence of the Surrounding Light. Then it can be said: “My sons have defeated Me!” Thus we will ascend above each and every state.

This is actually the main thing we can do and we will learn how to make use of each state in the most beneficial way, which means to “cherish a light Mitzva just like a severe one.” We will always be able to correct ourselves which means to “perform Mitzvot.” We will not be totally dependent on the Light anymore, on its illumination, which brings us different feelings. In fact we are already able to draw the Light that Reforms by our efforts and by the correct connection between us, which means that its influence will help us advance in a more effective way towards the goal.

It doesn’t mean that we want to escape the feeling of the Light and the darkness, the hardening of the heart, no! We understand that it is impossible without it. But if we connect, then we can share all these effects so that we will not feel any obstacles as we advance. All the problems will be solved by the connection between us, since by that we immediately control the Light.

So if our connection is good and correct, we already determine the pace of the ascents and descents that come from the Light; we steadily accelerate our advancement and can determine the pace of the time and the states we go through by ourselves. This will make the ascent permanent and turn it into a day that is totally Light.

The states don’t change and actually remain the same. But when we overcome them we build new levels. Now, too, we are in a state of the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun), and it does not depend on time but on the state, on our feelings. We choose which level of the spiritual ladder to be on. We shouldn’t wait and hope that it will come by itself. Nothing will happen by itself. We have to make it happen. Each of us receives such an invitation to reach the final end of correction from every state we are in.
[122284]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/4/13

A Spiritual Baby Needs To Be Fed And Educated

Baal HaSulam, Letter 26: That power, to heed the word of the sages in this reality, in Dalet, is called “faith.”

If you want the upper to take care of your spiritual development, you have to be like a baby and place yourself in the hands of the group and teacher so that they can take care of you.

But if you don’t annul yourself before them, you will not be able to go on to the next level. Only then can they clean you like it says: “the mother shall come and clean her son.” It cannot be any other way. This is exactly what we do in this world when parents take care of a baby and he naturally annuls himself before us. In the spiritual world, however, you have to place yourself by yourself in the hands of the greater so that he can take care of you.

There is no other way. Who else can take care of you? What would happen if a baby was a big strong dimwit and not small and helpless, it would be impossible to take care of him. It would simply be scary to come near such a monster with such a big ego.

A baby has to be fed from a bottle, he has to be cleaned, diapered, and given everything that a baby needs, but in the spiritual sense, of course. He should also be put to bed and then awakened. He should be taught and brought up! After taking care of everything that he needs on the corporeal level, you should begin to teach him; when his body has received everything that it needs, you should gradually give him the inner filling so that he will gradually learn to annul himself.

You don’t start off your spiritual path from the level of a baby and not even from the level of an embryo. You have not clarified and differentiated your drop of spiritual semen yet. You still have to imagine the Reshimot (spiritual genes) that you have to fulfill: to use all your physical powers, your mind, and all the means that you have in this world in order to develop from the present that you were given, from this drop of spiritual semen.
[123148]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Putting My Life In The Hands Of The Guide

Baal HaSulam is our guide and this means that I must accept everything that is in his books as the absolute truth. If I can understand what it says in my own mind, then I accept it of course, but even if I don’t understand, I should accept it even without understanding. Otherwise I will not reach the desired goal.

A guide means that he is a couple of steps before me telling me: “Follow me, to the right, to the left, straight ahead!” And I follow him. I don’t see the road, but he sees and is walking ahead of me. When I lift my foot in order to take the next step, I don’t know where to put it, and so I ask him: “Should I put it this way?” And he answers: “This way! Now a bit more to the left; not that way, a bit more to the left.” And I follow his instructions. This is following the guide.

It is also the same in our world. If I go mountain climbing or to some other dangerous place where I do not know the road, I put my life in the hands of the guide. It isn’t a tour guide in London; it is called a source, a guide.

The guide of the Bnei Baruch group is Baal HaSulam. If you want to study with us, you should know that we study according to our source. If not, then you should look for somewhere else to study. This is what Rabash told me when I asked him how I could be sure I was in the right place. I was thirty years old, full of energy, I had everything: health, family, money, everything one needs in life. I also asked him the same question: “I am following you and I have to dedicate 20 years before I reach anything, if I find out that this path is wrong, I will discover it when I am 50 and it would already be too late to correct anything in the few years that I would have left. How can I now be sure that I am in the right place?” And he answered: “Go and look for the right place.”

I was disappointed with the answer. I thought that if he were a spiritual guide, he should advise me to make the right choice. But this was his advice: “You should look for yourself, I cannot tell you.” If you choose a certain place, you should accept the teacher and follow him blindly. He becomes your head.

So if anyone doubts me, you should check me with regard to Baal HaSulam. I will be only too happy since I see my mission as presenting him to the public. This is how a person should check if this path is right for him or not; it is a waste of time to study if one doesn’t accept this method.

But if a person has already decided to study in one of our groups, he cannot accept only part of what we study and reject other parts. It turns out that with this he makes a decision based on his ego, thinking that it is more important than the path that we follow and study. I respect his opinion, but it is impossible to advance if one doesn’t accept this method above reason. Sometimes when you reject it but still accept the mind of the upper, you can advance, but if you don’t agree with the teacher about corporeal actions since you judge by your corporeal mind, on the corporeal level, then it cannot be. It is clear how you should perform them and you need to perform them in faith above reason.

Where faith is involve, the influence of the group is necessary. It is very simple: You either agree and accept things or you don’t belong and don’t advance along our path by even one step. A person has to calculate things, and if he disagrees with the teacher when it comes to corporeal matters, then he will certainly disagree when it comes to spiritual issues. He is only deluding himself that in spirituality everything is fine, but his work will lead to nothing. This is the reason that only very few people reach the goal.
[123154]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

The Group As An Envelope Of The Creator

Question: If the external world is a reflection of my inner world, is this saying that the Kabbalistic group is also a part of the reflection of the soul, of the inner state? If so, why exactly is it important to work in a group? And what is the importance of the external world in all of this?

Answer: The importance of the external world is secondary compared to the group. Because you have a group, your reflections appear, mutual work is done with you. You work with people, you influence them reciprocally, and you feel how the Creator puts them opposite you. It could be that you don’t know exactly why He put you in such an opposite way to them, and they against you. But at least this is the result of your interaction with the Creator.

In what is the uniqueness, the specificity of our world? Let’s depict this in a sketch. There is the Creator; there is this world, within it is a group, and there is me. In principle, I must find the Creator. I must connect with Him; I must be like Him, to be equivalent to Him. Therefore I am called Adam, from the word “Domeh” (similar). I must reach the Creator.

And therefore this world was created such that through an immense amount of people, the group, I can find the Creator. Today I don’t see Him and don’t discover Him because I am opposite to Him: I have “minus” and with Him there is “plus.” We don’t understand and don’t feel each other. He indeed feels and understands me; you see He created all this, whereas I don’t understand and don’t feel Him.

So how can I find Him? In what convoluted way can I pass from “minus” to “plus”?

For this I was given interesting “information” called “this world” and the “group.” If I direct myself in adapting to them, then by going outside of myself to them, with this I direct my desires, oversee them, specifically oversee my intentions regarding them, I approach the Creator in this manner.

I only need to be sure that I am going outside of myself and entering this world, that I devote myself to the friends, am concerned about them.

But how is it possible to attain this? How to oversee my departure from the intention “for my own sake” to the intention “for the sake of the Creator”?

Therefore it is said: Do everything not for the sake of the Creator but for the sake of this world. So specifically to that degree, I approach the Creator. But essentially He is concealed behind the friends, and the moment that I position myself correctly regarding this world, I will immediately discover Him.

My integration into this world in 125 levels is absolutely identical to approaching the Creator with 125 levels. The moment that I rise to the first level of connection with this world, I immediately will begin to discover the Creator. He will be revealed to me in our world! He cannot be revealed in anywhere by itself.

Therefore, it is said: “From the love of the Creations to the love of the Creator.” This is not some kind of charitable condition. This is because the Creator is situated behind this world and is linked with it specifically with a link like this. It follows that through work in a group, I erase the boundaries that existed between the Creator and this world.

Why was this given to me? It is so that I will find Him independently and will advance independently, I will “adhere” to Him. Only for this was I given the external envelope of the Creator, which is called “this world” and the “group.”

From here, the words are understood, that the friend must be as important to me as the Creator. The group must be important in my eyes to the same degree as He is. In other words, everything that is outside of me, I must attribute to the Creator.
[123204]
From the Moscow Virtual Convention “Unity Without Boundaries” Day Two 12/14/13, Lesson 2

The Future Of Humanity

Question: How is the desired picture of the future reflected in the textbook of integral education? Where is humanity headed?

Answer: The desired future of humanity is to learn systemic balance from nature.

Taking the entirety of nature as a standard, we need to make human nature integral like this, as it is in the world that surrounds us, for we are the most developed inner part of nature but egoistically developed, and this says that it is very bad. No matter what we do, we only destroy the space surrounding us. Therefore, if we begin to learn the integral laws of nature and want to live in harmony with it, this will be the best solution for our problem.

An integral society must live on two levels because a person consists of two parts: the physical body and the spirit that pulls him forward. This spirit now possesses an egoistic form. How can we balance it?

Our body must get all that it requires from nature in order to function normally, whereas the spirit—that is, our desires and yearnings—must be balanced because now they are egoistic. For this, we must place the good of society above our own good and feel ourselves as an integral component of this entire system.
[123048]
From Kab TV’s “An Integral World” 10/24/13

A Science Whose Time Has Come

The wisdom of Kabbalah is separate from all the rest of the sciences and human activities in this world. It is concealed from people. Simply studying the sources will not help us understand it. Kabbalah is not given to be learned alone for it requires personal guidance which will make it possible to truly learn it and attain what is said in the books.

Kabbalah is not just a science; rather, it is the wisdom of creation. And it is revealed with the help of a unique force that reaches a person, changes him, and fills him with the “Light” of the intellect and emotion, fills the brain and the heart. Only then does a person encounter the wisdom of Kabbalah and become a Kabbalist. And what he receives is called “Torah” or “The Light that Reforms.” This Light corrects him and gives him another nature compatible with discovery of the higher world. Within our present nature we discover only “this world,” the lowest level, which, in fact, doesn’t exist since it is entirely drawn by illusory perception of the desire to receive. When we acquire a desire to bestow, at this level, it will simply disappear.

The wisdom of Kabbalah talks about the entire process that a person must undergo to acquire characteristics that are compatible with a higher level; that is, the desire to bestow through which he will feel reality.

And the path begins from this world, specifically from the lowest level, where the person is completely detached from what he must attain. First of all it is up to him to correct his instruments of perception, and after that begin to investigate what he received and what he discovered. From here the advancement begins until a person reaches the source of all the Kelim, vessels, desires, and all the fulfillments within them, which is the Creator.

In order to bring the person to such a lofty result, the Kabbalists wrote books for us.

There are auxiliary books that talk about psychological discernments, like “Shamati,” “Dargot HaSulam,” “Shlavei HaSulam,” and the articles by Rabash and Baal HaSulam.

Likewise there are purely Kabbalah books like, The Book of Zohar with the Sulam Commentary, The Study of the Ten Sefirot or “The Tree of Life” by the Ari. The Kabbalists wrote them from an attainment of the upper worlds with new properties. They write them about what they feel, what they perceive, and what is not known to us.

But when we read these books, we can adapt ourselves; yearn to reach those emotions, those corrections, within our senses. And then the reading arouses the Light that Reforms on us, which is the Torah, that is, instruction, the method. When it reaches us, it corrects our intentions from “to receive” to “to bestow,” and then we can discover phenomena of a different order of magnitude and discover the “upper world.” Of course, this is not talking about distant galaxies or distant times; rather, it is about the comprehension of a qualitatively new reality.

I don’t know where the Light appears from; I don’t feel it; but I feel the phenomena it arouses. I begin to be changed; I suddenly feel a chain of elevations and descents, different states.

And after I am changed, I discover a higher reality, and then by reading in those books, I truly begin to be aware of what is written in them. Now I can point to those details that they describe.

Suppose that I bought a large and complex machine. Even though I have don’t understand the principles of its operation, but I have a technical approach and am ready to understand the instructions. With the help of the written instructions, I begin to become familiar with the diagrams and to understand the structure of the system until I learn it all.

The same thing happens to us in the second stage where we see the spiritual system and learn to work with it. This is practical, true work already, on the level of the upper world.

And in addition to that, the two main stages (the attraction of the Light that Reforms and the practical knowledge) are divided into a multitude of stages with accompanying conditions. For example, the wisdom of Kabbalah was forbidden for public consumption except for those who were already “ripe” for it.

In general, development must begin from zero, from the “big bang,” from which afterwards the substance of the still, vegetative, and animate were gradually developed  In continuation from the ape, which is the most developed in the world of the animate, emerged the human who ultimately reaches the final level of egoistic development. In other words, we are compelled to renounce, to disqualify ourselves, to recognize our evil, and only then are we ready for and worthy of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We see from the experience of history that we have always developed according to this scheme. For example, I move to a village, get involved with farming, building a home, a family, giving birth to children, buying cows and sheep, and after ten or fifteen years, or even less, I am fed up with it. Enough, I don’t want to continue anymore; I need something more than this. So I leave the farm and move to a city and start everything anew.

In other words, all development is based upon the nullification of the previous level and a desire to ascend to the next level. We must hate the present state. On the social scale this brings revolution and on the international scale the matter causes wars that sometimes continue for decades. We must always despair of the present state in order to pass to the next state.

So when will humanity despair of its egoistic development based upon reception “in order to receive” and move to altruistic development with an intention, “in order to bestow”?

The Kabbalists determined that this would occur in the twentieth century, after a number of conditions were established including the return of the people of Israel to its land. And then the time would arrive for the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Baal HaSulam also talked about this. We received permission to return to the land of Israel and also to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah. But not everyone will receive this permission but only certain people. For there are people who were not given a desire and there are those who have no connection to this. Other people were given a desire but were forbidden to realize it. But there are those who received the knowledge and it is also possible for them to act. More than this, divine providence pushes them in various ways to the discovery of the wisdom of Kabbalah as the generation is already suitable for this.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that all that he attained and discovered wasn’t derived from his personal achievements but because of the generation that was already required for this discovery.
[122331]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Where Is The Door?

Baal HaSulam, Letter 26: It is written, “A golden bell and a pomegranate all around the edges of the robe. … and its sound is heard when he enters the holy place.”

These are the stages of getting closer to the level of the great Cohen (High Priest). The great priest is a person who is in a state of absolute bestowal and who has nothing of his own and everything that he has is only in order to enter Holiness. In order to enter Holiness, he has to become a holy vessel, which means a corrected vessel, thus sanctifying his desire to receive as he has nothing for himself and everything is in order to bestow.

The “Ephod” (High Priest’s Robe) comes from the words “Ei Po Delet” (where is the door), since the Delet (door) is in the place of the opening, when it is closed.

In our world you can see a closed door and when you open it you can enter another room, the next new state. But it’s different in spirituality. There the opening, the door, and the person become one. It’s because everything is in me because the moment I change, I immediately discover the door. The door immediately disappears and becomes an opening, my entrance.

I don’t see all that on the outside. The moment I approach the next level, according to my attributes, my inner vessel immediately changes and becomes a door, an opening, and an entrance to the next new state.

In corporeality, you can see the door just as you can see the opening. But in spirituality, you see only the opening. But you cannot see the opening unless with complete and pure faith.

This means that one reaches bestowal. If a person corrects the desires that are revealed in him to bestowal, Then you see the door, and at that moment it turns into an opening because He is one and His name is “One.” My vessel and all the necessary conditions including the Light and the next level unite and become one whole, because He is One and His name is “One.”

It’s all very simple. The moment our vessel resembles the Light or resembles the next level, which means that I become like the upper level, it means that I approach the door, the opening, the entrance to the next level. Then it is He and His name is one for me.

He is the Light and His name is the vessel. When the vessel equals the Light in its attributes, they become one. So as I get closer to the upper attribute and enter it, it means that I “come to Holiness.” I become the great priest, the discernment in the soul that is freed of the desire to receive in order to receive and enters the complete state of in order to receive in complete faith. This entrance is possible only if we see things in complete faith. Complete faith means that my Light of Hassadim, that my desire to bestow, is so great that I not only work in GE, in bestowal, but also in AHP, in the desire to receive.

If I am only in the desires of GE,it means to bestow in order to bestow, and this is called faith. If I also work with the AHP, with the vessels in which I also receive in order to bestow, which means that I use my ego for the sake of others, it is called complete faith. Faith is Bina, the vessel of bestowal. This faith changes from simple faith, from “Don’t do unto your friend what is hateful to you” into “Love thy friend as thyself.”
[122962]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

The Link Between Actions And The Sources

Question: In every science there are a number of trends. In our work there is also this phenomenon. There are groups that understand the integral method and its development in their own way. How must we relate to this?

Answer: I explain that people must grow in a determined way and not only through activities. They require serious theory, they must live it, receive from their sources, their roots. They must answer the questions from their knowledge, from the connection with the group and with us.

Many confused states and questions are awakened that can be solved on the plane of our world in all kinds of ways, but not integrally. And they must solve them specifically through the integral method. And not just, “Come, let’s hold hands and everything will be resolved,” no.

Here there is still a huge white spot that I must identify. This will be solved when I connect my activities specifically with the sources. But perhaps this has not yet come to be actively expressed and therefore I don’t see this in the sources.

In other words, all this has already been described in some place, but I am still not ready to see this because the need to receive it from the sources doesn’t exist in me. Only the connection between the practices and the true sources (books, articles) ultimately gives the answer.

Question: Suppose that in Moscow we have a need to travel to St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, and so forth, to speak with the friends, to manage integral projects together with them, and they have no need for this. Is the trend toward unifying these actions right or should each of them to ripen in its own flow?

Answer: No, here everything must be unified. I cannot imagine that there would be different streams or approaches here.

For each audience, a different mentality for all the different nations should come from one source, only in a slightly different style, and no more.

I can see this in a person when during a conversation he suddenly leaves integral education and begins to impart psychology or, let’s say, natural sciences. We feel that this doesn’t come from our source. He doesn’t feel this, but I feel that this is not connected to the root and in the future this will remain with the audience as empty knowledge, completely unprocessed.
[122375]
From Kab TV’s “Through Time” 9/18/13

Controlling Inner States

Question: If half of our group consists of so-called creative people, how should we organize them? It is possible to understand how our instructors get tired of spending so much energy on them.

Answer: It needs to be mutual work when we are all connected to one harness. Each one is an expert in his field, but all of us are focused on one goal. The society specifically needs to be above all of this. To the extent that I bend before my friends, I am great in spite of all my creative pursuits.

But in our business there can be a state that a person suddenly “falls” for a day or two. He isn’t able to speak and is immersed in inner worries, the inspiration deserts him. One needs to understand this and to come to help, replacing him with someone else. But this is only an exceptional case.

Do you think that when I go to a lesson that I don’t have internal searches, experiences, inner downs and ups? But I don’t speak about it, my students don’t see it unless I am sick or have fever. But it seldom happens, and no one can ever determine my inner state according to how I look. And believe me it is one thousand times more difficult than your state. One needs to have control of that. In the beginning it is very difficult, and afterward it is easier. If a person would genuinely say what the problem was, then you would understand him. But this should not become a system.
[122413]
From Kab TV’s “Through Time” 9/22/13

Let’s Determine Our Fate By Ourselves

We have reached a state in which the Surrounding Light already begins to affect all of humanity. Now it all depends on the person. We have completed the first phase of our evolution that was determined by the Light alone.

This was the phase in which we developed on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature. This was the period that lasted until the time of the Ari when we had no choice; we had to fall in order to be mix in their desires.

But from the time of the Ari onwards began the ascent, a period of correction, until the time of Baal HaSulam, who already states that we have to start this work of correction and understand that all the preparations from Above have ended. This means that the descent of the vessels and the incorporation of the vessels under the influence of the Surrounding Light have come to an end. Now we can use the Surrounding Light in order to rise above it by our work and determine the time by ourselves.

Everything is ready for our correction! So there is no need for accounts as to whichMitzva (commandment) is light and which one is severe, what are good times and what are bad times; everything depends on us now, on how we organize our work. Then we will rise above the concepts of time, motion, and place, above what we experience, and we will determine our fate by ourselves by the power of our growing connection.

It is written: “Be careful with a light Mitzva just as with a severe one.” This means that we have to ascend above all our states; we don’t know what we are rewarded for. In order to achieve the reward we must simply connect and then we will determine our ascents and descents, the pace of our advancement and each and every state by ourselves. We will begin to perceive and feel all the states as more effective and more beneficial and we will justify each state more until we will finally justify everything!

Thus we will reach a state that is completely day, a state of the eternal Light that shines all the way until the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). We will discover that we have always been there and that we only had to change our perception, our attitude, to correct our vessels in order to see that.

We must never forget that every correction is only in the connection between us that is constantly growing stronger in quality and quantity.
[122279]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/4/13

A Door, An Opening, An Entrance

A door, an opening, and an entrance appear all at once in spirituality. So don’t expect to see a door from a distance, then approach it and open it. When you see a door, it immediately opens! This is the law, and accordingly, if it is fulfilled, it will happen.

It is only if my vessel becomes similar to the Light—which happens suddenly like the exodus from Egypt, which was in a hurry—do I suddenly see a door that immediately becomes an opening, and I enter.

We can perform such an action in complete faith which means if I put a Masach (screen) of “in order to bestow” upon my vessel, and I become equal to the upper level.

Baal HaSulam, Letter 26: That power, to heed the word of the sages in this reality inDalet, is called “faith”…

A person who wants to get closer to the opening must work according to the faith of the sages. To the extent that he is adhered to the greatness of his teacher and the group, he receives power by his dedication and can approach this door. He doesn’t have any powers of his own. This is how it is arranged in our world, and a person is given a teacher, a group, and the study, in order to summon the Light that Reforms, which can bring a person closer to the entrance, to the spiritual world.

…is called “faith,” as it is not established at once, but through education, adaptation, and through work.

This is what integral education is meant for, so that, by using it, people will receive the Light that Reforms that will change them. This is the difference between integral education and ordinary education that doesn’t summon the Light that Reforms and doesn’t change a person. Therefore, it is so important that every guide and teacher of integral education who works with the public should be strongly connected to the group and the study and only then to go out to disseminate.

It is similar to the tutoring of a child, who would be like an unturned stone were it not for the tutor who rears him. This is why this work is generally called “a robe,” as it is an overcoat, “beyond” human conception…

That is, above the mind of that child.

In the corporeal world, there are children who don’t have a mind yet, who are ready to annul themselves before the grownup so that he will take care of them. This is how it is naturally arranged in corporeality. If a person were born as a grownup—with a developed mind, with his own feelings and opinions—it would be impossible to take care of him. Only when he annuls himself like a baby does he allow others to do whatever they want with him. Only when he lowers his head, believing and knowing that he totally depends on you, will you be able to do something for him.

Can you imagine whether it is easy for a grown person to subdue himself that way? However, this is what we actually must do. We must take an example from this world when it comes to the phase of conception, Ibur, suckling, Yenika, and mind, Mochin. Otherwise, you will not be able to advance.
[123025]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

The Circle Of Life

Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”: Whereas in the first discernment everyone receives equally without adding or subtracting, like Adam, in understanding the reality of this world. In viewing it, all are equal, but this is not so in understanding it—some evolve from generation to generation and some regress.

Question: What is the difference between a descent and regression?

Answer: We can describe our advancement like a electrocardiogram (EKG) with many ups and downs. It doesn’t matter if I am up or down as long as I advance.

Descents are part of our way since they are also aimed at the goal. My heart beats and it draws this curved line and it is normal. This is our life, a continuum of ups and downs where one cannot exist without the other. As long as I hold on to the intention to advance, both the ascents and descents are in a general flow forward.

It is just like a spinning wheel where each part reaches a maximal height and then begins to descend. What is more, at a certain moment it seems to be moving backward instead of advancing towards the goal.

The moment a person discovers that, he cries out for help. He sees that he is moving backward and that he is not advancing, and so he needs the greater support of the group.

On the whole society’s movement is forward, and accordingly, I am in the back part of the ring and my friends are advancing by moving forward. So when I am connected to them in my heart and soul, I feel that I am part of the whole that continues and advances forward.

But if I am disconnected from the friends, I am not the lower part of the general wheel and I am not in a state of descent, but am actually on the outside in regression. I am not part of the general process of the advancement forward anymore.

This means that the main thing is to be adhered to the friends. Then we all advance forward and I understand that even the descents are beneficial and that they are in order to ascend. When I descend, the others ascend, and thus we constantly change places.

We are like a valve, like a piston, and all these movements change alternately. There cannot be a change if it doesn’t include the two movements, backward and forward, backward and forward. There cannot be only a movement forward, there has to be a contrast, and it is only a matter of amplitude.

Therefore my connection with the environment is so important. If I am incorporated in everyone, then the common vector is clear to me.

Question: It says that there is no lacking in spirituality and that nothing disappears. But in a state of regression everything that you had is taken away from you…

Answer: This isn’t true. Regression refers to the revelation of a new level of theshattering. We don’t regress but rather discover a new vessel that isn’t corrected at the moment.
[122732]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Two People Are Good, Three Better

Generally it is hard to find within one person all the good, desired qualities. However, when two or even three people are engaged in integral dissemination they complement one another. Then a new form is created that includes all these qualities. And this is good.

The optimal number of people in a team is three. An odd number is always better than an even one in decision making. However, this does not apply to the tens group where the mutual work is directed towards assembly and tuning between the friends.

In places where three people (as a minimum) work, it is possible to make a decision by a majority of votes: two against one. In this case it is impossible to tell who is leading them.

Therefore, teams which consist of three people or more, like five or seven, are the best. They will be able to organize between themselves the necessary connection to the upper layer of the group and work with the general public.

They should be equal. Otherwise, they will be unable to achieve an altruistic, integral charge which they have to carry to the masses.
[122876]
From Kab TV’s “Through Time,” 9/25/13

Between Two Authorities

There could be a condition where a person remains within agroup physically, comes to lessons, participates in all kinds of activities and events, but in fact has already left the path and his heart is found in another place… .

Question: How is it possible to be careful and guard against this?

Answer: Only through humility and bowing the head. The ego burns in everyone, and therefore, my first action is nullification to the teacher, the lessons, and the group. First of all, I am not at all the wisest person among the students; rather the opposite, I want them to determine my way of life. For if I determine this myself, I will be carrying out the will of my ego exactly. And then I am no longer in the group. The moment that I get off the “train,” I am immediately found under the dominance of self-love.

In general, you have only two “authorities”: the group, which includes the Rav, the friends, the books, and the Creator, which comprises a complete unit; I and the world.

Question: I can “submit” myself externally. But how does one submit internally? What do I do with my thoughts and emotions? Can the person subdue them in a group?

Answer: There are two “scales”: On the one hand, the group that attracts the Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light), and on the other hand, the ego and the external world. So what is more important to me?

Certainly I cannot  guarantee my tomorrow for myself, but if all the possibilities that are found in my authority are used, then I can tip the balance to the right side. There is no other way.

Question: If I see that my group doesn’t sufficiently match the spirit of Bnei Baruch, how can I submit myself to the friends?

Answer: Try to “submit yourself to them” except in what you must add to them.

Parents subjugate themselves regarding their children, not because they are beginning to listen to their opinions. Rather, their submission is from concern and caring for them. A mother serves her small child with what he needs and not with what he wants. He can scream: “Give me!” but she won’t give it to him, and in this way, from her side, she is serving him faithfully.
[122770]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Two Embracing Sparks

When I give a friend presents, I bring myself closer to theCreator because I perform the same actions of bestowal that the Creator performs regarding the desire of the friend, and I thus buy him, as Kabbalists advise: “Buy yourself a friend.” I work with his desire to receive and don’t look at the person. I don’t see a person before me but only a desire to receive. His face and his character don’t matter. What’s important is that there is a spark in him that yearns for the Creator. I have to have a partner who has the same spark that I have in order to reach the Creator. So I have no choice because he was sent to me from heaven as my partner and I have to accept him and work with him.

This means that “the Creator puts a person’s hand on the good fate.” This means that He brings him to a group and says: “Take it!” So I take, since I simply have no other choice. Here the rigid laws of nature work, like in physics: I have to use these forces in order to reach the desired result.

We have to connect at least two sparks, two Reshimot (reminiscences), two yearnings for the Creator, but the friend’s spark, just like my spark, is wrapped in a thick shell ofegoistic desire. I can penetrate and reach this spark only if I buy his ego. This is very simple: I have to know what he wants and start bestowing and giving him one present after another. Thus I bribe his ego and he will stop rejecting me. The result will be that our sparks will get closer to one another.

My goal is not the friend, but the Creator! And although our intentions are totally Lo Lishma (not for Her sake), at the moment, the Light reforms us. The Light shines on us and begins to work between us. By giving the friend a present, I don’t only neutralize his ego, but also evoke and draw the Surrounding Light that begins to operate on my spark and on his spark. As a result our sparks get closer.

Our egoistic desires also get closer. We see that we can delight one another and fill one another even with our corrupt desires. Together we will feel better and things will be easier! We build a center by our common efforts and arrange everything in it and serve one another. It’s worthwhile. Everything is arranged that way in order to facilitate the first steps along the spiritual path for us.

Our world wasn’t created artificially or by chance. It was created as a result of the shattering of the vessels and therefore it is arranged that way in order to enable us to rise from this specific state to the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). We have all the means we need here, but we only have to follow the advice of Kabbalists.
[122890]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/11/13