Toward An Altruistic Connection

Question: When I studied at MAK online, [Bnei Baruch’s Russian Education Center] I decided for myself that I should stay away from all the material problems of a friend, because this could hurt my spiritual progress.

But at the congress some kind of connection was awakened between us, a greater involvement in each other. For example: I got a headache, and a friend was already poking around in his pocket and giving me a pill. But at the next meeting, I was ashamed to look in his direction, awkward, I felt obliged to him.

What is the role of such expressions of caring and concern between friends in spiritual advancement?

Answer: You must reach a state where you will not be uncomfortable with one another. On the contrary, it will bring you together completely unselfishly, without any calculations. I gave a friend the opportunity to help me, and I am very happy about this. I am glad that I have such friends who immediately felt that I needed their help.

There is no giver and receiver here. Everyone gives and everyone receives. That is how one should strive to consider such states.

In the general network of relations between us, there are no states at all when I give to you, but you don’t give to me, or I receive, but you don’t, because both bestowal and reception are absolutely equivalent, one and the same. When I give, by that I receive. A friend gives me the opportunity to give to him. Maybe you give him a pill or something else, but in fact you receive from him. This is partly what you felt in your relationship at the congress.

There is no such thing: I receive or I give. These are all actions for the mutual connection between us. In an integral connection, the actions themselves have no meaning. What matters is only the construction of this absolute network, when all the strings of communication, and there are an infinite number of them, get aligned and are transformed. And on this level the quality of the Creator reigns.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/1/20