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In the next 3 weeks due to the blog editor traveling the updates might be "sporadic". Normal service will resume on the 1st of August.

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Of course the original blog can be accessed here

Egoism And Altruism

Question: What is the difference between egoism and altruism?

Answer: Egoism differs from altruism only in the intention: on whether I want to do something for myself or for others.

I can kiss you and it will be for myself, and I can slap you a couple of times, and it will be for you. In other words, the action itself is meaningless. It is only the intention that determines its essence.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/26/17

How Does The Creator Manage A Person?

Question: How does the Creator manage a person?

Answer: The Creator manages a person by constantly sending him small portions of Light, of pleasure. And the person accordingly, like a dog, sniffs: “Where is it?” and he runs there.

To stop and not chase that Light, a person must acquire a correct intention in advance. This is the person’s task.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/26/17

“Buy” The Qualities Of The Creator

All our earthly desires are a creation (Malchut). We are the creation. The nine parts that descend into Malchut are the upper forces or the nine Sefirot of the Creator’s influence on us. Therefore, the Partzuf (a spiritual body) is always divided into nine and one.

The purpose of creation is to rise to the level of the Creator. This means that from our state we must master the nine Sefirot and turn them into our personal properties. Then we will reach the Creator.

The realization of this method is dealt with by the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how we can “buy” the nine upper qualities, existing in a completely unearthly atmosphere, and thus become like the Creator and ascend to His level of eternity, infinity, and absolute goodness.

Therefore, the most important thing that we need to acquire is the nine properties (the first nine Sefirot) that exist between us and the Creator. We must reveal them in ourselves. And then we will reveal the Creator within ourselves, because everything is revealed inside a person.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/3/17

Wonder Woman, Part 2

The movie Wonder Woman in which the main character superhero who saves humanity stars an Israeli actress caused a huge wave of excitement and pride in Israel.

But I am sad to see that our people, like little children, are still waiting for a good magician who will come and arrange our life, instead of arranging it by ourselves.

Is it possible with indifference, laziness, and confrontation tearing up the Israeli society, we are still waiting for a magician? We ourselves must change. Is there anybody who can come from outside and change our evil nature?

Question: The film encourages us to come to love, but does anyone know how to do this?

Answer: There is a method that teaches you exactly how to come from hate to love; it is called “the wisdom of Kabbalah.” This is why Kabbalah is revealed nowadays. The Kabbalists of all generations talked about our time, and we need to take up this technique and begin to study it in order for all to rise to the level of “super-human.”

Question: Why is it not so easy to love?

Answer: It is not easy because our nature is pure egoism that causes us to ill-treat others. Egoism does not relate to the fact that I want to eat, drink, and sleep more, to lie in the sun on the beach and swim in the sea.

Human egoism is the desire to improve one’s state at the expense of others—our evil attitude toward the inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, and most importantly, to people.

Egoism is when I enjoy not from my own achievements, but from the fact that I belittle others; that is, I do not just care for my own good, but I wish evil to others. Even if I do not want to harm them directly, I still measure my success only in relation to others.

When I look at the people of Israel, I see a people who had the opportunity to build a new state and a new society, but who still remain a “gathering of refugees.” The country is divided into lots of factions and communities that hate and oppose each other.

If this situation continues, the time granted to us will soon run out and we will have to leave this land. In fact, if those living here had the opportunity to leave Israel, many would do so.

It is possible that the movie about an Israeli wonder woman awakens a hidden hope regarding Israel in the nations of the world. They understand that Jews are a special people. The biggest anti-Semites in the world, such as Hitler or Henry Ford, wrote a lot about the mission of the people of Israel and accused Jews of not fulfilling the role assigned to them.

Therefore, the world makes serious accusations about Israel, although it does not understand their true cause. But the wisdom of Kabbalah explains it in all sincerity: Israel is obliged to be a Light for the nations of the world, that is, to show everyone how to unite and come to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Such a love the people of Israel must achieve within themselves and thus set an example for the whole world, to become a Light for the nations of the world.

But we do not fulfill this mission, and therefore, the nations of the world rise against us, wishing to destroy us. This is what is written in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar.” It is worth reading about what is written there and to understand that we have no other way out, neither the people of Israel, nor the whole world—the only solution is that Israel realize its mission.

The people of Israel should be the superhero who saves humanity—the Messiah – Mashiach, that is, the power that will pull out (Moshech) all people from the evil, egoistic nature to the good and altruistic, from hatred to love.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/8/17

Reward And Punishment In Our Lives, Part 8

A person has to exist on two different levels. One level is his usual, egoistic attitude to the world, which exists in him by nature and is concerned only with taking care of himself.

The second, a higher and a more advanced level, which he needs to build in himself, is the awareness of the integration he must achieve in order to conform to the general reality, that is, caring for others.

In this, a person does not sacrifice himself, he just begins to realize that concern for others is his real life. This is similar to anyone who does something kind for their own children; it feels no different from doing something kind for themselves.

Question: How does a person perceive unfolding events from these two levels? Can punishments that happen to him on his animal, egoist level be perceived as rewards on his integral, “human” level?

Answer: Of course, that which I perceive as evil on an egoistic level, I see as a reward on an altruistic level. This is with respect to any event in our lives.

Question: And what if, G-d forbid, something terrible happens to my children?

Answer: It is difficult to explain this question because there are too many personal feelings involved here. But, in reality, there is no evil in the world. That is what we discover when we rise to a higher level.

If we look at life from the most narrow and egoistic angle: here is my life, my children, me, and our perception does not include anything more than that, then it is impossible to explain anything. If a person looks at reality through the general system, then for him, on the material level, there is no life or death, no rewards and no punishments; all calculations are only for the common good.

The general system is eternal and complete; therefore, there is no such thing as death in it. Although in the physical body some cells constantly die as millions of cells are renewed each second, new cells come to replace the old, and life continues.

Therefore, if we look from the perspective of the general system, then our understanding of reward and punishment moves to a completely different level.

And we even see the same thing in our everyday life. If a little child cries because his mother doesn’t give him what he wants, is the mother is evil or kind? It’s impossible to say because each level has its own understanding of reward and punishment.

Question: What good actions should I do in order to receive only rewards, only positive responses from the system?

Answer: The only action that guarantees success is to find people who are already involved in developing this integral level within themselves. And then together you will learn how to connect to the physical general system and the spiritual one.

The most important law of the Torah is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the sign of connecting with the entire system in an integrated way. If you completely connect with the entire system, then it will, without doubt, affect you only in a positive way.

Question: And what if someone screams at me or hurts my feelings?

Answer: We have to understand that he is, as yet, an uncorrected part of the system and we must help him to correct himself.

The system is perfect and behaves according to one law: love of others. And if we want to be connected with this system, then we must learn to love!

All so-called rewards and punishments come to us only in order to direct us to this single law of love. And even if right now it seems to us to be the opposite, we need to follow this law with faith above reason, and then we will come to a higher wisdom.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/2/17

New Life 859 – Our Approach To Life: The Solution For Anxiety

New Life 859 – Our Approach to Life: The Solution For Anxiety
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

When we learn to connect to the upper Light, our life will be perfectly secure and happy.

A person who feels absolute love is not afraid because he is close to the Light and the Light fills him.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 859 – Our Approach to Life: The Solution To Anxiety,” 5/23/17

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A Guarantee For Ascent

Question: What can a person do who has achieved a particular spiritual level and has fallen from it?

Answer: The person needs to prepare a guarantee for himself even before the descent so he will descend and rise correctly. This guarantee is found solely and only in the society that surrounds the person, in the group.

If a person is with the group in an optimal state, then it will always help and take him out of any state; this is called making a covenant.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/29/17

What Kind Of Conventions Will There Be In The Future?

Comment: Friends are talking about their impressions of participating in conventions virtually, how their groups of ten sit together with us in lessons and in all the events, without moving from the computer and in mutual support for each other. They feel that their responsibility is much stronger than with us in the hall.

Answer: Certainly. In that way, they are bridging the distance.

The impressions from the conventions don’t depend on their physical presence. Rather, it is whether a person was ready to give everything to be in a convention, but he didn’t have the possibility. Therefore, it makes no difference if he is here or at home.

Question: What kind of future conventions do you see?

Answer: I see the future conventions as virtual conventions. A few thousand people will come to them physically, while all the rest will connect from a distance. Which is to say, the nucleus will be physical and the main part will be virtual.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/19/17

Wonder Woman, Part 1

Question: The movies about superman always have a great success. Now Israel has a reason to be proud, the movie Wonder Woman, which the entire world is talking about: an Israeli actress plays the main role. Her entire role in the movie is dedicated to saving humanity.

In thesraeli viewers comment, “The heart fills with pride every time when we see an Israeli woman do a heroic act and save people.”

Jerusalem Post columnist Herb Keinon wrote about “The wonder of Israelis watching Wonder Woman. …

‘The collective chest of those in the audience seemed to puff up as we all watched an Israeli woman – who in real life is very proud and open about here Israeliness …

“No shades of gray in this storyline, it was black and white … . It was the good against the bad. And Gadot – and through her, all the Israelis in the theater – were clearly, unmistakably on the side of the good.”

This symbolizes how the small, relative to the big world, people of Israel must bring Light to all of humanity. Is there a deeper meaning in the fact that it’s now the Israeli woman who saves the world, at least in the movie?

Answer: The problem is that this is only in the movie. After all, we, the people of Israel, really must be the Light for the nations of the world and save humanity from the deep hole we are sitting in now, from our egoism that is killing us. Unfortunately, we are setting a bad example to the whole of mankind of how to use our egoism skillfully in order to succeed more, to win, and to surpass everybody.

It is no accident that humanity hates us, because instead of being the Light for the nations of the world, we became darkness for them. Therefore, when we rejoice at the release of such a movie, we should understand that we really must be such superheroes who will show everyone how to achieve a good life.

A good life will come when we rise from our egoistic desire, which keeps us in slavery from birth, to the desire to bestow, to love instead of hatred, to unity instead of separation. We must show the entire world an example of how to do this. And the entire world will learn from us, will accept this method, and will correct the relationships between people, between countries, and between nations.

No tricks can correct the world, the whole world must change, and people must change. How is it possible to save a man if he does not change? So, where is the salvation, in receiving a palace instead of a small house?

The correction is only possible through a person’s inner change, his relationship to others. This is when we’ll turn hell into heaven where there will be love instead of hatred and bestowal instead of reception. In this way we will really come to a kind world. The wisdom of Kabbalah obliges us to fulfill this mission.

But it is pointless to wait for some superhero to come and save us; this won’t happen, this includes the Messiah. After all, the Messiah, Mashiach, is a force that pulls (Moshech) us from our egoism toward bestowal, love, and connection. Thanks to this, we reveal our new sensory organs and begin to see the wider world.

The people of Israel should lead humanity exactly to this by passing the method of correction to them. Until we do this, everyone will hate us. Such beautiful movies won’t help us. I think that it awakens very unpleasant feelings in the other nations.

On the one hand, they subconsciously expect that we will bring salvation to humanity and we aren’t doing this. In addition, we show them movies about superheroes, as if mockingly demonstrating that Israel can bring correction to the world, but for some reason isn’t doing it. So I don’t think this movie will have a positive impact.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/8/17

Who Lifts An Anchor?

Question: Our generation is like a ship that is ready to sail, but it is anchored. How can we lift this anchor so that the ship will sail?

Answer: Only the upper Light can do it! We have to understand that the decision is only in the influence of the upper Light on us. Only efforts are required from our side in order to make the light influence us correctly.

Question: The goal of the last generation is to come to adhesion with the Creator. On what principles will the society of the last generation be based?

Answer: There is only one principle, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Everything else is an aspiration to the fulfilment of this principle.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 5/22/17

Reward And Punishment In Our Lives, Part 7

Question: People believe that they will be rewarded if they keep the commandments of the Old Testament and punished if they break them. Is it really like that? I know that some people put on tefillinbefore going for a medical check-up and believe that it will help them.

Answer: According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, a person is one big desire to receive, which makes him opposite to the system of nature in which he exists.

In order to achieve connection with the system, he must correct his desire from egoistic and caring only about himself, to altruistic and acting for the benefit of the general system. Obviously, only then will he be fulfilled because he will belong to the entire system and not be disconnected from it as he is now.

That is why our entire work is centered on transforming our nature from radical individualism to complete integration with the system. This transformation happens as a result of correcting the desires of the individual. As we begin to correct our desire, we discover that it is not just a single desire; it consists of 613 parts.

All these 613 parts are egoistic, but they can be corrected with the help of a certain force hidden in nature, called Light. When we attract this force of bestowal and love that corrects and transforms, then is can be said that we are keeping the Torah and Mitzvot.

Every time we correct another and another egoistic desire, we connect it to the general system with the help of this Light that Reforms, the Torah.

In the Kabbalistic sense, keeping the Torah and Mitzvot is engaging in the work of correcting desires from egoistic to altruistic and integrating this connection with the general system. Ultimately, a person becomes an integral part of the entire system. To the degree that he connects with the system, correcting one desire after another from individualistic to altruistic, he begins to sense the system to a greater and greater degree.

This means that he increasingly reveals the general system of all of reality, climbing the steps of attainment of worlds, spiritual levels, understanding increasingly more and experiencing it. This is the revelation of the true reality for a person that is offered to him by the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Question: Where are the rewards and punishments in all of this?

Answer: Rewards become everything that help me correct another of the 613 desires and connect it to the general system. In this manner, from complete disconnection, I come to complete integration with the system and this becomes a reward for me because now I can be a useful element of the system. And punishment is the revelation of my disconnection from the system.

Question: There is a spiritual punishment for breaking the commandments that is called karet, which literally means “excision” or “cutting off” from the collective soul of Israel. What is meant by this?

Answer: The separation of a person from the general system is the punishment of karet.

Question: What does “death penalty” mean? Why does the system enact such punishment?

Answer: Punishment by death can only be on the egoistic desire, like s a person treated with chemotherapy or radiation that kills a cancerous tumor within him. That is, punishment by death is carried out on the tumor. In the general system there are no such punishments, only in egoism.

The entire system of reward and punishment is only with respect to a person’s egoism. Egoism can receive punishment and even the death penalty, while at the same time, the person begins to live as an integral part of the system.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/2/16

New Life #857 – Punishment and Atonement

New Life #857 – Punishment and Atonement
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

Are we punished for our sins, what is atonement, and how will we direct ourselves according to the system of nature in which we live?

When one reaches the love of others, one climbs into super-reality, complete and eternal.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #857 – Punishment and Atonement,” 5/18/17

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What Do We Gain From The Game Of Love?

Comment: It sounds like fantasy that an artificial game of love with complete lack of feelings can lead to spiritual outcomes.

Answer: You are absolutely right, this is impossible in our world.

But when we perform certain actions that spur and summon a certain secret force from above, even if we do not understand what it is, we actually feel the outcome.

We do not feel this secret force, just as we do not feel many forces that surround us, but when we arouse it, we feel its outcome inside us. Everything makes perfect sense.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/19/17

Division Of The Twelve Tribes

Torah, Deuteronomy 27:11 – 27:13: And Moses commanded the people on that day, saying, When you cross the Jordan, the following shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And the following shall stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naftali.

The separation of the tribes into two parts (six and six) means the right and left lines.

All tribes are going to conquer the land of Israel, even those two that must stay outside Jordan. Why do they join everyone else even though to correct in the future they must create the right intention on the territory outside of Israel called “beyond Jordan”?

Because this territory also belongs to Israel, but it is attached to it from outside, so to speak. After all, all countries that are close to Israel, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Babylon, are related to King David’s conquests (corrections), and therefore, they were included in the land of Israel.

It goes without saying that no one claims these lands from a material point of view. We are only talking about a state that corresponds to the human soul’s inner geography.

Question: According to which properties did Moses divide the tribes into six and six?

Answer: These are: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod. In the same way that there are six days of week that are divided into day and night, there are tribes that relate to the state of day and those that relate to the state of night. Some of them we bless and others—curse.

However, the tribes that we curse are not egoistic. On the contrary, they work so well that they can make corrections through their curses, that is, through the expression of even greater egoistic desires.

It is enough for us to understand that we always speak about an egoistic desire within us, which needs to be turned into an altruistic desire. And in accordance with this, one will begin to feel completely different movements, properties, and actions within this desire. One will start to rise above time and space, and this is how one will proceed.

Question: At each stage of a person’s progress more egoism is added to him and he must cover it with the right line. Does it mean that the six tribes must balance the ego?

Answer: All tribes work in unison creating a middle line between them.

In our state, the middle line is already the Creator. It is created in the right correlation of the right line to the left and the left line to the right. The upper force, called the Creator, is the combination of both lines, which occurs from above, and above them, in the middle line.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/21/16

Reward And Punishment In Our Lives, Part 6

In the modern world, people are becoming evermore individualistic and with this we discover ourselves increasingly tied to each other, even though these ties do not bring us any benefit.

There was a time when we thought that we would continue to uncover more of the world: we discovered new continents and international trade. But ultimately it ended in great disappointment.

Humanity’s entire development was only geared toward finding ways to egoistically exploit nature in a one-sided fashion, not taking into consideration its interests. And that’s why our development was always negative.

We see that it brought us to a state where, on the one hand, humanity can provide complete fulfillment for itself with all kinds of material pleasures on the level of the body, its animal level, while at the same time, it suffers more and more on the human level.

As a result we do not know what to do with ourselves. We suffer psychologically and spiritually from the lack of correct connection between ourselves and with the rest of existence.

Question: How, then, do we behave correctly in this system so that we could actually reach a positive result?

Answer: We need to reach an integrated state. That is, we need to take into account the entire system, how it works, how we can be its integral components, and through our actions, bring it to balance and unity.

Because right now it is we who are bringing it out of balance, like cancer cells. Cancer in our bodies is symbolic of cells that think only of themselves and therefore they destroy the entire body and themselves along with it. An individual does exactly the same thing; that’s why we need to study.

We live in a special period of evolution when people finally begin to ask about the meaning of life, about the system governing us, and about how to understand, uncover, and actively engage with it.

Question: How does the transition from ordinary calculation happen when I count the absence of desired fulfillment as punishment and its reception as reward, to a new calculation for the entire system, disregarding what I need personally?

Answer: This depends on upbringing. If we receive integral education and begin to sense the system, then we will change our calculation.

What does an infant lack compared to an older child? An older child takes into account more factors of his existence: relative to the father, the mother, school, other people, friends, and neighbors. And that is why he interacts differently with reality. It is still relatively limited, but not as much as for the infant, it is already more developed. This is exactly the kind of developed relationship we need to learn. Without integral education and the development of sensory organs that enable us to reveal the system, we will not be able to progress further. The system demands our active, aware participation, not blind actions.

Question: Many think that they can receive the reward of benevolent response from nature in return for their good behavior. Is it so?

Answer: This is very correct, we only need to figure out what constitutes good behavior. This is impossible to understand until we, at least minimally, get to know the system, each time advancing more and widening our circle. Then only within this framework, within the boundary of the circle, where I understand, sense, and can make correct decisions, do I act. And I do not yet go outside the boundary of this circle.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/2/17

The Uniqueness Of The Book Of Zohar

Question: What is the uniqueness of The Book of Zohar? After all, in addition to it, there are also the Talmud, Mishnah, and other sacred writings?

Answer: First, these books were written by people who had attained the upper world. Second, all of them are called Kedoshim (sacred), and Kadosh denotes distinction, uniqueness.

The Book of Zohar is unique because it was written by a group of ten Kabbalists: Rabbi Shimon and nine of his students who attained the highest level of attainment of the upper world. From this level, they fully described their ascent and all the details of the spiritual ladder, the ladder for attaining the Creator.

The Book of Zohar is appropriate for everyone because it was written for our generation from the interconnection of ten people. For a long time it was hidden and became accessible to people a few centuries ago, but its inner meaning was discovered only in the beginning of the 20th century by the great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam.

Question: Was Baal HaSulam the only one who interpreted The Book of Zohar?

Answer: Other interpretations exist, but they do not explain the entire spiritual system. Baal HaSulam wrote this explanation when he was on the same level as the authors of The Book of Zohar. The rest of the Kabbalists did not attain this level, and therefore, they could describe something, but no more than that.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/5/17

The Only Principle Of Creation

The names of the Sefirot: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut refer to the inner content of the connections in the creation.

Sometimes we meet another Sefira in the plan called Daat. Two directions stem from Keter, Hochma, and Bina, which under the impact of Keter create the Sefira of Daat, which is not included in the ten Sefirot.

From Daat stems a separate direction to Hesed and Gevura, which meet in Tifferet. This is how the interaction between the Sefirot takes place. There are many more such connections. Everything in creation is organized and arranged this way: every cell, every atom, every grain of sand, and the whole huge universe are all built according to the one structure of the ten Sefirot.

Our egoistic desires are in a black point called Malchut and are the outcome of all the force that impacts us. It makes no difference what level of cooperation the desires are on whether they are on a psychological, physiological, or physical level. On every cosmogenic level in the universe and in all the worlds, the principle is the same—ten Sefirot.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/5/17

“Relatives” In Spirituality

Torah, Deuteronomy 27:20: Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, thus uncovering the corner of his father’s garment. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

“Father and mother” is the level of the next spiritual degree. That’s why when speaking of them what is being referred to here is the complete annulment of the lower one, annulment of the lower soul before the upper, and engaging with the upper.

And here it is written about the father and his wife who is not your mother. Seemingly she is a strange woman to you. But because she belongs to the father and exists on his level, you have no right to engage her, it is the wrong Nukva for you, not the right female aspect that you are able to correct.

“Father’s wife” is a desire of a higher degree. That’s why a person who is working with a desire that he is unable to correct damns himself. He skips over a step, and by doing this, he destroys within himself the ability to advance.

What is meant by “father,” “mother,” “aunt,” “uncle,” etc. is the next degree on which you become the father with respect to the previous degree. But you have no right to work with a desire of a higher degree than your own, that is, “uncover the corner of your father’s garment.” But when you rise to that degree, then it will be for you.

Question: When a son is born, we always say that it is the next spiritual degree. And now it is clear that the father is the next spiritual degree. How is this possible?

Answer: The next spiritual degree is not higher than the father because the father continuously rises up and the son rises up after him. There is strict subordination here. The relationship is always maintained: the son rises to the degree of the father and, at the same time, the father rises even higher.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book,” 11/23/16

The Only Principle Of Creation

The names of the Sefirot: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut refer to the inner content of the connections in the creation.

Sometimes we meet another Sefira in the plan called Daat. Two directions stem from Keter, Hochma, and Bina, which under the impact of Keter create the Sefira of Daat, which is not included in the ten Sefirot.

From Daat stems a separate direction to Hesed and Gevura, which meet in Tifferet. This is how the interaction between the Sefirot takes place. There are many more such connections. Everything in creation is organized and arranged this way: every cell, every atom, every grain of sand, and the whole huge universe are all built according to the one structure of the ten Sefirot.

Our egoistic desires are in a black point called Malchut and are the outcome of all the force that impacts us. It makes no difference what level of cooperation the desires are on whether they are on a psychological, physiological, or physical level. On every cosmogenic level in the universe and in all the worlds, the principle is the same—ten Sefirot.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/5/17

Love For Your Neighbor In The Literal Sense

Question: In the article “The Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam writes: “The adoption of the law of altruism is based on the love of one’s neighbor in the literal sense.” What does he mean by “in the literal sense”?

Answer: It means that everything I think about, dream about, and do, all that arises in thought and desire, comes only from the aspiration to satisfy the neighbor with absolute fulfillment and to do it for the sake of bringing contentment to the Creator.

Question: In the corporeal world, does this also take place literally?

Answer: I cannot say how it will be realized physically because it depends on how much our world will gradually lose the physical form that we are now experiencing, and will evaporate and turn into purely spiritual matter.

This depends on our sensations. The world will become more spiritual in accordance with our spiritual correction, and we will begin to move from physical sensation to the virtual one.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 5/22/17

At The Entrance To The Last Generation

Life’s direction is to attain adhesion with Him, strictly to benefit the Creator (Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Writings of the Last Generation”).

Question: Can we, the ones who started this movement be called “the last generation?”

Answer: To act for the benefit of the connections between us means to act for the benefit of the Creator.

The last generation is just beginning its correction and it wants to change its nature. We started the movement, but practically, we are at the entrance to this state.

Question: Don’t you see our generation that lives on Earth in the frame of time? Do you see this in a more general perspective?

Answer: I don’t take into account either the Earth or humanity, but only those people who at least somehow aspire to change their nature. Nothing more than that.

The last generation starts from the small group of people who understand the goalcorrectly and want to change themselves.

As for our group, we already can almost be called the last generation. We must undergo some more pretty serious tests under the influence of various external and internal stresses in order to get rid of the remnants of egoism (I call them remnants, but they are very big) and firmly decide what exactly this metamorphosis is that we have to undergo.

Question: What is the difference between the group that has one foot in the last generation and the group that will already be at the final stage of the last generation?

Answer: The nature of the people at the last stage of the last generation will be completely different from our nature. They will no longer be people, but “angels” who are guided and act only according to the desire to bestow, to delight, to be connected with others for the benefit of others, and through them to the Creator. This is a completely different state!

Therefore, we are at the very beginning and must decide whether we will change ourselves to become the last generation.
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From the KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 5/22/17

Reward And Punishment In Our Lives, Part 5

Question: From the perspective of nature, which of our actions are considered correct and beneficial and can lead us to a good life so we don’t receive punishment from nature?

Answer: All of nature is a closed, integral system, all parts of which—inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human—are bound by the same network.

The law of an integral system is that each element influences all others. This means that each particle must sense itself as belonging to the entire system and behave in a way that benefits the entire whole. Not for the benefit of some individual part, and not for its own benefit, but absolutely for the entire system.

People don’t understand this law and are unable to reveal it. However, aside from people, all other parts, that is, the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, are integrated within this closed system.

The entire universe is one integral system. And if we pick any fragment of planet earth and study it, it will be clear that all elements are absolutely interrelated, as if connected by one inner network that is hidden from us and follows a specific program called nature.

We can ask, “What is a human being?” A human being is a special case. On the one hand, because of his animal body, he belongs to the animal world. And so it is clear the body must be obligated to be in a specific instinctive connection with the system. But there is also a part in him that belongs to the speaking level because  of which he is called human.

In this part, it is as if he is disconnected from the system and behaves as if the system does not exist. A person does not instinctively feel the connection and does not feel unity with the web of nature; therefore, he behaves in whatever way he pleases. This “free” form of behavior, without any connection with the system, is called egoism. In his relationship with the system of nature, a human being only considers his immediate benefit.

Maybe he will think differently twenty years from now, but that is not important to him because he is only fixated on the stream of momentary experiences of his life that he perceives now. If in this moment he does not possess that which he desires, then he considers it a punishment. And if suddenly he receives what he needs, then he deems it a reward.

Naturally, while being disconnected from the general system, these rewards and punishments turn out to be false because a person does not see all that is dependent on his actions and that is why he makes mistakes. He exists within a system, but he is not able to take into consideration all its elements, he doesn’t feel these interdependencies. It turns out that all of his perception of reality is incorrect.

Question: If I feel this as reward and punishment, then why should I care that they are false? I received what I wanted, didn’t I?

Answer: Then why are people unhappy? If we judge what reward and punishment is only by our immediate experience and act only according to this, attempting to gratify our momentary desires, then we will have to put up with one disappointment after another.

If we could always win in this way, then it would be possible to accept this objection. However, we see that we are constantly losing. The further a person advances, the more he has to defend himself as a result of his egoistic relationship to life and his pursuit of immediate gratification.

No matter how much we develop society, government, family, sciences, and medicine, we still cannot compensate for the damage and negative reaction of the system to our behavior. Wouldn’t it seem that as we progress in our development we should be able to increasingly understand and sense nature?

But it turns out to be the opposite: we progress more and more in our development of our incorrect relationship with nature. We are constantly growing further from nature, from connection to the integral system, and ultimately, we turn into such individualists who are no longer concerned with anything at all, except our own gratification.

In the end, a person may turn to drugs, not wanting to think about anything. He doesn’t want to tie himself down to anyone in order to remain completely free and without any obligations…
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From KabTV’s “A New Life #822,” 2/2/17