Don’t Let Yourself Cool Down

We must reach an absolute connection between us, and we are now beginning to feel that this is being realized through our shared actions.

The first true connection between us will give us a feeling of the upper world. This connection will be called the ten Sefirot of the Kli, and the mutual shared feeling that fills us will be called Light.

The first Partzuf will be created within us, consisting of the Sefirot of Keter, Hochma,Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut with the Lights of NRNHY in which we begin to feel the higher, eternal, complete, and true state. We will then understand that the present state we now exist in is like a dream that is given to us so that we will be pushed, and in thrusting ourselves away from it, we will be awakened and begin to work in a practical manner.

To attain this, we must carry out a multitude of activities. But for the purpose of the appearance of a yearning for connection between us, our single group of ten or even a group composed of many groups of ten, is not enough.

If we want our spiritual needs to develop constantly so that we will be obligated to yearn for each other and the Creator, we must feed our desires all the time.

They do not appear within us by themselves; in order for them to appear, we must go out to the wider strata of the shattered Kli, meaning to all of humanity, to try and find additional desires among them. We must attract them to us, and in this manner we cultivate within us a yearning for coming together and elevation.

It is forbidden for us to forget about this, otherwise we will wither away. People who don’t find themselves in dissemination outside of their group withhold an incentive and drive towards elevation from themselves. They will begin to sit instead until they lose the general common drive, and the group will be disbanded.

So in the movement from me to we, we must remember wider dissemination. This could be the wisdom of Kabbalah or the wisdom of connection (Integral Education and Knowledge). It is not important what we call it; the main thing is that this is a wisdom about the right connection and unity, the restoration of the same collective Kli, the only desire that was shattered and destroyed from the start, even before the creation of our world.

We know that the authors of The Book of Zohar, when they gathered together to write it in a state of unity, were always discovering such hatred within themselves that they were ready to burn each other. And these were great people in the attainment of the head of the world of Atzilut. In this exact manner the shattering of the Kli of the collective soul was discovered in them.

But they had no other way to disseminate other than describing their attainments to help us with our correction, and in this was their correction. In this way, they departed from their ego and finished the work with absolute love. They then succeeded in describing great levels of elevation in The Book of Zohar.

If we turn to other Kabbalistic sources, they all speak about one one thing: issues about connection and the laws and general rules of unity between people in our world, and after that, unity between the souls until the discovery of the only corrected state.
[145306]
From the Convention In St. Petersburg “Day Two” 9/20/14, Lesson 4

Going Through The Ten Plagues Of Egypt

Question: The path of the ten plagues of Egypt is actually the path of suffering. Is it possible to bypass them and avoid them, or is it impossible to avoid them even if I focus on love and bestowal toward my group of ten, the people who are close to me, and the teacher?

Answer: It depends on the person who follows the spiritual path. If he identifies with the forces of Egypt and with Pharaoh, he surely suffers. However, if he identifies with working above reason and ascending above it, his ego suffers, but he doesn’t identify with his egoand so he doesn’t suffer.

The time of the spiritual development is called the plagues of Egypt, which means the plagues that the ego feels that help a person rise above it. However, if he is in his ego, they force him to rise.

It all depends on to whom you compare your position.

Question: Do the plagues of Egypt reflect a certain state that we go through?

Answer: We must process and practice together to the fullest, everything that is written in the Torah! You will see that we cannot miss even one step. There may be levels that I have gone through but did not realize it, then ten years later, as often happens in life, I begin to realize what I went throug and what these actions and circumstances were.

Question: This means that we have no chance of skipping any of the plagues?

Answer: What for? How can you detach from your ego if you don’t go through all the ten plagues? You will not have a whole vessel, a vessel of ten Sefirot.
[144947]
From Lesson 3 of the Convention In St. Petersburg “Day Two” 9/20/14

See The Friends As Higher

Question: Practically, how is it possible to try to ask for Light for the friends in a group of ten? Must I imagine them as miserable and try to transform them into being happy, or is it preferable to imagine them as uncorrected and ask for the Light of correction for them?

Answer: The right mutual relationships are shaped in a group when for me all of the friends in a group become exalted spiritual creatures, completely corrected people. I look at the friends through my ego so I see them negatively, with a multitude of deficiencies. If I were to correct myself, then I would see them as complete.

So I adhere to them and constantly try to work with them only for the purpose of bestowal. This is not because they need this, for in fact they are complete. Rather it is because if I try to help them with everything even though they don’t need any of this, because, after, all I am looking at them with my ego, then I will also advance towards them.

I must pray for them, ask for them, and follow them in everything, dissolving in what they say. First and foremost, this is a full nullification of myself in regard to the others. And it is completely unimportant who they are and what they are.

There were new students, small and limited with the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma. But he saw their inner state and could humble himself in regard to them; he could feel them as being higher than himself. So he advanced forward. We must also do the same thing. We are not yet on the level of the great Rabbi Yosi, so it is much easier for us to do this.

But in no way should you allow any criticism! On the contrary, everything is done only to make it possible for me to make myself into the characteristic of bestowal. And then I will feel that the whole world was created for me.

We must concentrate only on this, so that with intellect and heart, with thoughts and desires to be with my group of ten, I try to create one thought and one desire in it, as one person with one heart. Try to reach a state like this and you will see what it carries within it.

You will begin to feel completely different characteristics and laws. This will be like a feeling from the start of a higher state, of the upper world. Switching the laws between us is correct; this is the spiritual world. Within it we begin to feel a completely different plane, a different dimension.

[144604]
From the Convention In St. Petersburg 9/18/14, Preparatory Lesson 2

Predatory Things of the Century

Opinion (from Psyfactor): “‘Prophets of the Old Testament called those people who worshiped objects and things that they made with their own hands “the idolaters.” Their “gods” were things made of wood or stone.

‘The meaning of idol worshipping is in transferring all feelings, the force of love, and power of thought onto external objects. Contemporary people are idolaters. We perceive ourselves only through things we own.’ (Eric Fromm)

“The world of things continues to grow. A human being becomes smaller next to so many objects. Contemporary people define their existence by announcing: “I buy, therefore I am.” Being a “thing,” we confirm that we are alive only because we communicate with other objects.

“Costs of houses, furniture, cars, clothes, watches, computers, TV sets are the basis for the social status of an individual. When people lose a part of their belongings, it’s as if they lose a part of themselves. When they lose everything they have, they are totally lost.

“During economic crises, those who lose a significant part of their property commit suicide; they jump out of skyscrapers’ windows. Their wealth was in fact a substitute for their personality. Committing suicide as a result of financial bankruptcy in such a system of cultural values is very logical. Suicidal acts signify the bankruptcy of a personality, individuality.

“Previously, people also associated themselves with things, but never before did inanimate objects occupy such a high ranking in the system of social recognition as happened during the last decades, when consumption turned into the means of evaluating the status of an individual.

“The program of upbringing of those who subordinate their lives to work began; a new phase was launched – a stage of turning people into ‘consumers.’ The economy needed not only disciplined workers; good, disciplined customers who kept buying new goods as they showed up on the market were extremely essential.

“Advertising of consumer behavior was meant to get rid of the centuries-old traditions of buying only necessary things. Propaganda of a new ideology made people think that happiness was all about a non-stop buying process of new things.

“Consumers stay assured that they are the ones who make a choice of whether or not to buy certain products. However, advertising expenditures frequently reach more than 50% of the cost of goods sold. This fact speaks for itself: figures show how much energy and talent are being contributed to the process of persuading consumers to continue buying.”

Comment: At this time, we evaluate and realize previous developmental stages. as we move away from the current, consumption model of society. It is happening not because we became internally richer and thus don’t need any external signs to demonstrate our significance. Rather, the desire that requires a new type of fulfillment, a realization of the purpose of our existence constantly evolves in us.

Even though affectations on stages and screens push us back, still evolvement of our aspiration to reveal the essence of life is inevitable. It will eventually lead us to acknowledgment and recognition of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[145129]

 References:

Predatory Things of the Century, a sci-fi story by Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, written in 1964 and published in the Soviet Union in 1965, and then, after a long break, in 1980. The book has an epigraph : “There is only one problem – the one and only in the world – to return people to spirituality, to spiritual mutual care.”

Erich Fromm Zeligmann (23 March 1900 , Frankfurt on Main  – 18 March 1980, Locarno), German sociologist , philosopher, social psychologist, psychoanalyst, a representative of the Frankfurt School, one of the founders of neo-Freudianism and freydo-Marksizm.

Erich Fromm was born in a family of orthodox Jews. His mother, Rose Fromm, neeKrause, was the daughter of a rabbi, who emigrated from Russia. Father, Erich Fromm Naftali, was also the son and grandson of rabbis, and while engaged in trade, preserved and maintained the family in orthodox religious traditions.

The Torah As An Engine For Change

The Torah is a force, a means that corrects and transforms my evil inclination into a good inclination. Through its realization, if I attain a good result, then I reach Simchat Torah. Then I am happy that I had the Torah by which I corrected myself, achieved success and attained something good.

Question: if the Torah is a means for correcting evil, then the person must first identify the evil within him. And until then he doesn’t require this means. But if I have already begun searching inside, what evil will I discover?

Answer: The basic answer is that the evil is examined in relation to the Creator. Everything that is against the Creator is called evil. Whereas, the Creator is called “good and the does good” according to His actions.

My evil differentiates me from the Creator because I feel everything according to equivalence of form, and vice versa. I cannot perceive something with which I have nothing in common.

But the evil inclination is very important because the Creator is the one who created it. He created it in opposition to Himself, named it appropriately, and gave me some kind of mechanism, a key, through which I can discover this evil within me and transform it into good. And then I become good, precisely in the same form and at the same level as the Creator.

When I understand and perceive this, then the Torah acquires very great meaning in my eyes. This is because with its help I can transform from being a small bug into something very great and good, like the Creator, acquiring the same power, the same ability tobestow and love, the same knowledge, the same attainment, and the ability to become eternal and complete.

Torah for me is no longer just a Torah scroll in a chest. It is not just a book, but the power of correction, the power of inner changes.

This is a system that works and has an influence on me. It knows which desires to awaken in me, and I am changed.

This is a spice in the cauldron of the evil inclination and it could also be something outside of it. It cooks it, orders, arranges, plans, and transforms it into an opposite state. It is indeed an enormous means.

And now the whole question is, how should I use it? As far as it seems, here I will need to play some kind of role, do something myself.

And so my evil is precisely similar to the intensity of the Creator, but opposite and against Him. It is such a gigantic monster inside that it is even frightening to describe it. Therefore, the Torah must possess an even greater intensity to transform it from the evil inclination into the good inclination according to the degree of my participation.

During this process. I become good like the Creator in the same measure, in feeling and intellect, in intensity, and in all of my facets and details. By transforming my evil inclination into good, I reach compatibility with Him. Not too bad, is it?

And if this is the case, then a person who has learned to use the Torah has every reason to be happy on the Simchat Torah holiday. This is because he understands what is happening. Throughout the entire year he goes through everything by shaping and attracting the Light that Reforms to himself. This Light influences him, acts on him and corrects him time after time, flash of Light after flash of Light. And ultimately he reachesSimchat Torah, when he is entirely good and corrected.
[145345]
From the program “A New Life” 10/05/14

The Diagnostic And Curative Power Of The Torah

Question: Why does the holiday of Simchat Torah (rejoicing with theTorah) immediately follow Sukkot?

Answer: During the seven days of Sukkot, when I am in the Sukkah, which means surrounded by the surrounding Light, I being am corrected. This Light reaches me through Scach (branches that cover the Sukkah), which itself, is a whole spiritual mechanism.

I have guests every evening, such as  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David, each of whom symbolizes a special attribute in a person. In other words, it is about forces that correct my attributes by turning them from evil into goodness.

I perform internal work on the entire path to perfection and use the Torah as the force of correction, and thanks to that, I am able to identify the evil within me and identify it to such an extent that eventually there is none left.

After this diagnosis, the Torah turns the evil in me into goodness and then I resemble theCreator, the absolute goodness. I am filled with love and bestowal towards others and through them to Him, since it is actually the same thing. Thus I discover what is called “the whole world is filled with His honor.” He is in everything that seems to me as being external.

Question: The holiday of Simchat Torah symbolizes joy. What is a person actually joyful about in this holiday?

Answer: It is that he has used the Torah correctly and has corrected himself in equivalence to the Creator.

Question: Why is it so delightful to resemble the Creator?

Answer: Since we reach adhesion and equivalence of form with Him, now we can bestow unto Him just as He bestows unto me. This is how we are made and there isn’t a more sublime state for us.

Question: But still, what is concealed behind that?

Answer: I was created as a desire to receive pleasure, so in a state of complete equivalence of form to the Creator, I receive pleasure from Him. By turning all the evil into goodness, into similarity to the Creator, I begin to receive all the goodness and infinite abundance from Him. It is because I also want to bestow infinite abundance.

Thus the festive symbolism of the month of Tishre describes the path to the end of correction, which results in the eighth day, Shmini Atzeret, after which there is nothing else to correct. The word “Atzeret” stems from the Hebrew word “to stop – Atsar,” which symbolizes the end of correction.

We compare this perfect state to a pomegranate. All my 613 desires are the seeds of the pomegranate that have finally changed from evil to goodness.
[145402]
From the program “A New Life” 10/05/14

What Does The Creator Feel?

On the Sukkot holiday I hold in my right hand and in my left hand the “four species of plants,” connect them to my heart and sway, meaning that I seemingly attract Lights. All of these things are certainly symbols of internal activities for attracting the bestowal of the Creator, which I summon into myself.

Then, I raise myself, correct myself, remove the concealment, and reach revelation in its place.

All of the ceremonies of the Sukkot holiday are no more than signs and symbols of what is happening in the heart where a person makes his characteristics compatible with the Creator. So, he is called an Adam (man), from the word “Domeh” (similar) to the Creator.

The Creator is fully the giver. He is the characteristic of bestowal and love. There is nothing more than this. There is only complete bestowal, complete love, absolute, pure, perfect, and infinite, and it is revealed in us to the same degree that we are ready to absorb it, to bring ourselves in line with it.

In general, I can understand and feel every characteristic only if it is found within me.

When I look at some cockroach, I don’t feel that it lacks something, that it loves its children and right now, is running to them with crumbs of food. I don’t share any characteristics with it to be able to feel it.

However, if I would begin to go deeper to penetrate and explore, ultimately, I would feel the needs of the beastly level. People are able to be sensitive to animals they are close to, including pet owners or scientists who devote themselves to research.

For example, in my childhood, I had a friend who always had small animals living in his pockets: here a mouse, there a bird. He even would come to school with them, and, much later, he went on to study zoology. So, he understood them. He would find a white mouse and pet it, and the mouse wouldn’t run away.

He would say, “You know, he is not afraid to approach you,” as if he was whispering to it.

However, we need to develop other feelings within us to be able to feel the Creator. If my friend recreated the feelings of the mouse within himself, so we need to give shape within us to a feeling of the Creator, bestowal and love.
[145120]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/5/14

Rehearsals In The Theater Of The Creator

Question: What do the four plant species (Arba Minim) that characterize the Sukkot holiday symbolize for us?

Answer: The Lulav (palm branch) is bestowal, consisting of myrtle and willow (three branches of myrtle and two branches of willow). This is the Yesod that we connect to Malchut, the Etrog.

This is combining the characteristics of the Creator—Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod—with our creature characteristics, Malchut. If we were to say this differently, it is a connection of the forms of bestowal that typify the Creator, all the various expressions of His love for us. However, this is not Him Himself. Rather, this is how we perceive Him in our Kelim, in our desires.

Question: Where exactly does a person realize this whole process of adapting himself to complete bestowal and love? Toward whom does he direct his love?

Answer: In order to attain the Creator, I must learn what bestowal and love are. So, I must build a group, acquire friends for myself, so that there among them, I can manifest my attitude. From love for the creatures, the person reaches love for the Creator.

I relate to friends with love just as I would relate to Him. My relationship to the Creator cannot be better than my relationship to the creatures, and only through the friend, through the other, can I attain the Creator.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because a relationship with others is the work that the Creator places in front of me. The entire surrounding world is His “theater” in which I can rehearse, practice, and try to attain the same attitude toward the world like the relationship to the Creator should be.

The way toward Him must pass through this world. Individually, I don’t discover the Creator. Rather, it is only within this world, through it. I practice in a group of people that are conducting a search all the time, and then we pass through the world, through all of its coarseness, in order to attain the Creator.
[145124]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/5/14