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A question I received: It’s a known fact that Rabash never spoke about unification and unity, but only used terms like “above reason,” “Creator,” and so on. So how did you come to understand the meaning behind his words? Did he relate it to you in private conversations? If yes, then what were the other students doing there? Why do people have to spend years studying terminology that doesn’t appear in their lives?

My Answer: Beginning with Kabbalah’s revelation 5768 years ago, the only principle of correction is the unification of all our broken, separated souls (parts of one soul) into one soul (the only creation that was created), just as they were united before the breaking. Correction lies in unity.

The same condition of “mutual guarantee” (Arvut) was given to the people at the time of the reception of the Torah (the method of unification), at the time of the Creator’s revelation. He becomes revealed inside this union, to the extent of it.

Were you sitting with Rabash instead of us? Have you read Baal HaSulam’s articles “The Revelation of Godliness,” “The Arvut,” “The Peace,” his letters to students about the need to unite, and Rabash’s articles on the group? I recommend reading them! It’s because unification is the only action required of us. I don’t know what you may have heard from others, but I do know what is written!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Practical Advice by Rabash
Laitman.com Post: Guidelines for Achieveing Unity - Selected Quotes by Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: Adam - We Share One Common Soul
Kabbalah Today Article: About Bnei Baruch
Kabbalah Today Artice: Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (The Rabash)
Kabbalah Today: A Kabbalistic Quote from “The Need of Love of Friends” Article
Kabbalah Today: Rediscovering Our Unity, An excerpt from the book Kabbalah Revealed

 

 Film: Unity is the Solution [1:29m]: Play Now | Download

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Two questions I received on how to succeed on the spiritual path

Question: I have a problem – I’m not social. Whenever I was in a group, I would dominate, so I was never really part of one. Can you give me advice on what to do about this, if there’s anything that can be done at all?

My Answer: Disseminate more and don’t force yourself. Your concern for dissemination will cause you to care for others, and you’ll unwillingly become social, like a father toward his children. The influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) will bring this about, and make you think of your friends as equals.

Question: I have been studying for two years already and I even work on dissemination. Throughout this time there were days when I was in a descent, but also days when I got so much pleasure from the process that I felt “drunk.” I’m afraid of making a mistake on the path, so my question is: Am I just feeding my ego?

My Answer: Don’t be afraid of feeding your ego; this is necessary, because otherwise you won’t have the motivation (Homer Delek). Only systematic studies and dissemination will draw the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), and its influence will bring you success. You should pay less attention to the sensations of ascents and descents. Everything will pass, and will be replaced by the true perception of the Creator. The most important thing is to expect the results of Ohr Makif’s influence. Good Luck!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Only the Upper Light’s Influence Can Give You the Importance of the Group
Laitman.com Post: Disseminate Kabbalah on the Internet, But First Find Out How

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A question I received: If I create a Kabbalah related blog on LiveJournal and other virtual communities, is this considered dissemination?

My Answer: Kabbalah dissemination on the Internet, in all languages, is the most important kind of dissemination. Anyone can learn to do it, it’s free and accessible. However, you have to know which materials to disseminate and how, depending on the website (whether a forum, a social network, a scientific site, a site for families, and so on). You should first get in touch with our center of dissemination, in order to receive an explanation and an assignment. When fulfilling your part in the general dissemination, you have to do it systematically, together with others and in contact with them. And by doing so, you will become part of the common Kli.

The purpose of dissemination is:

1. To give every member of the worldwide Bnei Baruch group an opportunity to participate in the common work and thereby to become part of the common soul (Adam), or in other words, to receive the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) from the common soul. Without receiving from the common soul, a person studying Kabbalah will not have the sufficient desire and forces to attain the goal, the revelation of the Creator.

2. To give every person in the world the opportunity to find out “What is Kabbalah?” in his native language, in order to answer his question about the purpose of life and how to attain it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Adam - We Share One Common Soul
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners - Disseminate!
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah for Everybody
Laitman.com Post: Disseminating the Wisdom of Kabbalah to Whom You Love
Kabbalah Today Article: Facebook - What’s All the Fuss?

 

 The Importance of Internet Dissemination [03:45m]: Play Now | Download

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Questions I received on accelerating one’s spiritual path and realizing one’s Reshimo

Question: What’s the purpose of us participating in acceleration?

My Answer: By accelerating, we change ourselves, and this is the result we need, rather than the acceleration itself. And we can only attain this result by accelerating our movement through applying our personal, free desire, which we acquired through interacting with others.

Question: How can there be freedom of will in acceleration?

My Answer: It exists due to the freedom of will one has in interacting with others and in receiving additional desires and aspirations toward the goal from them. One’s freedom of will lies in using the environment.

Question: There is no time, but even if time did exist, the Creator and the goal of creation wouldn’t be limited by the parameters of time, right?

My Answer: Yes, and we have to enter this timeless space of sensations precisely by using our freedom of will.

Question: It’s a blessing to go through 1,000 states in two minutes. But what about going through 1,000 states in a day - is this worse? I know that there are Reshimot, which are predetermined, but does the speed of their unraveling depend on the power of the Surrounding Light’s (Ohr Makif’s) influence?

My Answer: Yes, it only depends on this. Of course, even without it we would still be forced to develop our aspiration for the goal through the group, but by means of suffering and a lengthy path. But we can also go through this development quickly and with pleasure, by realizing that it’s necessary, with the help of the forces that we receive from the environment instead of the compulsory forces, as Baal HaSulam writes in the article “The Freedom.”

Question: Does the way a person realize his Reshimo depend on the environment he’s in?

My Answer: It depends on how he uses his environment. If a person finds out about the opportunity to advance through freedom of will, this means that the proper environment for doing so has been prepared for him as well: a teacher, books, and the group.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Conscious Acceleration Toward Life’s Purpose
Laitman.com Post: Klipot and Reshimot (Advanced)
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah on Evolution
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Teaches Us How to Be Free

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Eleven questions I received on the future of Kabbalah, the birth of the last generation, and spiritual leaders of the future

Question: Based on item 12 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, which describes the process of the soul’s conception, can we say and imagine that the current state of humanity - the approaching global crises, are like labor pains during the birth of the last generation?

My Answer: The forces pressuring us are the labor pains that are forcing us to leave our previous state.

Question: Is there a connection between the process of the fetus turning from the state of “head up” to the state of “head down,” the union of Keter and Malchut, and the efforts of Kabbalists?

My Answer: Absolutely, because humanity must change its approach to the world, its purpose and values, and start preferring bestowal to reception, love for one’s neighbor over love for oneself.

Question: Are Kabbalists responsible for making sure that the last generation will be born normal?

My Answer: Yes, because people won’t change without the dissemination of Kabbalah. [Read more →]

 

 The Purpose of Kabbalah's Widespread Dissemination Today [03:03m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Kabbalah and Our Times [04:20m]: Play Now | Download

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Two questions I received on how to connect spirituality and regular life

Question: How does the spiritual world influence and enliven our world, if the two worlds aren’t connected? Do they have a “cause-and-effect” connection? If so, then why isn’t our world also perfect and eternal?

My Answer: Our world is governed entirely from above. And every day we are becoming more and more convinced of this, because no matter how we try to change things, nothing goes according to plan.

The only way we can influence the Upper World (from below upwards) is to evoke (ask for) an acceleration (but not a change) of the process of our correction (by studying in the group and disseminating). We will perceive this acceleration as if evil and suffering are replaced by goodness and pleasure.

Question: Why does a person have to separate the spiritual part of his life from the regular one?

My Answer: It’s necessary to separate the two worlds. However they aren’t separate in and of themselves, but only relative the person who attains them. Outside a person, there is only the general Light. Once a person attains the Upper World, through it he sees our world, and he is no longer confused about the origin of everything that happens and about the connections between all parts of the world. But if he starts attaining the Upper World from our world, then he will get confused and start seeing forces through objects. He will do the same thing that the religions and faiths do – start thinking that there is spirituality inside the objects of our world, worshiping material objects such as trees, lucky charms, red strings, holy water, or predicting the future. This is why Baal HaSulam writes that one first attains the Upper World, and only after such attainment, one starts researching (from the Upper World) the descending forces that form our world, and the phenomena in our world.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: On Roots and Branches
Kabbalah Today Article: Baal HaSulam on the Perception of Reality
Kabbalah Today Article: I Saw a Reversed World

 

 Physical and Spiritual: Play Now | Download

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A question I received: I have a question about our group development. It looks like everyone inside the group as well as outside has lost his mind. Many have dropped studying, left the group, are afraid of getting attached to the group, and are scared of Kabbalah. There are many doubts if it is an authentic path to the Creator and it becomes more difficult to remain concentrated. I would like to know what it means and how a person can overcome these doubts.

My Answer: Groups without a strong spiritual leader cannot exist because group members are people who are not corrected and have a big ego. Their hearts are filled with egoistic desires though they have “the points in the heart,” which are just the points yet. And so hidden (for them) competition kicks in – a game who’s the first, who’s the chief, etc. It’s said in this case, “Separation of sinners from each other is good for them and for the world.” I spoke a lot about it on the last American congress. I think that people should gather together only for mutual dissemination actions; meaning, the actions geared towards outside (of the gathered). All other connections lead to disagreements. You are too “young” to ascend spiritually together. But if you contact each other only relative to work in dissemination then you can be of help to yourself and to others. Kabbalah is for the ones who are ready give themselves up, give up their egoism for the sake of mastering the quality of bestowal. But this is a gradual process and you have to take into account your nature. Otherwise you’d be as in the saying that thousands come but only singles (a few) left. If there is a group of people aspiring to one goal there must be a guide, a shepherd, a leader, a king. That’s how the world is created. Therefore, if there is no undisputable authority in the group there could be no group and our practice proves it.

Related Material:

 

 The Kabbalist Guide [03:09m]: Play Now | Download

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Questions I received on intentions and actions

Question: I have a question about the Light that returns one to the source. Do I have to desire for it to influence me while I am studying Kabbalah? If yes, who will influence me, and what will it influence?

My Answer: The Upper Light will influence your aspiration to correct your egoistic intention “to do everything for your own sake” to the altruistic intention to unite with all the souls, and with the original vessel of your soul, and in it – in the quality of bestowal and love - you will unite with the Creator.

Question: Should I intend to bestow before every material action I make?

My Answer: You should always try to remember, in your thoughts and feelings, that “there is none else beside the Creator,” that He acts inside and outside of you, and that all His actions are “good.”

Question: During one of your lessons someone asked a question about one’s intention while performing material actions (such as eating, drinking, and etc.), and you responded that people shouldn’t think about this. But shouldn’t I intend to bestow before every action I make? Right now the only intention we can have is to receive, because we don’t have a screen, yet at the same time, isn’t the correct intention for me to demand a screen from the Creator, in order to be able to give to Him?

My Answer: The best thing to do is to keep holding on to the thought that “There is none else besides Him” and that He is Good and so are all of His actions. I’m afraid that by trying to keep the intention to unite with the Creator while making material actions, you will only make mistakes. You will think that you already have the correct intention, the same as how religious people think. Besides this, you’ll begin thinking that with your actions, you are raising something up to the Creator, and correcting your soul. This is Chassidut. You will start believing that your food is asking you to eat it in order to correct it, and that by eating the food you are correcting yourself just by saying a blessing beforehand, instead of correcting yourself to the level of the blessing - love and bestowal.

After all, the realization that one’s intentions are evil also come to a person under the influence of the Light, the Light of the Torah, which only surrounds us when we study authentic Kabbalistic texts. You should pursue this intention during the lesson and when you disseminate, but not when you eat. You can’t even imagine where the hidden stumbling blocks lie, and how you will veer off from the true path to psychology, Chassidut, or mysticism without even realizing you are doing so. Follow the Kabbalists’ advice! Read Rabash’s articles about the group for beginners - his first twenty articles.

Rabash’s Articles on the Group:
Rabash Article: They Helped Every One His Friend
Rabash Article: The Purpose of the Association
Rabash Article: The Purpose of the Association (2)
Rabash Article: The Importance of the Association
Rabash Article: The Importance of the Association (2)
Rabash Article: The Need for Love of Friends (2nd Essay)
Rabash Article: The Need for Love of Friends (3rd Essay)
Rabash Article: Love of Friends (3)

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A question I received: Sometimes you can’t hear the lesson! That is, you’re listening to it, but you don’t hear it! Sometimes you sleep through it… And sometimes it seems that you understand every word, and it’s simply a revelation!

What determines one’s sensations at the lesson? Is it the lesson itself, the people who are present at the lesson, the person, the material being studied, or something else?

What can I do to hear the lesson like I did the first time, when I couldn’t hold back the tears?

My Answer: I understand you. This happens to everyone. It’s because the Creator only gives a person the initial desire for the spiritual goal: He awakens one’s point in the heart. And He brings a person to the source (a book, a teacher, a group, the Internet), and no more than this. And it’s up to a person to continue developing this desire he received from above, to develop it to the size of the World of Infinity.

This is impossible to do unless you study Kabbalah in the correct environment. (See item 155 of Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” and also his article “The Freedom.”) Otherwise you will spend many years eating yourself up.

In addition, it’s very important to prepare for the lesson. The preparation begins before going to sleep. You should fall asleep with a Kabbalistic book in your hand. Wake up half an hour before the lesson and attune yourself to the lesson. If you don’t attune yourself, the lesson will be ineffective.

You should go through this period more energetically: from the point to the Machsom. Good luck!

 

 Preparing for the Lesson [15:14m]: Play Now | Download

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A question I received: Can a person who gave everything he had to dissemination, inner work, the group, and love of friends, who participated in congresses and worked with all his strength and desire, suddenly leave this path and go to another Rav? How can someone be so passionate about this and sacrifice himself for the goal, and at the same time look for another teacher?

My Answer: Everything is possible. I’ve seen all kinds of things. Every person has his own path and others shouldn’t interfere with it, including myself. We should help and give to people, but after that everything depends only on the person himself. One’s spiritual development is one’s own choice; there is no coercion when it comes to one’s spiritual path. This is the only approach that will prove to be genuine and will attract everyone, and only this attitude to one another conveys true care and love, and corresponds to the law of Nature.

The goal of creation is for every person to attain complete equivalence with the Creator through free choice. Therefore, we can only bring the method to the surface, offer people the group and our forces, but the choice is up to the person! If you ask people who’ve been in the group and studying with me for fifteen to twenty years already, they’ll tell you that I never ask questions even when someone leaves the group or disappears all of a sudden. A person’s soul should teach him how to correct it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: One’s Soul Shall Teach One
Laitman.com Post: Everybody Has Their Own Path
Chapter 42 from the eBook Interview with the Future: What Should One Go Through in Order to Obtain Spirituality?
Chapter 6 from the Book The Kabbalah Experience: Soul, Body and Reincarnation

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